Government/Politics - 300. page

The Chinese Communist Party issued a directive calling for all to promote the establishment of grass roots party branches in the non-state sector. Especially, party branches must be established in non-State economic organizations where there are three or more Party members. If there are fewer than three party members, the party branches may be established by affiliating with the State’s chamber of commerce, trade unions, or trade associations. The directive emphasizes the appointment of strong leaders for the Party branches in the non-State economic organizations. “Party branches in the non-State economic organizations are important areas for party building. In recent years, there have been vigorous efforts at party building in non-State economic organizations, but overall this area is still relatively weak, and the coverage of Party branches is not as wide.”

Source: Xinhua, November 16, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-11/16/content_12470825.htm

Hu Jintao recently advised posthumously honoring Song Wenbo, Political Instructor of the Dongkou County Firefighting Group, Hunan Province as “Model of Loving People.” At the ceremony, at the Great Hall of the People, Zhou Yongkang stated that “(the party should) vigorously propagate Comrade Song Wenbo’s touching deeds and inspire the public with his heroic noble spirit” and wished that “his relatives turn grief into strength,” and that “his daughter inherit her father’s mandate.”

Zhou also started a campaign in the Political and Law organizations to learn from Luo Dongning and Yang Zhufang. The Ministry of Education started another campaign to learn from 15 Yangtze University students.

(Editor’s Note: Using a “Role Model” was a propaganda method from Mao Zedong’s era whereby a deceased person’s heroic deeds were exaggerated or even made up to create a perfect example for people to follow.)

Source:
1. The website of the Central People’s Government of PRC, November 8, 2009
http://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2009-11/08/content_1459507.htm
2. China News Service, November 10, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/edu/edu-zcdt/news/2009/11-10/1957518.shtml
3. China News Service, November 10, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/edu/edu-zcdt/news/2009/11-10/1957518.shtml

Not only were the meeting and the script of the October 16 meeting between President Obama and Chinese university students censored, but Chinese participation was also reported to have been staged.

 Chinese netizens discovered that at least two questioners in the audience were not bonafide students. The first “student” Cheng Xi is the Executive Vice Director of the Research Office of the Communist Youth League of Fudan University: http://www.youth.fudan.edu.cn/twjj4.aspx. The second “student” Huang Lihe is the Secretary of the Communist Youth League of the School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5053613d01008zd9.html. [Ed: A search found that this was posted on many blogs and forums in China, although some were later removed.]

A CNN reporter saw a student reciting a question in English from a piece of paper. Liu Yufen, 21, a student from Shanghai Jiaotong University said that he and his fellow classmates went through “training” for a whole afternoon prior to the meeting.

Sources:
1. Janeyoung.cn website, Nov 17, 2009
http://www.janeyoung.cn/hot/1910.html
2. Google Groups, Nov 16, 2009
http://groups.google.com/group/go2group/browse_thread/thread/11c9e373d95a1787/6cf2a8c902e83d04?lnk=raot
3. Epoch Times Taiwan, Nov 17, 2009
http://www.epochtimes.com.tw/263032.html

Fifty-nine private sector entrepreneurs in Chongqing City were sent to Beijing on November 9, 2009, for a week of training at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party. According to Wen Jieming, the head of the city’s CCP United Front Department, more than 10,000 people from the business community are to be trained in ideology, politics, and economic knowledge within five years. The trainings were said to be planned to take place in party schools in the central, city, and country government levels, as well as in communities and neighborhoods.

Source: People’s Daily, November 10, 2009
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/14562/10346700.html

According to Xinhua, Xi Jinping gave a speech at the Central Party School’s 2009 Fall semester opening ceremony for the 2nd training class. Xi stressed that the development of a learning-oriented Marxist political party is an important and urgent strategic task. The study should focus on Marxism, the Chinese Characteristics of Socialism, and the Socialist Core Value System. Party official’s promotion should be linked to an evluation of the study effort under his leadership.

Xi is the selected successor to Hu Jintao, currently a member of the Chinese Communist Party Standing Committee of the Political Bureau (Politburo), the secretary of the CCP Central Committee Secretariat, and the president of the CCP Central Party School.

Source: Xinhua, November 12, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-11/12/content_12444075.htm 

The International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua, published an article commemorating the downfall of Communism in Eastern Europe, stating the lesson learned is to continue socialism in China. An official from the government think tank Institute of Russia, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences states, “The lesson learned from the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe is that China should adhere to its own path. Only by better domestic buildup will China not be as vulnerable to external changes. We used to be gravely concerned about such changes in the social system. Now, we have more reason to be confident because China’s economy has made considerable progress. We should always remember that the reform and opening up has always been feasible under the socialist system." 

Source: International Herald Leader, November 9, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-11/09/content_12415817.htm

Southern Metropolis Daily, a relatively liberal state-owned media in Guangzhou, published an editorial commenting on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. “Although the class struggle has ended, the shadow of ‘the philosophy of the people’s struggle’ has not dissipated. The resultant social divide and class discrimination are also a thick wall for the Chinese people to tear down. Although the wall is dilapidated, there are still countless walls standing in our way to move forward. When we distinguish enemies from friends, urban from rural, the West from the Orient, ‘leftist’ from ‘rightist,’ people born in the 1980s from people born in the 1990s, men from women, people using the Internet from people not using the Internet, the wise from the retarded, and etc, we must exercise extreme caution because in every case, there is a potential danger of erecting a wall.” “Don’t miss any small effort to overthrow all the walls that should not be there – whether it is virtual or physical, whether political or spiritual – this is the best way to commemorate the collapse of the Berlin Wall, because they are all Berlin Walls.”

Source: Southern Metropolis Daily, November 9, 2009
http://gcontent.nddaily.com/1/d9/1d94108e907bb831/Blog/634/6baa03.html

On October 16, 2009, the Guangzhou City Finance Bureau released budget information for all municipal offices, totaling more than 20 billion Yuan, on its website (http://www.gzfinance.gov.cn). Traffic has flooded the website. On October 23, it even caused the server to go down. This is the first time a government entity has released budgetary information to citizens.

However, details were still omitted, including dining on public money, traveling using public cars, and traveling abroad on public money, the infamous “three public” expenses, which represent a significant portion of government spending. Guangzhou’s budget also showed 60 million Yuan in “subsidy” given to 9 child daycare centers serving employees of the municipal offices, averaging 20 thousand Yuan per child.

Guangzhou’s action was in reply to the request from a volunteer group, “Public Budget Observer Volunteers.” The group submitted 33 budget requests to central ministries and municipal governments. All except Guangzhou rejected the request. Shanghai claimed the information was a “national secret” and "could not be released." After Guangzhou’s action, Shanghai reversed its position. It announced on October 29 that it will improve its budgetary openness and transparency and would research ways to release the information.

Source:
1. The website of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, October 26, 2009
http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-10/26/content_1448828.htm
2. People’s Daily, October 24, 2009
http://media.people.com.cn/GB/10251652.html
3. Nanfang Weekends Magazine, October 28, 2009
http://www.infzm.com/content/36515
4. Eastday.com, the official website for Shanghai government, October 29, 2009
http://sh.eastday.com/qtmt/20091029/u1a649370.html