According to a media report, China’s Public Security personnel will begin stationing in Taiwan, starting early next year. The stated purpose is to fight serious cross-boarder crimes in a more coordinated way. Taiwan’s chief of criminal investigation said that this is just media speculation and details have not been finalized, but they will work toward that goal.
Source: Central News Agency, May 8, 2009
http://www.cna.com.tw/SearchNews/doDetail.aspx?id=200905080083
More than 2,000 Party secretaries of the Party’s discipline organs at the county level throughout China are gathering in Beijing to attend a focused training course, the first of its kind in the history of the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Xinhua reported that the training, held in the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the National School of Administration, and the Training Center of the Supervision Ministry of the CPC Central Committee, has been aimed at improving their abilities to fight against corruption as well as maintain social stability. The training began on May 8, 2009.
Source: Xinhua, May 12, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2009-05/12/content_11358058.htm
Xinhua has recently reported on several of Xi Jinping’s activities related to the “Scientific Outlook on Development” theory that was Hu Jintao’s main “theoretical contribution” to Communism. Xi is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Vice President of China.
On May 6 and 7, Xi went to several universities in Beijing to conduct a study of the “Study and Practice of the Theory of Scientific Outlook on Development” movement at universities. On May 7, Xi also gave a speech at the Conference of the University “Study and Practice” Movement at the People’s University, in Beijing. On May 8, Xi Jinping met the participants of the National Conference on the Party’s Construction at the Government Offices. During all these events, Xi Jinping emphasized the need to further implement the “Scientific Outlook on Development” theory.
Source: Xinhua, May 7 & 8, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-05/07/content_11332299.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-05/08/content_11337545.htm
Based on Chinese media sources, BBC Chinese reported on May 6, that the government of Hubei Province is investing 13 million RMB to rebuild the tomb of a famous person named Lian Shunbin. It is believed that Lian Shunbin is the ancestor of Lian Zhan, who is the former Chairman of the Taiwan Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) and former Vice President of the Republic of China.
Source: BBC Chinese, May 6, 2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_8030000/newsid_8035100/8035143.stm Last Update (Monday, 11 May 2009 )
On the one year anniversary of Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake, Xinhua’s front page carried a number of articles praising the Party’s earthquake recovery effort. While the state media continues to attribute the earthquake to natural disaster, building structure defects have remained a major outcry among the grieving parents, whose voices were completely suppressed by state media. According to VOA, of those who tried to conduct independent investigations of the earthquake, 80 percent have been summoned by the police. Some had their photos erased while in police custody.
Source:
Voice of America, May 9, 2009
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/w2009-05-09-voa31.cfm
Xinhua, May 10, 2009
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/xw.htm
The recent implementation of an Internet regulation in Hangzhou city Zhejiang province raised some serious concerns over the ordinance itself being too fuzzy and with much gray area.
There are specific technical problems in identifying and determining vaguely defined unlawful conducts. At the same time, the deficiencies in protection of civil rights will result in rights abuses and will inevitably lead to distortion in the implementation of the new regulation. In addition, since the existing legal system in general is inadequate in providing enough open channels of public expression; lawful citizens have been repeatedly reported and retaliated as consequences of legitimate expression, introducing such a specific legislation will inevitable harm freedom of speech, suppress the already restricted cyber space that many rely on for anonymous public expression of opinions.
Source: Nanfang News, May 4, 2009
http://big5.southcn.com/gate/big5/opinion.southcn.com/soc/content/2009-05/04/content_5119294.htm
The Ministry of Education and the People’s Liberation Army General Political Department jointly issued a few days ago the requirements for the national defense students. Students are demanded to cultivate the “core values” which Hu Jingtao put forward as "loyalty to the party, love for the people, service to the country and devotion to the mission and upholding honor."
[Editor’s notes: National Defense students are college students who are selected by the military as reserve officers. They receive national defense scholarship during their study and will serve the military as an officer after graduating from college.]
Source: Xinhua News, May 7, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-05/07/content_11331589.htm
The Central Propaganda Department recently banned all Chinese media from reporting on Chinese officials involved in the recent international Siemens bribery scandal. Relatives of two members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee were on the bribery list.
Documents regarding the scandal that have been released by the US Justice Department revealed names of companies involved, including Chinese companies. Under US and German government pressure, Siemens also provided names to the involved governments, including China. The targeted media ban order was issued by Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, the CPC Central Committee. However, Chinese media can freely report on the rest of the scandal story.
Source: Sina News, April 26, 2009.
http://dailynews.sina.com/gb/chn/chnnews/ausdaily/20090426/1711187101.html