Government/Politics - 338. page

On July 26, during the Communist Party’s group study held by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, Hu Jintao is calling the various levels of Communist Party bureaus and municipal bodies to place the goal of hosting a successful Beijing Olympics and Paralympic Games as the top priority. He said: “as the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic is around the corner, the world’s attention is here. Various party bureaus and municipal bodies need to unite and form one understanding among each other. They need to coordinate well to further place the Olympics at its utmost important position.

Source: Xinhua, July 27, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mrdx/2008-07/27/content_8779856.htm

To repair China’s shattered image during the Olympics, Beijing agreed to resume a Human Right Dialogue with Japan after eight years of break.

Human Right Dialogue was invented by China in early 1990’s to counter the Human Rights criticism by the West. The dialogue is a discussion between equal partners, while the criticism puts China at defense.

The Human Right Dialogue is not an admission of China’s human rights problem. Qin Gang, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokes person made it very clear. In a recent press conference, Qin said: “The Chinese Communist Party has been working to improve human rights since Day One of its founding. Human Rights always will be our sacred goal.”

The article blames Amnesty International, Reporters without Border and Human Right Watch for pressuring China to improve its human rights.

Source: Xinhua Net, July 23, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2008-07/23/content_8751211.htm

In speaking with Xinhua’s International Herald Leader, Li Wei, Chairman of “Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies” of “China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR)” named five groups as the top terrorist threat to the Olympics: Eastern Turkistan, Tibetan Separates, Falun Gong, oversea’s democracy movement groups, and individuals who seek retaliations. As to threats from international terrorism groups, Li said that the scale would not be a big concern but can’t be ignored.

Li disclosed that the western countries including US, Israel, UK, France, Russia, Australia, and Greece have assisted China in its anti-terrorism effort. Ministry of Public Security claimed last month that terrorism is the major threat to the Olympics security.

Source: ChinaGo, July 4, 2008
http://news.chinago.cn/o/2008/0704/1731.html

50,000 copies of a special Olympics edition of the Bible have been printed and shipped to the six Olympics cities, according to two state-run Christian organizations. The cover of the Bible that bears the Olympic Logo has been on the front page of major state-run newspapers. The two state-run Christian organizations are  the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Church in China and the China Christian Council. According to the two state organizations, the copies are being offered free as one of the major religious services that they are providing to the Olympics. The use of the Olympic logo on the Bible was licensed by the State Beijing Olympics Committee.

Source:
Chinese Protestant Church, July 14, 2008
http://www.chineseprotestantchurch.org/news/hot/2008/714/08714866.html
Chinese Protestant Church, June 23, 2008
http://www.chineseprotestantchurch.org/news/hot/2008/623/08623226.html

Customers of government postal services must produce a valid government identification card during the Olympics, says China’s State Post Bureau. The special notice from the government agency states that post offices will not provide postal service if a sender of particles either to or from 6 cities between July 20 and September 20 does not produce a valid government I.D. The 6 cities are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao.

Source: Xinhua, July 16, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/sports/2008-07/16/content_8557748.htm

People’s Daily posted an edited version of the translation from an article in The Times (London) written by Brendan O’Neill titled “The farce of bashing China’s human rights record”. The key message of the article stated: “…The West has no moral authority to lecture anyone, including China, about rights and democracy… Respect for liberty is at an historic low in Europe and the U.S…”

Source:
People’s Daily, July 15, 2008
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/57507/7514447.html
Times Online, July 14, 2008
http://143.252.148.161/tol/comment/specials/article4329902.ece

Recently, the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Disciplinary Committee issued “Seven Rules” to warn executives of State owned companies. The rules warned that violators will face punishment, including the revocation of party membership. The article did not explain what punishments might be applied to non-party members.

The rules include language such as “profit taking for oneself or others using one’s official position is not allowed”, “no beneficial trade for one’s spouse and children using one’s official position [is allowed]” and “forcing accounting and financial professionals to forge fake financial reports is not permitted.”

All seven banned forms of misconduct are already illegal activities, raising the question of why the Party has to tell its senior members to obey existing laws.

Source: Jing Hua Shi Bao, July 16, 2008
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-07-16/005815937920.shtml

Xinhua reports that passengers traveling in and out of Beijing during the Olympics need to use their real names to purchase tickets. The Ministry of Transportation issued a notice requiring strict checkups on passengers traveling via land and water. The news report is provided with photos showing police with heavy firearms standing at checkpoints along a main road.[1] In a separate picture report, armed police are patrolling Beijing’s Capital Airport. [2]

Source: Xinhua, July 11, 2008
[1]. http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2008-07/11/content_8528263.htm
[2]. http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2008-07/01/content_8467743.htm