Report - 7. page

[Editor’s Note: Outlook published an article discussing how the U.S. has shifted its strategy from focusing only on the Asia Pacific area to establishing stronger ties with the European countries in order to counter the rise of the emerging powers such as the BRICS countries. This "new union" of Western countries will inevitably have an impact, whether visible or hidden, on China. The author is Chen Xiangyang from the Institute of World Political Studies, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. A translation of the article follows.] [1]

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[Editor’s Note: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) often chooses economic retribution as a means to control other country’s actions. An article written for a blog published on the website of People’s Daily demonstrates the essence of the Chinese regime’s attitude and tactics. It reveals the PRC’s hard reality more openly than in its mainstream publications. A translation of the article follows.] [1]

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[Editor’s Note: Huanqiu (Global Times), a division of the People’s Daily, recently invited Major-General Luo Yuan to have a live discussion on the Internet with Huanqiu’s web audience .Luo is well-known as one of China’s Military Hawks because of his provocative hypernationalism. The discussion dealt with a number of issues. Below are a few of the questions and answers that focused on the Diaoyu Islands, on how the United States was using that issue to contain China, and on the issue of Internet Security.] [1]

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[Editor’s Note: On April 6, 2013, Lens Magazine published an article detailing the torture implements used on prisoners at Masanjia Labor Camp. The Communist Party took down the website, but not before thousands of people saw it and became irate over the authorities’ actions. Since then, Chinascope has been researching and publishing information about the goings on at Masanjia since the time of the inception of the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. The following is a directive from the Central Leadership of the Party on how to “transform” those with strong beliefs in Falun Gong, that is the “diehards.” It specifically suggests that "the national labor camp system must follow the guidance of the Ministry of Justice to vehemently promote the experience of Masanjia Labor Camp in Liaoning Province.”]

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[Editor’s Note: Outlook Newsweek published an article stating that China’s financial system is facing great risks. These risks range from an abundance of financial service offerings to an increasing number of companies involved in financial activities; from local government’s excess borrowing to the central government’s providing insufficient supervision. The following are some excerpts from the article.] [1]

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[Editor’s Note: On April 6, an article in Lens Magazine, known for its photography, detailed torture implements with names like the "Tiger Bench" and the "Death Bed" that were used against prisoners in the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. It immediately triggered an online outcry from hundreds of thousands, furious at the authorities for what the article depicted. The piece was quickly deleted from web portals. The article mentioned that the tortures were initially implemented upon "special groups," while not specifying the name of the group. It’s widely believed that the group refers to Falun Gong, a meditation practice suppressed by the authorities since 1999. The following is an excerpt from one of the documents obtained by Chinascope, showing that the Party was advocating labor camps to transform Falun Gong practitioners.

On August 29, 2000 Luo Gan, former Director of the Politics and Law Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and the head of the "610 Office," an organization formed on June 10, 1999, specifically to suppress Falun Gong, gave a speech at the Experience-Exchange and Commendation Conference on [Thought] Transformation Work held by the Ministry of Justice. Luo praised how the Masanjia Labor Camp helped in the forced transformation of Falun Gong practitioners. Below is an excerpt from his speech:]

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[Editor’s Note: China Business News published an article by Xia Bin, the Director of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council. Xia argued that urbanization (城镇化), or developing and expanding towns by absorbing peasants from villages, should not be seen as the solution to making a "breakthrough in reform," because it requires a huge investment that the government does not have. He suggested that a real breakthrough should be made by reducing the income gap between city residents and peasants and by giving the land back to the farmers (so that they can enjoy the appreciation in land value).

Xia also acknowledged that a reform that would reduce the income gap would cause a huge fiscal deficit for both the central and local governments. His solution was to re-direct the huge profits from State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to cover the losses.

The article advocated reform to tackle a few tough obstacles to economic development inherent in the structure of China’s communist system. However, Chinascope’s editors feel that the author’s suggestion for reform, insofar as it reduces the government’s income to give more to the general public, may fall on deaf ears in the Communist Party.] [1]

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[Editor’s Note: Qiushi published an article discussing different opinions on whether to continue reform in China. It talked about the importance of reform and how reform is needed. However, it then stressed that the most critical issue is the political direction that reform takes. China’s reform must take place under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The major political reform that Western countries hope will take place in China will never happen. To strengthen its point, the article discussed Deng Xiaoping’s words, "It is a dead end if we don’t reform or open up," which some people keep quoting in order to promote further (political) reform. The article argues that the correct way to say it is, "It is a dead end if we don’t insist on using Socialism as the basis of our reform; and it is also a dead end to insist on reform that embraces Capitalism." The following is a translation of the article.] [1]

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