Skip to content

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

Read More ...

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Read More ...

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Read More ...

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Read More ...

Red Flag Manuscript: An Analysis of Democracy Chaos in Certain Asian Regions

[Editor’s Note: An article appeared in Red Flag Manuscript’s 5th issue in 2011, analyzing “democracy chaos” in some Asian countries. [1] The author concludes “the expansion of democracy that the U.S. promotes has not brought about an economic boom or social development in these regions. On the contrary, it led multiple countries or regions to fall into political instability and even chaos. In some areas and countries, with the progress of so-called democratization, ‘chaotic symptoms’ have developed, such as ethnic conflict, splitting the nation, social turmoil, massive corruption, and an unstable political situation. This is the consequence of blindly applying a Western democratic system without considering local social and culture conditions.” Excerpts from the article are translated below.] [2]

Continue reading →

Reports | | |   Report

Red Culture Finds Its Way into Chinese Prisons

China’s megacity of Chongging, famous for spearheading the promotion and renewal of the old-style communist culture from the 1960’s and 1970’s, is now moving the campaign into prisons. As Chongqing Daily reported on May 11, 2011, Liu Guanglei, a top CCP official in the city, visited several local prisons to evaluate the progress of the program to introduce “red culture into the prisons and detention centers.” The officials believe the program is “capable of having a powerful re-education effect on the detainees.” 

Prison detainees were reported singing “red” songs and reciting “red” poems. According to Liu, “In the past, re-education through labor focused on physical labor. It is now necessary to adopt a wide-range of re-education tactics, with ideological transformation being the most important.” He also suggested incorporating the prisoners’ participation in “red cultural” activities into their performance ratings and using it as a measure to determine “awards, term reductions, or release on parole.”

Source：website of Chongqing Daily, May 13, 2011
http://cq.cqnews.net/html/2011-05/13/content_6327153.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Ministry of Public Security to Tighten Control of the Migrant Population

The Ministry of Public Security recently held a conference in Beijing to further strengthen control of the migrant population. Meng Jianzhu, the Minister of Public Security, stressed the importance of managing the migrant population and called it “part of renovating the social management effort and an important part of the measures to ensure social stability and harmony.” 

The Ministry called for stepping up the work to collect population information, build a comprehensive intelligence platform, regularly visit the migrant population to exert dynamic control, standardize the population’s registration, and manage well the rental housing facilities and local communities.

Source: Ministry of Public Security, May 13, 2011
http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n1237/n1342/n803680/2776570.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Rebuttal to Clinton’s Comments on China

In an interview published in The Atlantic, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized China’s “deplorable” human rights record and characterized the Chinese government’s attempt to suppress democratic reform as a “fool’s errand,” citing the recent revolutions in the Middle East as an example. In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jiang Yu said, “It is inappropriate for anyone to compare China to the West Asian and North African countries. It would be futile for anyone to attempt to bring the Middle East crisis into China and change the development path that the Chinese people have chosen for themselves.”

Source: Xinhua, May 14, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-05/14/c_121414581.htm
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Li Changchun: Further Improve Understanding of the Importance of Socialist Culture

When Li Changchun, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, was on tour visiting Shanxi Province, he emphasized that culture is the wellspring a nation’s cohesion and creativity; it is an important factor of overall comprehensive national competitive power; and it is an important support for economic and social development. Li called for attentively studying the CCP central committee’s policies regarding the development of culture, profoundly understanding the importance of culture, promoting the great development and prosperity of [socialist] culture, and constantly opening up new development avenues for socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

Source: Xinhua, May 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-05/10/c_121400764.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Global Times: The U.S. Cross-Border Action to Kill bin Laden Is Worrisome

Global Times published a commentary from a Chinese professor of international law criticizing U.S. infringement of Pakistan’s sovereignty in the raid on bin Laden. He argues that the cross-border military action is a violation of Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty and constitutes an invasion. “The cross-border military action cannot be regarded as a legal means to exercise the national right of self-defense.” “International law does not encourage the preemptive nature of such a cross-border military action.”

Source: Global Times, May 11, 2011
http://world.huanqiu.com/hot/2011-05/1685628.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Pakistan May Invite China to Study the Wreckage of U.S. Stealth Helicopter Downed in Bin Laden Raid

According to a report from the Shanghai Evening Post, the Pakistani officials claim that they are interested in studying the remains of the U.S. military helicopter that was damaged in the raid on the bin Laden compound, although the U.S. wants it back. Pakistan may invite China to participate in the study. Based on the pictures, aeronautics and military experts believe it is a modified stealth helicopter.

Source: Guangming Daily website, May 11, 2011
http://mil.gmw.cn/2011-05/11/content_1947650.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Top 10 in the 100 Million Yuan Corruption Club

Caing.com, the website of Caixin Century magazine, published a chart that listed the top 10 government officials in the “100 million yuan Corruption Club.” Yu Zhendong, the former head of the Kaiping City branch of the Bank of China (BOC) in Guangdong Province, ranked highest with total embezzled funds of 4 billion yuan (US$616 million). Wang Shouye, the former deputy navy admiral and lieutenant general, whose graft money reached 160 million yuan (US$24.6 million), ranked number 10. Of those on the list, Xu Manyong, the former mayor of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, ranked number 7 with 213 million yuan (US$32.8 million).

Source: Caing.com, May 5, 2011
http://www.caing.com/2011-05-05/100255884.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics