Editor’s Note: This is an article published on Xinhuanet.com Website at the end of 2004. For the Chinese communist regime, giving up control over the army is equivalent to giving up its reign over the Chinese people. In the recent years, there have been different voices demanding for the nationalization of the Army from civilians, even from within the Army, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would make no concession in this aspect. The following is the translation for the Xinhuanet.com news article. [1]

[Xinhuanet.com News Center, Beijing, December 25th, 2004]  The Resolution released at the 4th Plenary Session of the 16th CCP Central Committee mandates: “Adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership of the Army; always put the ideological and political education in the forefront as top priority in order to maintain forever the nature, the unique characteristics and the style of the People’s Army.” The Resolution provided guidance for us to improve the Party’s capability in managing the Army. The Party’s absolute leadership over the Army is the never ever-changing spirit of our army as well as a unique political advantage. It is also the demarcation line between our army and any other armies in capitalist countries.

People’s Liberation Army of China is the People’s Army established by and under the absolute leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; it is an armed force serving to carry out the political tasks of the Party. The principle of adhering to the Party’s absolute leadership, which was the foundation upon which the Army was created, had been formed and gradually been fully developed by the Party on the basis of its scientific understanding of the objective principles of China’s revolutionary struggles.

To adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army is, most fundamentally, to firmly uphold the banner [of the Party leadership], to support the core [of the Party], to keep consistent with the CCP Central Committee in ideology and political views, to strictly follow the instructions from the CCP Central Committee, and to firmly uphold the authority of the CCP Central Committee led by Comrade Hu Jintao as Secretary-General. This is the highest political discipline of our army, as well as the fundamental requirement to ensure the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army.

To adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army, we must firmly take Mao Zedong’s military ideology and Deng’s ideology of military development in the new era as our guidance, and fully implement the important ideology of the “three represents.” We must persevere in taking the ideology of the “three represents” as the important guiding ideology in leading and developing the military, making sure it is carried out in all aspects of the development of the Party Committees within the Army, and implementing it in all activities of the Army’s preparation for military battles. We must do so to truly resolve the two historical tasks: always winning the battles and never changing the nature of the Army. It is the basic ideological guarantee to ensure the Party’s absolute leadership of the Army.{mospagebreak}

To adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army, we must firmly resist the wrong ideological trends such as “Separating the Army from the Party,” “Depoliticize the Army” and “Nationalization of the Army.” We must further strengthen the Party’s absolute leadership and discipline ourselves in this respect.
 
To adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army, we must firmly uphold and improve the fundamental principle of the Party’s leadership over the Army, which mainly includes: (1) the ultimate leadership and chain of command is under the CCP Central Committee and the Central Military Committee. The CCP Central Committee is the top leadership and decision-making regime, and the Central Military Committee is the Party’s top leadership body inside the Army. (2) The Party establishes CCP committees at or above the regiment levels, and establishes the Party grass-root committees at the battalion level. The CCP committees at different levels are the core of leadership at each level. (3) According to the principle of democratic centralism, under the collective leadership of each CCP committee with committee members responsible for different portfolios and duties. (4) General Political Department is set up for the Army. At or above regiment levels, there are political commissar’s offices. (5) At the company level or equivalent, there are CCP branch committees which are the grass root regimes of the Party in the Army – the core of leadership at its level.

To adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army, we must stick to the practice of ideological and political education as top priority before any other agendas in the Army. It is the requirement to ensure that the Party will tightly control the Army in ideology and politics.

To adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the Army, we must continuously strengthen the development of CCP committees and cadres in the Army.

Endnote:
[1] Xinhua, December 25, 2004
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2004-12/25/content_2379107.htm

Gangs have penetrated into middle schools in China, according to lecturers from a seminar on crime prevention held in Guangzhou, China. Experts are calling for the justice system to get involved with these hate groups. The following is a translation of a report on the seminar published by Radio Free Asia. [1]

Some group members are actively recruiting students in middle schools to their organizations. Not only do they threaten students, but also force them to hand over their money. Their actions have created a bad image in the community. According to Hong Kong Takungpao [a Chinese-language newspaper], Liao Zongyi, Guangzhou City deputy prosecutor, said at the seminar that over the last several years the local juvenile crime rate continues to increase and these school gangs still exist despite being banned multiple times. Some gangs have more than one hundred members; thus, they are severely endangering society. These gangs have set up activities at many middle schools in Guangzhou City. There are more than 10 well-known gangs. They intimidate and lure other students to join their groups. According to the report, the main activities of gang members are recruiting people into their organizations, threatening people, and extorting money. They then turn the money into the leaders of these hate groups outside schools. Student members pay monthly membership fees from $4 to $10 (30 RMB to 80 RMB), thereby providing gang leaders approximately $120 (1,000 RMB) in cash just on membership fees alone.

Ms. Guo, professor of psychology at Zhongshan University, often volunteers to provide psychological counseling for juveniles. She said middle school-age students have a tendency to be group oriented and therefore want to be in groups, which makes them easy targets for gangs in society to manipulate.
 
"The characteristic of puberty (age 13 to 16) is that teenagers want to find a feeling of belonging from their peers to prove their lives have meaning and value. Even for an outstanding student, if his/her friends won’t accept him/her, he/she could feel that heaven was collapsing. This age group is deeply influenced by hormonal changes. In addition, regardless of country, during these teenage years (age 13 to 16) they are more likely to commit murders compared to other age categories.”

Dr. Liu Xiaozhu, a sociologist from the United States, said that the main reasons for juveniles to form unhealthy gangs were due to the rapid changes in social structures, poor economic conditions, and slow responses from the community.

"First of all, gangs from overseas come into China, especially from Hong Kong and Taiwan, making Guangdong province a rough place. If the social order is bad, the juvenile hate groups become attractive. Other factors are the stress coming from education and employment pressures. These environments allow for hate groups to easily develop.”
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According to official Chinese data, since 2000, the juvenile crime rate has annually increased 13 percent. Juvenile crimes make up 70 percent of national crimes; among these, 70 percent of juvenile crimes were committed by juveniles between the ages of 15 and 16. In other words, juveniles between the ages of 15 and 16 committed 50 percent of the overall national crimes. Normally, students with poor grades are more likely to join the gangs. However, a middle school “black dragon gang” from Guangzhou City shows that most of the outstanding students are also part of the gang. 

Liu Xiaozhu states that juveniles are full of energy. If they lack appropriate group activities, they create social problems easily. He concludes that the current juvenile education focuses too much on fame and that a lack of moral value is another reason for the increasing juvenile crimes.

"Our channels for guiding youth have become problematic. For example, it is said that religion is an important part in juveniles’ lives, but in China religion is depressed. If all the areas are blocked, and the newspaper is full of hypocritic propaganda, it will finally depress the juveniles to develop anti-social psychology. I think this is very sad."

Chinese experts have proposed to strengthen laws punishing juvenile offenders, lowering the age limits for the death penalty and criminal responsibility, and establishing a justice system for charging juvenile gangs. However, Liu Xiaozhu said that China has the world’s most severe criminal penalties. Therefore, the key to solving juvenile crime is not through severe punishment, but to rely on improving the quality of education and perfecting community support and family functions. 

Endnote:
[1] Radio Free Asia, June 24
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/campus-06242008104134.html?searchterm=None