On July 15, China launched its first international student camp as part of its "soft power" campaign to exert influence abroad using non-military, and non-economic means. 850 students from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea attended this government sponsored international Chinese language learning program.
New Statistics on Chinese Communist Party Membership
The official Xinhua News Agency reports that Communist Party membership increased by 11,859,000 between 2002 and 2006 averaging 2.37 million per year. As of the end of 2006, Communist Party membership reportedly totaled 2.391 million, of which 14.292 million were female and 55.472 million were 35 years of age or above. According to an overseas Chinese global media, the Epoch Times, between December 3, 2004, and July 16, 2007, over 23.8 million persons quit the Communist Party, the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers by renouncing their membership on the web.
Chinese Communist Party to Use Inspection and Reviews to Tighten Control at All Levels
At a press conference on August 2, 2007, the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline and Inspection announced that it is in the process of drafting a Chinese Communist Party Inspection Visits Regulation. The new regulation will institute a new inspection and review mechanism.
The Communist Party Claims Success in Recruiting and Retaining Party Members
The Chinese Communist Party claims it had "remarkable results" in its campaign to educate and control its members. Recent Xinhua News Agency articles set forth some key achievements in methods of control of Party members, including recruitment drives in all walks of life, and an increased retention rate through using hotlines and long distance learning pilot programs.
Twenty New Media Guidelines before the 17th National People’s Congress of Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese authorities in charge of propaganda are applying stricter censorship over the media and have criticized several publishing houses as having "serious problems." Meeting minutes released by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television discussed 20 guidelines for conforming to China’s propaganda policies.
New Restrictions on the Armed Police Forces’ Use of Computer Networks
China’s Armed Police Forces issued an order restricting its peronnel’s use of computer networks. The Order "Preventing Network Security Spillage and 10 Prohibitions" went in to effect July 7, 2007.
In 2005 China Allegedly Kidnapped a “Valuable” Chinese Woman with New Zealand Residency
On July 17, 2007, a former Chinese diplomat disclosed that Chinese Communist regime kidnapped a New Zealand resident two years ago and brought her back to China via a state-owned ship that was waiting in New Zealand waters. "The kidnapped woman was very valuable to the Communist Party." Chen Yonglin, former First Secretary in Australia, made the disclosure amid recent accounts from former Chinese student leaders at universities in Australia, Europe and the United States revealing how China has used Chinese student organizations to infiltrate universities and communities in Western countries.
The Local Government in Hebei Province Appointed Cadres to Head Unions in the Private Mining Sector
The Neiqiu County Federation of Trade Unions in Hebei Province assigned union heads to private companies. "It is good to send cadres to head unions in the private mining sector," an article of the Hebei Provincial Federation of Unions proclaimed.