On September 10, in Guangzhou, the Chinese Communist Party committee on the Internet industry held its launching ceremony and its inaugural meeting. Wang Shitong, a Standing Committee member of the CCP Guangzhou Municipal Committee and head of its Organization Department, proposed that, “It is necessary to shoulder political responsibilities effectively in order to strengthen the Party’s buildup in the Internet industry.”

According to Chinese media, as of the end of July, Guangzhou’s Internet companies had seen the development of 169 CCP organizations, covering 436 companies, of which 83 were newly established this year, an increase of 96.5 percent over the same period last year.

In addition, Guangzhou’s Internet sector has a total of 7,358 members of the Communist Party, including 3,267 members who are new to the party as of this year, a significant increase of 79.9 percent over the same period last year.

Party committees of the Chinese Communist Party have been installed in a few big name companies such as NetEase, iFlytek, UCWeb and Jingdong.

Source: Central News Agency, September 11, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809110109-1.aspx

In the new edition of eighth grade Chinese history textbooks that the government owned People’s Education Press published, the word “erroneously” disappeared from the description of the 1966 – 1976 Great Cultural Revolution that Mao Zedong launched.

Chinese netizens were the first who exposed the particular revision in the new textbook. In the old edition, the relevant part read: “In the 1960s, Mao Zedong erroneously believed that there was Revisionism in the party’s Central Committee and that the party and the country were facing the danger of capitalist restoration. In order to prevent the restoration of capitalism, he decided to launch the ‘Cultural Revolution.’”

In the new textbook, the wording became: “In the mid-1960s, Mao Zedong believed that the party and the country were facing the danger of capitalist restoration. To this end, he emphasized ‘taking class struggle as the key’ and trying to prevent it by launching the ‘Cultural Revolution.’ In the summer of 1966, the ‘Cultural Revolution’ was in full play.”

Comparison of the two versions shows that the word “erroneously” was removed from the new version. Some Chinese netizens commented that “In the late 2010s, Mao Zedong became a great leader who made no mistakes.”

In August 1980, when Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci interviewed Deng Xiaoping, Deng said, “Unfortunately, in the last part of his life, he (Mao) committed mistakes, particularly the Cultural Revolution mistake. As a result many misfortunes were brought upon the party, the country, and the people.”

When Fallaci asked whether the portrait of Mao will remain at the entrance of the Forbidden City, Deng answered, “Yes, it will certainly be kept forever.”

Source: Central News Agency, September 10, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809100256-1.aspx

The senior officials in the judicial circle of the Chinese Communist Party held a meeting on September 4th, mapping out a work plan related to the Internet and new media. Chen Yixin, Secretary-General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, encouraged all personnel in the profession to open their online media accounts, in a sense to build an army of online commentators.

The meeting reportedly encouraged legal professionals and police officers to use new media to set the agenda for public discussion, create hot topics, and become effective online communicators. Chen talked about the transformation of the media and asked if he could be the first responder and agenda setter when a major event breaks out. Chen added that judicial personnel have the additional responsibility of using the pen and “are proactively sharing the burden for the Party.”

The “50 Cent Party” was also part of the discussion at the meeting. The 50 Cent Party, or 50 Cent Army (Chinese: 五毛党), is the colloquial term for Internet commentators who Chinese authorities have hired in an attempt to manipulate public opinion to the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party. Pointing out that the 50 Cent Party is low in quantity, poor in quality, and poorly organized, the meeting asked for a transition toward a “powerful red online army.” To this end, it is necessary to “discover and gather a group of talented original writers with positive energy.” The compensation for the 50 Cent Party was also put on the table. The meeting acknowledged that “not enough attention and support” has been provided to them in the past. Therefore, it was proposed to “explore the incentive mechanism and build a talented team.”

The meeting proposed to foster a group of WeChat public accounts of millions of followers, Weibo accounts of tens of millions of followers, and a web platform with millions of subscribers.

After the meeting, Chinese judicial and legal authorities may require all personnel to open online media accounts. If other professions follow suit, China will see a humongous size of government backed online red army commentators.

Source: Central News Agency, September 7, 2018
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201809070270-1.aspx

Deutsche Welle reported that, according to Amnesty International’s 2017 annual report on the death penalty around the world, over two-thirds of the countries, or 142 countries, have abolished the death penalty or stopped the practice. Guinea and Mongolia are the latest two countries that have abandoned the death penalty. However there are 23 countries that still carry out the death sentence. China is the country that has the highest rate of death executions in the world. In 2017, 23 countries carried out 993 death sentences, down four percent from 2016 and down 39 percent from 2015. This number does not include China. Amnesty International believes that the death sentence in China was in the thousands but the real number remains a “state secret.”

Source: Deutsche Welle, September 7, 2018
https://p.dw.com/p/34Sla