According to a commentary article that huaglad.com published, Ding Xuexiang, director of the General Office and close aide to Xi Jinping, recently spoke at a meeting that departments under the party central committee attended. Ding indicated that almost all of the officials who were investigated after the 18th National Congress had “political issues.” Some of them even had the intention to, “Usurp the party and seize power.” The article stated that the comments Ding made served as a warning signal to the Jiang faction. According to the statistics, over the past five years, over 440 provincial level officials were the subject of investigations, including six officials who had the highest rank: Bo Xilai, Sun Zhengcai, Zhou Yongkang, Ling Jihua, Xu Caihou, and Guo Boxiong. The media reported that the Jiang faction, which both Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong backed, had planned to have Bo Xilai promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee and oust Xi Jinping from his post. After the fall of Bo Xilai and prior to the 19th National Congress, Sun Zhengcai, Bo’s successor from Chongqing was also taken down. The article reported that the “big tigers” that Xi took down during the anti-corruption effort were mostly members of the Jiang faction.

The article also pointed out that Xi’s anti-corruption effort has had little impact because China is under a one-party autocracy. China is ranked 77th out of 180 countries and regions according to the 2017 Clean Government index, while a survey conducted in China found that 73 percent of the people surveyed believe that, even though Xi has conducted the anti-corruption effort over the past few years, the corruption has been getting worse in China. The article reported that corruption has penetrated all levels of the party structure and has become part of the party culture, which will eventually drag down economic growth. Xi is facing a tremendous challenge in dealing with his corrupt party and the problems can’t be fixed simply with an administrative order or an anti-corruption campaign.

Source: huaglad.com, February 25, 2018
https://www.huaglad.com/zh-tw/topimagenews/20180225/318585.html

According to an article that Radio France Internationale published, Taiwan ASUS Tech Computer, Inc. recently announced that it will give up its iCloud service market in China due to a change in China’s Internet security law. The article stated that ASUS decided to give up the Chinese market when it faced two options: cooperate with China’s inspection regulations requiring moving the data center to China or withdraw from China’s market. Unlike ASUS, Apple gave in to the Chinese authorities and agreed to allow a Chinese company to manage its iCloud service in China. Asus announced that it will discontinue its cloud service as of May 1 and asked its customers to open a new account in a different country or region. Following the announcement, ASUS decided to reduce its data service centers from four to three with the remaining centers located in Taiwan, Luxembourg, and the U.S. According to the article, China accounts for a 10 percent share of the total customers for ASUS and closing down its China operation will not have a major impact on its overall business.

Source: Radio France Internationale, February 25, 2018
http://cn.rfi.fr/港澳台/20180218-台湾华硕不愿屈服低头将云端服务撤出大陆A