{Editor’s Note: A fire on November 18, 2017, at an apartment in Daxing District, Beijing caused 19 deaths. The Beijing government responded swiftly with a city-wide campaign to fix the “hidden dangers to safety.” The authorities forcibly expelled people from buildings that they declared unsafe and then immediately demolished those buildings. Continue reading
Duowei: The CCP Intends to Export China Model to the World
On November 24, the second volume publication symposium on “Xi Jinping Talks about State Administration” was held in Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) new chief of propaganda and ideology, Wang Huning, and the Minister of the Central Propaganda Department, Huang Kunming, attended the meeting. Wang Huning defined Xi Jinping Thought as “original and contemporary Chinese Marxism in the 21st century.” Wang also gave Xi Jinping Thought a certain kind of universalist aura except for stressing that it should be used to arm the CCP.
Wang praised the essay book of Xi Jinping Thought, saying it, “fully embodies China’s wisdom and China’s plan to promote the cause of building a community of shared human destiny while contributing to the cause of mankind’s peace and development and … guiding the forward direction of advancing a better future for mankind.” Wang also demanded that the “(CCP) deepen the spread of propaganda to the world and enhance the international community’s understanding of Xi Jinping’s socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.”
Source: Duowei, November 25, 2017
http://news.dwnews.com/china/news/2017-11-25/60025793.html
Qiushi: China Is the Largest Democracy in the World Today
Qiushi {Seeking Truth}, the Chinese Communist Party’s theoretical periodical, published an article claiming China is the largest democratic country in the world. Below are some key points from the article:
• The West uses a “non-democratic” mark to label China’s socialist system, devaluing or even demonizing China’s political and economic system and its development achievements. As the most populous country in the world, China is the largest democracy in the world today.
• The West has no right to monopolize the standard for the “democratic state.” The essence of contemporary Western political discourse is that it is trying to establish Western democracy as the only “legitimate” form of democracy. Westerners deliberately refuse to apply the democratic form to contemporary {communist} China despite its own democratic pluralism.
• Western democracy is not as radiant as Westerners portray.
• China is steadily moving toward a new realm of people’s democracy. Socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics is the broadest, most authentic, and most effective democracy that upholds people’s fundamental interests and constantly shows its authenticity, effectiveness, and superiority.
Source: Sina, November 11, 2017
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/nd/2017-11-18/doc-ifynwnty4741795.shtml
China Conducted the First Head Transplant on Dead Bodies
Italian Neurosurgery specialist Sergio Canavero said that his team has performed the first head transplant in China by taking off the head from a dead body and connecting it to another dead body. The surgery took 18 hours and was successful.
Ren Xiaoping, a Chinese Professor at the Harbin Medical University, performed the surgery.
Canavero said earlier this year that he plans to conduct a head transplant in two years. He said this will lead to “living forever,” where people transplant their heads to younger bodies which were cloned from their original bodies.
Arthur Kaplan, a professor at New York University, who is strongly against organ harvesting, vehemently opposes this transplant practice. “The head transplant talk is like (the talks) from Mengele.” “It will be very brutal and definitely will bring disaster.”
Josef Mengele was a German Schutzstaffel officer and physician at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp during World War II. He used live humans to perform experiments to “improve the human race.”
“Canavero’s team said that the first transplant might be done using the body of a Chinese organ donor, because there is a higher chance of getting a Chinese organ donor.”
However, there have been accusations that the Chinese government conducts live organ harvesting using Falun Gong practitioners and political dissidents.
Ethan Gutmann, a human rights defender and former adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, believes that there are 500,000 to 1 million Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned in China and from 2000 to 2008, about 65,000 of them were already killed when the Chinese regime harvested their organs.
Source: BBC, November 23, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-42100245
China Will Host a Summit between the CCP and the World’s Political Parties
Xinhua announced that, from November 30 to December 3, China will host a Summit in Beijing that will include the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a large number of political parties from around the world. Xi Jinping will attend and give the keynote address at the opening ceremony.
Over 200 parties and political organizations from more than 120 countries have registered for the conference.
“This summit is the first China-hosted multi-country diplomacy event since the 19th Communist Party National Conference. It is the first time for the CCP to hold a summit which includes many different types of political parties from around the world; it is expected to be the most-attended summit of political party conferences. It has groundbreaking significance in the CCP’s history and also groundbreaking significance in the history of the world’s political parties.”
The summit has a symposium on the Spirit of the 19th CCP National Congress with the title, “The CCP and the World in the New Era.” It also has four parallel sub-forums on “Strengthening the Party’s Development: Political Party’s Challenge and Future,” “Build a Beautiful Country: Political Party’s Practice and Experiences,” “Construct the ‘One Belt, One Road’: Political Party’s Participation and Contributions,” and “Lead the Development of the Common Community of Human Destiny: Political Party’s Roles and Responsibilities.”
“Some foreign political party leaders will visit the CCP’s Party Central School. Before or after the summit, China will also hold the 3rd China-Africa Political Parties Symposium on Theory, the 2nd China-Central Asia Political Parties Forum, and the Tenth China-U.S. High-Level Political Party Leaders Dialogue.”
Source: Xinhua, November 24, 2017
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2017-11/24/c_1122006619.htm
The Philippines Invited Chinese Companies into Its Mobile Communications Market
Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that Harry Roque, the spokesperson for the Philippine President, confirmed at a press conference that Chinese mobile communications companies were officially invited to enter the Philippines domestic market. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte personally extended the invitation when he met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang not long ago. This is a special rights authorization to establish a third mobile communications company in the Philippines. The authorization not only includes cellular operation rights but also allows Internet connection services. It is still unclear which Chinese communications company will be the one entering this new market. The Presidential Office expects the Chinese application to be submitted in 45 days. Not long ago, the Philippines granted a U.S. Facebook company rights to take on the Trans-Pacific Cable project.
Source: Sina, November 20, 2017
http://finance.sina.com/bg/economy/sinacn/20171120/19391676717.html
Microsoft Skype Removed from China’s App Stores
Well-known Chinese news site Sohu recently reported that both the Apple iOS version and the Google Android version of Microsoft’s Skype app have been removed from China’s app stores. Apple’s spokesperson explained that Skype does not meet China’s local VoIP (Voice-over-IP) laws, so Apple removed the app per the Chinese government’s requirement. The Google Play Android app store does not operate in China. However, multiple Chinese run Android app stores removed Skype as well. A Microsoft spokesperson commented that the removal is temporary and Microsoft is trying to restore the app and its service as soon as possible. At this point there is no known schedule for when Skype will be made available again in China.
Source: Sohu, November 22, 2017
http://www.sohu.com/a/205778180_114760
East Day: China’s Central Television Confirmed China’s Aircraft Carrier Plan
Shanghai based news network East Day recently reported that the authoritative Chinese Central Television (CCTV) broadcast a new TV documentary program that revealed the actual number of aircraft carriers China has in its plan. The total count on its road map is six. The first two ski-jump takeoff mid-sized models have been constructed. The next two will be conventional power large size models with catapult take-off capabilities. However, the catapult mechanism is still being considered. It is very likely that it will use an electromagnetic catapult. The last two carriers will be nuclear powered large size models reaching a level above the U.S. Nimitz class with partial Ford class capabilities. In the long-term road map, by around the year 2049, China will build another four world-class carriers thus giving the Chinese Navy up to 10 aircraft carriers. The TV documentary also mentioned that China has tested the electromagnetic catapult technology thousands of times and it has achieved the deployment quality for launching different types of aircraft. The Navy has also placed a large number of orders for the J-20 carrier fighter jets. The J-31 V2 version has been undergoing intense flight tests. The status of the nuclear power system for carriers is still unclear, although China has the mature technology to power nuclear submarines.
Source: East Day, November 20, 2017
http://mini.eastday.com/a/171120213326284.html