On October 13, 2016, one day after Huanqiu (Global Times) published its editorial against Hong Kong Sing Pao Daily, Sing Pao published an article listing its records of Huanqiu’s notorious actions. According to Sing Pao, Huanqiu is a newspaper of a Chinese Communist Party Central Committee organ. It seems that Huanqiu is an official media, but it is actually a political tool of Jiang Zemin’s faction.

“Zhang Dejiang (Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress), Liu Yunshan (China’s propaganda chief) and their faction always ‘politically discredit’ others and subject them to ‘personality murder.’” It is laughable that Huanqiu asserted that the boss and staff members of Sing Pao are close to Falun Gong (against whom Jiang Zemin initiated a brutal persecution in July 1999) just because Falun Gong applauded Sing Pao’s commentaries.

Huanqiu has a notorious record of publishing extreme left-wing articles, such as releasing the poll on “Using Military Force to Unite Taiwan” and “The Best Time to Occupy Taiwan with Military Force.” “The Internet Security and Information Leading Group Office of the CCP Central Committee announced that the Huanqiu Website (under Huanqiu) has seriously violated reporting discipline by repeatedly heightening sensitive incidents in the United States, North Korea, the South China Sea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Source: Hong Kong Sing Pao Daily, October 13, 2016
http://www.singpao.com.hk/index.php?fi=news1&id=6203

On October 12, 2016, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported  that an order has been issued to ban Chinese media from republishing Caixin‘s original content. The order, given on October 11,  was from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), Beijing’s central Internet censorship, oversight, and control agency and is to remain in effect for 60 days. Caixin is a leading Chinese media for publishing original content on finance, the economy, and social governances.

RFA cited reports indicating that the immediate trigger for the ban may have been Caixin‘s recent coverage, now deleted, of 168 lawyers’ signing an appeal to oppose new regulations from the State Council. The rules reinforce the Chinese Communist Party’s control over law firms, requiring them not to “indulge or condone” their staff in conducting a wide range of specified activities.

Continue reading →

On October 12, 2016, following Hong Kong Sing Pao Daily‘s publication of a series of articles criticizing Chinese politburo member Zhang Dejiang, Huanqiu (Global Times), a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece under the control of Liu Yunshan [both Zhang and Liu are close allies of former Communist Party head Jiang Zemin], published an editorial attacking Sing Pao Daily News for its sudden change in political stance. Sing Pao had previously been pro-China [favorable to Jiang’s faction] but published articles critical of two members of Jiang’s faction: Zhang Dejiang, who is the top official responsible for Hong Kong and Macau affairs, and Liung Chun-ying, who is Hong Kong’s Chief Executive.

Huanqiu asserted that Sing Pao Daily News is now more like the Falun Gong media Epoch Times, [in attacking the CCP]. [Editor’s note: The Epoch Times is a private independent American media group founded in 2000. The CCP regards Epoch Times as an overseas anti-China (CCP) media.] The Huanqiu editorial claimed that for Sing Pao to dare to do so [attack prominent Chinese leaders on its front page] is very unusual and it cannot be out of ordinary political reasons. The article zoomed its focus to the newspaper’s President of the Board, Gu Zuoheng, a mainland businessman. The article stated that Gu was involved in a “Crime of illegally absorbing deposits from the public” and is now wanted by the police. The article speculated that because Gu cannot convince the justice department to let him go, he used the paper to vent his anger and attacked the leaders in charge of Hong Kong affairs, or maybe Gu is trying to accumulate chips for seeking asylum in the U.S. or another Western country.

Source: Huanqiu (Global Times Chinese), October 12, 2016
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2016-10/9537676.html

On October 10, the Chinese Military Commission held a special meeting in Beijing, with Xi Jinping’s approval, to study and implement measures to eliminate completely any residual influence of [the sacked former vice chairmen of the military commission] Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou and to clean up the political environment in the military. The top leaders of all major military units and relevant departments of the military commission attended the meeting.

PLA Daily published a commentary article on the issue the following day. The article said that what Guo and Xu had done serious damage to the military. The impact is widespread and deep. The article indicated that even two years after Guo and Xu’s removal, there is still more clean-up work to be done. The article said, “… [The clean-up work] has made major progress in the past two years. … However, it is not up to the standards that Chairman Xi and the Central Military Commission have set; not enough has been done to meet the needs of building a strong military and to meet the army’s expectations. It is still not sufficient to eliminate the deep level impact on thought, politics, organizations, and ethics. Concepts, ways of thinking, and the working model, which need to be in line with the new system, have not been fully established. The problem of discipline being violated has also occurred from time to time.”

The article emphasized, “To completely and thoroughly eliminate Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou’s poisonous influence is a serious political task in order to further promote political developments in the new situation, to ensure pure and reliable military loyalty, to deepen anti-corruption, and to promote strict and comprehensive administration in the military.”

Source : PLA Daily, October 11, 2016
http://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2016-10/11/content_158578.htm

Well-known Hong Kong pro-mainland newspaper Sing Pao published another astonishing commentary implicating Zhang Dejiang, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). In recent days, Sing Pao has published a series of unusual commentaries, which analysts widely regard as a strong political signal from the top Chinese leadership. This latest commentary held Zhang responsible for the recent shocking Liaoning Election Bribery Case that involved 523 provincial Congressmen and 45 national Congressmen in corruption accusations. The case resulted in the Liaoning provincial legislative branch being unable to function. The commentary also pointed out, for the first time, that Zhang Dejiang is under former President Jiang Zemin’s “protection umbrella.” This “umbrella” is actually the reason Zhang has not had to face the consequences for his failures. In the end, the author said that he felt “grateful” that the Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) is still there to take care of these corrupt activities. He also called for a reform of the National People’s Congress.

Source: Sing Pao, October 3, 2016
http://www.singpao.com.hk/index.php?fi=news1&id=4988