Chinascope – Page 636

China to Tighten Supervision of Law Enforcement

On December 16, 2015, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPC) issued a directive to fully implement and standardize inspection and supervision of law enforcement involving criminal sentences.

According to the directive, the police as well as law enforcement personnel in courts, prisons, detention centers, community corrective institutions, and other places involved in criminal sentences will be criminally pursued for violating of the rules. Also included are those who obtain confessions through torture; conduct illegal searches; accept bribes when conducting investigations; illegally deprive or limit the personal freedom of individuals joining the litigation; illegally seize or freeze assets; meet privately with litigious parties, their relatives, and interested parties; fabricate legal documents; bully convicts and their relatives, refuse their legal rights, or accepting money and gifts from them; ignore or cover up misconduct in sentence implementation or who abuse their power to influence commutation outcomes.

Source: China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate Website, December 16, 2015
http://www.spp.gov.cn/gjybs/201512/t20151217_109493.shtml

Briefings | | December 18, 2015 | Government/Politics

Tiger Hunt Can Be a Life and Death Business

Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan’s “tiger” hunt (anti-corruption campaign) has entered its fourth year since Xi took the reins of China in late 2012.

Whether or not they had anticipated it at the very beginning, this “tiger” fight has turned into a life and death business.

Continue reading →

Perspectives | | December 17, 2015 | Opinion

Who Will the Chinese Yuan Depreciation Hit the Hardest?

Caijing.com published an article on the ramifications of the recent depreciation in the Chinese yuan. The article discussed six groups of people who may be the hardest hit. The first group includes those who invested in the housing market and will see their real estate shrink in value. The second group is those who study overseas and will see less of the foreign currency when they are exchanging the yuan. The third group is those who buy at overseas online stores. They will have to pay more. The fourth group includes those who travel overseas. They too will have to pay more. The fifth group is the Chinese companies that have borrowed large amounts of yuan in anticipation of its appreciation. The sixth group is the currency speculators who, in recent years, have bought and held the yuan.

Source: Caijing.com reprinted by powerapple.com, December 15, 2015

https://www.powerapple.com/news/chan-jing-ke-ji/2015/12/15/2536910.html

Briefings | | December 17, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Beijing Court Commutes Death Sentences of Gu Kailai and Liu Zhijun to Life in Prison

On December 15, 2015, Beijing’s High People’s Court decided that Gu Kailai, wife of an imprisoned former corrupt higher official (Bo Xilai), will no longer have to die for having murdered British businessman Neil Heywood due to the fact that she did not deliberately commit any crimes during the two years she was in prison. In August 2012, Gu received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve. The court commuted her sentence to life in prison.

The Beijing High People’s Court has also pardoned another suspended death penalty prisoner, Liu Zhijun, China’s ex-railway minister, for his obedient behavior in prison. In 2011, Liu was arrested on corruption charges after 40 people died and 192 were injured in the Wenzhou train collision. The court commuted Liu’s death sentence to life in prison.

[Editor’s note: Bo Xilai, Gu Kailai, and Liu Zhijun were followers of Jiang Zemin, the former top leader of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China.]

Sources, People’s Daily and QQ.com, December 15 and December 14, 2015
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2015/1215/c1001-27929045.html
http://news.qq.com/a/20151214/036226.htm

Briefings | | December 17, 2015 | Government/Politics

VOA: Why Does the Chinese Government Support This Controversial Public Dancing?

Since 1999, when the Communist China started to suppress popular Qigong meditation exercises, the authorities have been promoting a new type of exercise called “Square Dancing” in China. The purpose was to replace Qigong. The songs and music that loudly accompany the dancing are revolutionary red songs which were popular during the ten year period of the Cultural Revolution and which had the effect of brainwashing people with Communist ideas and fervor. The children and young people during the Cultural Revolution period are now old people. Many elderly Chinese women love to dance in masses every evening in public squares in tune with the thundering red songs.

On December 12, 2015, a group of men had a big fight with a group of what has come to be called the “square dancing grannies” in Shanghai. The men refused the women’s demand to move away their cars, which were parked next to the restaurant. Several square dancing grannies were injured.

The high volume of noise from the square dances severely disturbs the nearby residents’ daily life. Few people want to buy the residential apartments near the places where the grannies hold their square dancing, even at the reduced price of 120,000 Chinese yuan (US$18,510) lower than the regular price.

In March of 2015, the Chinese authorities decided to set up guidelines to regulate square-dancing across the country, such as the dance movements, permissible times, and the volume of music. However, the authorities still encourage Square Dancing, even though more and more people find its craziness annoying.

Sources: VOA, Guangming Daily, 163.com, March – December of 2015
http://www.voachinese.com/content/VOAWeishi-ProandCon-20150911-why-does-the-chinese-government-support-the-controversial-public-dancing/2959820.html
http://www.voachinese.com/content/chinese-government-20150323/2694360.html
http://edu.gmw.cn/2015-12/10/content_18048284.htm
http://view.163.com/special/reviews/commiedance0424.html

Briefings | | December 17, 2015 | Government/Politics

BBC: Alibaba’s Purchase of SCMP Raises Concerns over Press Freedom

BBC Chinese reported on its website that the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) had concerns that press freedom in Hong Kong will be further compromised when China’s Internet giant Alibaba takes control of the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

In a public letter to SCMP readers, Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s Executive Vice-chairman, noted SCMP‘s unique strength is its focus on China. It draws attention from anyone who hopes to know about China, which is the number two economy in the world.

Tsai refuted questions about editorial independence after Alibaba’s acquisition of SCMP. He claimed that such a question itself demonstrates bias. He stressed that China’s economic rise and its role in stabilizing the world is too important to be covered by a single point of view. In a subsequent media interview, Tsai went on to say that he wants SCMP to "spread" a different angle about China, "The current news coverage of China is neither complete nor healthy because all of the media carry the western angle. That is one of many angles. I hope that we can use another angle — a more objective angle — to study China."

The HKJA noted that a professional media should employ the universal values of human rights, equality, and the rule of law in its reporting on any country. It raised the concern that Tsai’s talk of "a different angle about China" may foreshadow further restrictions on SCMP’s reporting on China and further compromise press freedom in Hong Kong. In his interview, Tsai also outlined plans to change SCMP‘s paid online content so that it would be freely accessible.

Sources: BBC Chinese website, December 11, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2015/12/151211_hk_press_scmp_statement

SCMP Chinese website, December 11, 2015

http://www.nanzao.com/tc/business/1519139d9cba375/a-li-ba-ba-shou-gou-nan-hua-zao-bao-dui-hua-a-li-fu-dong-shi-chang-cai-chong-xin

Briefings | | December 15, 2015 | Government/Politics

BBC Chinese: China Criticized Singapore after U.S. Deployed P-8 Reconnaissance Aircraft

BBC Chinese recently reported that China criticized Singapore after the United States announced the deployment of the P-8 reconnaissance aircraft in Singapore. China’s state-owned newspaper warned that Singapore may not want to be over-confident in playing a game between China and the U.S. Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen visited Washington not long ago and called for the continued presence of the U.S. military in the region in order to maintain stability. He explained that the U.S. role is very important to the pacific. China thinks the P-8 reconnaissance aircraft is “obviously against China” and stated that, even if the China-U.S. military race escalates in the future, it should not be in the South China Sea region. Singapore has long been a militarily ally of the United States. The two nations have signed agreements since 1990. Ng Eng Hen signed another defense agreement with the U.S. during his stay in Washington. The new agreement also covers copyright protection and anti-terrorism missions.

Source: BBC Chinese, December 10, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2015/12/151210_singapore_south_china_sea

Briefings | | December 15, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

U.S. Filed WTO Complaint over Chinese Tax Benefits for Domestic Airplanes

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the United States filed a WTO complaint against China because of the tax exemptions the Chinese government offered to certain domestically manufactured airplanes. The United States accused the Chinese government of tax discrimination, which violates WTO rules. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said that China charged a 17 percent value-added tax (VAT) on imported airplanes under 25 tons. However, Chinese made airplanes such as the ARJ21 enjoyed an exemption. Froman explained that this unfair taxation damaged key U.S. airplane manufactures as well as workers in that industry. The damages also impacted a wide range of airplane parts suppliers in the United States. He especially accused the Chinese government of not publishing the names of the Chinese manufacturers receiving the tax benefits, explaining that this obviously violated the WTO transparency principle. The ARJ21 is China’s first domestically manufactured regional jet model, designed mainly to compete against Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier.

Source: Sina, December 8, 2015

http://finance.sina.com/gb/economy/sinacn/20151208/09061382422.html

Briefings | | December 15, 2015 | US-China Relations

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.