Chinascope – Page 672

BBC Chinese: Chinese Military Audit Discovered Numerous Financial Issues

BBC Chinese recently reported, based on Chinese media coverage, that the Chinese authorities conducted a wide scale military audit starting in February. They discovered numerous financial problems. The key issues include blocking the proper distribution of military funds, reducing the released funding level, and the misappropriation of funds. Other findings include opening inappropriate bank accounts, spending without a budget, forging invoices, and expanding capital investments without approval. The Chinese military system is one of the key areas for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption movement. In the past couple of years, many high ranking military officials have been captured, including one top level general. In the nineties, the Chinese military was prohibited from engaging in civilian business transactions. However, in recent years, many military officials have, once again, gotten deeply involved in civilian businesses.

Source: BBC Chinese, July 2, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2015/07/150702_china_army_corruption

Briefings | | July 6, 2015 | Defense/Military

China Consumes Half of the Antibiotics in the World

Xinhua reported on a research study that the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, which is part of Chinese Academy of Science, had recently conducted. The study found that the consumption of antibiotics in China was 162,000 tons (147 million Kilograms) in 2013 which accounted for half of the total usage in the world. Of this total, 52 percent was for animal use and 48 percent was for human use. The study also found that over 50,000 tons (45 million Kilograms) of antibiotics was discharged into soil and water each year. The statistics also revealed that China’s average antibiotics consumption per person was 5 to 8 times higher than in Western countries and that antibiotics were found in close to 60 percent of children’s urine samples. The expert stated that the over usage of antibiotics was driven by two factors. One is that doctors like to prescribe antibiotics in order to seek a speedy recovery for their patients and the other is the higher profit margin of antibiotics which can bring economic benefits to the hospital.

Source: Xinhua, July 6, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2015-07/06/c_127988141.htm

Briefings | | July 6, 2015 | Information/Technology

Qiushi Theory: Cliques Are Absolutely Disallowed within the Party

Qiushi Theory published an article that reprinted a talk that Xi Jinping gave on preventing Party officials from forming cliques or factions of members that stick together in order to protect their own interests. The article said that the phenomenon is getting worse and has damaged the “advancement,” “unity,” and “purity” of the nature of the Party. The article then named some conditions that resulted in the formation of small interest groups within the Party. It called these a "culture of factionalization,” which occurs when officials study power circles and learn how to work around them through the “back door.” “Bourgeois liberalization” has resulted in officials not being able to balance the relationship between themselves and the Party. Thus they “seek and form personal interest groups,” which refers to the “die hard circle” of friends, alumni, and comrades–in–arms, who stick together for their own interests. The article stated that there should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior; it is a “battle that the Party cannot afford to lose.”

Source: Qiushi Theory, June 30, 2015
http://www.qstheory.cn/dukan/qs/2015-06/30/c_1115751308.htm

Briefings | | July 6, 2015 | Government/Politics

Beijing Youth Daily Described Party Development Work in Private and Foreign Owned Companies

Beijing Youth Daily published an article on how Party organization development work is conducted in privately owned and foreign owned enterprises. The article listed a few privately owned enterprises that recently established Party organizations. They include Xiaomi, Inc., a privately owned Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing; Leshi Internet Information & Technology, also known as LeTV, which is a Chinese entertainment company and the largest online video company; and Tongchen Travel, a tourist company in Jiangsu Province.

As to the structure and funding of the Party organizations, the article used Samsung Electronics in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province as an example. According to the article, in 2007, Samsung Electronics in Suzhou had its first Party branch office. In an interview with Beijing Youth Daily, the Party secretary of Samsung Electronics in Suzhou said that the strategy to build a Party organization in a foreign owned enterprise has always started with the Chinese manager who is in charge of the human resource department. In terms of the funding, the article said that, unlike privately owned enterprises, the foreign owned enterprise does not allocate funding to the Party organization. Therefore financing in Party branches within a foreign owned enterprise can be very tight.

As to roles and responsibilities, the article pointed out that most of the Party officials of a privately owned enterprise have dual positions within the company. For example, they could be both the company CEO and the Party secretary. This enables the Party organization to get involved in the decision making process while still having separate Party meetings as Party members. The article also mentioned that the Party organizations use online websites and microblogs to post newsletters and activities or use video and teleconferencing to host meetings. Some of them are considering the development of applications to manage the Party membership. According to the article, among 2.9 million privately owned enterprises, 1.6 million of them have established Party organizations. The goal, according to the article, is to continue to “improve the Party organization development work at the grass roots level and continue to expand the Party’s coverage.”

Source: Beijing Youth Daily, July 6, 2015
http://epaper.ynet.com/html/2015-07/06/content_141902.htm?div=-1

Briefings | | July 6, 2015 | Government/Politics

The Tuidang Movement: Freeing Hearts and Minds in China

On July 1, 2015, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) marked its 94th anniversary with celebrations extolling the “glorious history” of the Party. People in a dyeing and weaving factory in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province chose a different approach. All 1,000 Party members in the factory renounced their membership in the CCP together.

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Perspectives | | July 2, 2015 | Opinion

Caixin: Tumble in Share Price Puts Well-Connected Tycoon in Spotlight

Caixin online reported that Che Feng, who owns a majority stake in Hong Kong-listed Digital Domain, was detained on June 2, 2015.

On June 3, as rumors circulated that Che, son-in-law of a former central bank governor, was under investigation, the share price of Digital Domain plunged 41.4 percent. Digital Domain is a special effects producer for several Hollywood blockbusters. Within days, Hong Kong-based Apple Daily disclosed that Che had close ties with Zeng Wei, son of Zeng Qinghong, China’s former vice-president and member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Several sources said the inquiry into Che was triggered by an investigation into Ma Jian, a former vice minister of state security, and Guo Wengui, a property tycoon who controls Beijing Pangu Investment Co. and was a stakeholder in Digital Domain. The Communist Party’s graft buster detained Ma in January. Guo is overseas.

The predecessor of Digital Domain was Sun Innovation Holdings, Ltd. Documents from the Hong Kong stock exchange show that, in September 2012, Guo purchased 8.6 percent of the company for HK$ 0.083 per share from Che’s brother, Che Tao. Guo sold all his stock on January 16 at HK$ 0.18 per share, making a profit of about HK$ 80 million.

People with knowledge of the situation said Guo and Che remain close. Che once loaned 600 million yuan to Guo to help him get through a tough period and this cemented their relationship.

Source: Caixin Online, June 29, 2015; Apple Daily, June 5, 2015
http://english.caixin.com/2015-06-29/100823510.html
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/international/art/20150605/19172998

Briefings | | July 2, 2015 | Government/Politics

Economic Downturn Will Impact 2015 Fiscal Revenue

China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei predicted that, in the next few months, the State will face considerable pressure to meet its 2015 revenue target. He made these remarks when speaking to the People’s Congress on June 28, 2015. "In the next several months, due to factors such as the pressure of the economic downturn, we expect to face considerable pressure to meet the central government’s fiscal revenue target."

Lou set out five priorities for the future. In regards to in-depth reforms of the taxation system, Lou stated that efforts will be made to study a reform proposal on the personal income tax and to support real estate tax legislation.

Source: Ministry of Finance of China, June 29, 2015 http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caizhengxinwen/201506/t20150629_1262257.html

Briefings | | July 2, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Dongxiang Magazine: Zeng Qinghong’s Two Trusted Subordinates in the National Security System Sacked

Wenxuecity.com, a popular Chinese media website, republished a report (originally from Dongxiang, a Hong Kong news magazine) that suggested Zeng Qinghong might be in trouble.

The report said, “After Xi Jinping came to power, he started to purge the Ministry of State Security, which Jiang Zemin’s faction had long dominated. Following the sack of Zeng Qinghong’s henchmen Ma Jian, Vice Minister of the CPC National Security Ministry, Zeng’s other confidant Le Dake, deputy director of the Tibetan People’s Congress, was then put under investigation.”

Le’s dismissal was announced on the morning of June 26. He is the first provincial-level official to be investigated in Tibet after the "Eighteenth Congress of the CCP." Zeng Qinghong promoted Le and he has worked in the national security system for nearly 20 years.

“The Hong Kong newspaper Sun reported that Tibet and Xinjiang have been resisting the anti-corruption campaign, using the excuse of exceptional circumstances. Especially at the local public security level and the national security system, corruption has become a ‘forbidden zone.’ Le Dake’s arrest shows that Xi does not recognize any forbidden zone in anti-corruption.”

“Le’s dismissal is another major case in the state security system. He represents another important dismissed figure following the Beijing National Security Bureau head Liang Ke, Vice Minister Lu Zhongwei, and Vice Minister Ma Jian of the Ministry of State Security.”

Source: Wenxuecity.com, June 27, 2015

http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2015/06/27/4375175.html

Briefings | | July 2, 2015 | Government/Politics

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.