SOE Reform: The Party Must Assume the Responsibility for Managing SOEs
People’s Daily carried an article which Outlook Weekly had originally published. The article stated that, recently, the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms passed two opinions on State Owned Enterprise Reform. One is called the “Opinion on Being Persistent in the Party’s Leadership and Development during State Owned Enterprise Reform.” The other is called the “Opinion on Strengthening and Reform of State Owned Enterprise Asset Supervision and the Prevention of State Owned Enterprise Asset Loss.” The article stated that these two Opinions have set the tone from the central administration and provided a timely guarantee to ensure the smooth progress of State Owned Enterprises reform.
According to the article, of the two opinions, the Opinion on “Party Must Assume Responsibility for Managing SOEs” attracted the most attention but it was not the first time that it was brought up. The article listed similar proposals made in the Fourth Conference of the 16th Congress of the CCP in 2004 and the National Party Development within State Owned Enterprise Conference in 2009. Based on the comments from the research experts quoted in the article, defining the Party’s legal position within the company is very sensitive because the current company structure has a board of directors as the core leadership team. Therefore company policy may need to be modified to define the Party’s legal position within the corporation. It is expected that more policies on this subject will be introduced in the near future.
Source: People’s Daily, June 14, 2015
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0614/c1001-27150930.html
People’s Daily Opinion Article: U.S. Can’t Forcibly impose its Democratic Values on Other Countries
People’s Daily published an opinion article that attacked the U.S. for exporting its democratic values to the world and said that the U.S. should not forcibly impose its democratic system on other countries. The article stated that a number of the countries that had color revolutions had encountered such economic and social issues as slow economic growth, a high unemployment rate, and extreme domestic conflicts. The article said that, since World War I, the Western countries, especially the U.S., have constantly tried to export the value of democratic freedom to the world. By doing so, the U.S. has interfered in the internal affairs of other countries and forced its democratic values on others. The article listed the “theories and strategies” that the U.S. uses to launch color revolutions in other countries. It also quoted media articles to show that democracy will not solve all (these countries’) problems; democracy also has its dark side and forcibly exporting democratic values is an act of barbarism. The article concluded that each country has its own uniqueness and can’t blindly borrow experiences from other countries. Imposing democratic values on others would only cause chaos, social instability, and economic recession and would not serve any purpose in promoting world peace.
Source: People’s Daily, June 14, 2015
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n/2015/0614/c1003-27150413.html
VOA: Chinese Diplomat Calls on Chinese Media to Break the Foreign Media Barrier
Voice of America carried an article that quoted comments that He Yafei, Chinese diplomat and current Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave at a recent talk. He spoke at a “China and External Communication Forum” held in Chongqing on June 11. The article said that He called on the media in China to break the barrier of foreign media. According to He, even though China has made a large investment in building its propaganda team overseas, China’s voice is too weak and is limited in disseminating its story. Close to 50 Western media outlets account for 95 percent of the world’s media market and only 20 percent of the people from foreign countries have gotten to know China through Chinese media. He said that the Western media initiated propaganda promulgating the China Threat and the China Collapse theories. They constantly impose its own value system on others. As to the attacks and negative comments on China, He said that China needs to have an open dialogue and clarify the facts.
Source: Voice of America, June 12, 2015
http://www.voachinese.com/content/media-watch-20150612/2819105.html
Zhou Yongkang Sentenced to Life in Prison
On June 11, 2015, Xinhua reported that China’s ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life in prison. He is the most senior Communist official to face corruption charges. Zhou is 72 years old.
Xinhua: How Can the Half Torn G7 Intervene in the South China Sea Issue?
Xinhua’s web magazine, International Sphere (Volume 551) published a group of articles commenting on the G7 summit’s joint statement about China’s actions in South China Sea. The editor added the following comment in the introduction, “Because of [Japanese Prime Minister] Abe’s plot behind the scenes, the just-concluded summit of the G7 issued a joint statement, irresponsibly commenting on the South China Sea issue. Japan coerced the G7 summit into placing the South China Sea issue on its agenda. Its attempt to instigate the Western countries to choose sides is all too clear. In the end, though, the statement did not name China, indicating that the European G7 countries are very clear that the remote South China Sea belongs to Asia and that the issue should be resolved among the related countries through consultation. What qualifications do outsiders have to criticize the involved country so recklessly? Meanwhile, the rich G7 countries’ club is no longer what it once was. It is in a semi-torn state on many issues. Even though the U.S. and Japan forcefully pushed the South China Sea issue, how will the European countries that are in a big mess and have a hard time taking care of themselves have the energy to interfere in the South China Sea, not to mention their becoming an enemy of China? This is by no means the best policy!”
Central Bank Report: China’s Economy Is Slowing Down
The Chief Economist of China’s central bank led a number of officials from the bank in writing a research report predicting that China’s economy will continue to slow down for the rest of 2015.
Legacy of the June 4th Movement – Part II, Money and Only Money
Jiang Zemin, who came to power after the June 4th event, used the enticement of corruption to solve the problem of maintaining the loyalty of Chinese officials. He also faced another major problem. After the Tiananmen Massacre, how could the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regain the legitimacy of its rule before the Chinese people?