On November 20, 2014, the State Council announced new guidelines on the classification of cities based on the size of their population.
Huanqiu: The UN Attempt to Bring Kim Jong Un to Justice Is Absurd
On November 21, 2014, Huanqiu published an editorial titled, “The UN Attempt to Bring Kim Jong Un to Justice Is Absurd.” The editorial stated that bringing the North Korean human rights problems to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and trying its leader is a very extreme approach. It would provide new excuses for North Korea to re-enforce its hostility toward the international community. Rather, the key may be to encourage it to open up to the world. To this end, “the United States, Japan, and others must change their posture of intimidation and endeavor to assure Pyongyang that it is safe.” The editorial expressed that, since he has less than three year in power, holding Kim Jong Un accountable for North Korea’s problems is not fair.
China Signed a $12 Billion Railway Project in Nigeria
China’s Energy Strategy from 2014 to 2020
On November 19, the State Council released the Energy Development Strategy Action Plan (2014-2020). In an effort to restructure China’s energy consumption and production, it has adopted a four-point approach.
People’s Daily: New Anti-Corruption Policy – Target and Objective of the Investigation Must Be Clear
On November 19, 2014, People’s Daily published a news report on a new anti-corruption policy. It was based on a speech that Wang Qishan, who is a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, the head of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the leader of the CCP Central Commission Inspection Patrol Group delivered on November 18. Wang said that the next phase of the anti-corruption patrol (or tour) inspection will shift to specific targets. It will target only one issue, one person, one subordinate workplace of a project or one particular fund. Unlike the regular tour inspection, the target-focused tour investigation must have a clear objective, follow the elements of a problem, focus on the problem, stress the important matters, and dig deeply into the problem.
Approved by the CCP Central Committee, the third round in 2014 of the nationwide inspection tour will focus on the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China’s Association for Science and Technology, the All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce, China Radio International, China Southern Airlines, China State Shipbuilding Corporation, China Unicom, the China Shipping Group, China Huadian Corporation, Dongfeng Motors, the Shenhua Group, and Sinopec.
Source: People’s Daily, November 19, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1119/c1024-26049971.html
Huanqiu: People Want the Police to Clear the Occupy Central Sites
Huanqiu reported that, on November 18, the Hong Kong government cleared the barriers at Admiralty, a site where Occupy Central protesters had been stationed.
The article stated "clearing the [Occupy Central] site is what the public wanted. Some commentaries said that, not only did the majority of Hong Kong’s citizens want the students to retreat completely, but the students also wanted the government to clear the site so that they can take it as a step calling for them to retreat."
Huanqiu interviewed a Beijing University professor who gave three reasons for the clearing at Admiralty to have gone smoothly. The first was that the overseas democracy promoters suggested the "Occupy Central" activists not have a conflict but instead plan for a long-term struggle. Second, the "Occupy Central" activists realized that the "Occupy Central" [movement] had reached a hopeless stage. Third, the court staff performed the site clearing. They represent the law and if the "Occupy Central" activists resisted, they would "nakedly" (without any coverage) have violated the law.
Source: Huanqiu Online, November 19, 2014
http://china.huanqiu.com/article/2014-11/5207114.html
People’s Daily: University Instructors Should Not Be ‘Announcers’ Who Defame China.
On November 14, 2014, Liaoning Daily, a provincial Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper, published an article (reprinted in Sohu) titled, “Teacher, Please Don’t Talk about China Like That: An Open Letter to Teachers of Philosophy and Social Science.” Liaoning Daily’s reporters sat through about 100 classes in 20 universities in big cities in China and concluded that university teachers in China 1) disagree with the Chinese Communist Party’s innovative theories and expose the dark sides of Marx, Engels, and Mao Zedong in class; 2) disagree with China’s political system and praise the “separation of powers” in the West; 3) do not love the Chinese Communist Party and do not encourage students to join the Party using themselves as role models.
On November 17, 2014, the Chinese Communist Party News website under People’s Daily published a commentary article titled “University Teachers Should Not Be ‘Announcers’ Who Defame China.” The article criticized university teachers for spreading Western views and disparaging China’s political system in class. The article said, “University teachers must correct their world views, conscientiously implement the Party’s education policy, and inject positive energy into the development and dissemination of (China’s) socialist core value system.”
On November 19, 2014, Huanqiu published a commentary on the debate that the Liaoning Daily’s article initiated (“If Any Country Is Criticized, the Target Must Be China”). According to Huanqiu, university instructors’ speeches in class must be restricted by a higher political and moral bottom line. “If instructors in European and American universities promote values that are highly contradictory to those of mainstream society, they will get into big trouble.”
Finally, the Xinhua blog published an article (not necessarily representing Xinhua’s views) saying, “First of all, do not underestimate the intelligence and judgment of college students." "Second, do not overestimate the teachers’ influence in the university classroom." "Third, the openness and freedom of the university classes have a self-purification function." "Fourth, we should believe in the capable outcome resulting from university autonomy.”
Source: Sohu, People’s Daily, Huanqiu, Xinhua Blog, November 14 – 19, 2015
http://news.sohu.com/20141114/n406046000.shtml
http://cpc.people.com.cn/pinglun/n/2014/1117/c241220-26037053.html
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2014-11/5207179.html
http://sike.news.cn/article.do?action=articleDetail&id=218598439