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People’s Daily: Zhou Yongkang Is Down; More to Go

Xinhua published a short announcement that Zhou Yongkang, former member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee and former head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, was taken down by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). This is the first time in the past 25 years that a Politburo Standing Committee member has been taken down publically.

After Xinhua’s announcement, People’s Daily Online published an article titled “People’s Daily Online Commentary: Hunting Down the ‘Big Tiger’ Zhou Yongkang Is Not the End of the Anti-Corruption Work.” The article stated, “There is no end point for tightening the Party’s discipline. Nor will the anti-corruption campaign stop. Hunting down Zhou Yongkang is definitely not the end of the anti-corruption [work]. It is a phase [of the work]. Whoever is corrupt will be punished next, in the same way.”

This article was later removed from the People’s Daily website. However, the link is still available in Google search results. A copy of the article is available on NetEase.

Sources:
1. Xinhua, July 29, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-07/29/c_1111853756.htm
2. NetEast, July 29, 2014
http://news.163.com/14/0729/19/A2BGVE0C00014JB6.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Boxun: Flight Cancellations and Military Drills Related to Zhou Yongkang Takedown

According to Boxun on July 30, 2014, the recent unusual cancellation of the majority of flights between Beijing and Shanghai without advance warning, the military drills over the East China Sea, and the Air Traffic Control’s announcement about a large number of civil aviation flight cancellations on July 30 are all related to Zhou Yongkang’s takedown. Zhou Yongkang was a former Politburo Standing Committee member of the Chinese Communist Party and the former domestic security chief. On July 30, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CCP announced that Zhou was under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations."

Boxun said that military drills were preparation for deterring the possible bounce back of Zhou Yongkang and his supporters and the large number of civil aircraft cancelations was done in order to prevent officials from fleeing. 

Source: Boxun, July 30, 2014
http://boxun.com/news/gb/china/2014/07/201407300558.shtml#.U9kjF86TKSp

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

BBC Chinese: Christian Churches Suffer More Demolition in Zhejiang

BBC Chinese recently reported that, in Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, the police were using force to demolish a large local church. As of July 21, at least fourteen Christian church members had been injured. Unconfirmed reports indicate that three of the church members have started hunger strikes and are prepared for “martyrdom.” The local police have refused to provide any information to reporters and all online posts are rapidly deleted. This has been the third attempted demolition in two weeks. The first attempt was to remove the cross at the top of the church, but the police could not provide any official document or permit as justification. Not long ago, two other churches were torn down in Zhejiang Province. 
Source: BBC Chinese, July 23, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/07/140723_china_church_protest.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

People’s Daily: Top One Percent of Chinese Families Hold over One-third of the Wealth

People’s Daily recently reported on the People’s Livelihood Development Report newly released by the Chinese Social Science Research Center of Peking University. The report focused on six aspects of Chinese families: wealth, the spending model, health-related costs, self-employment, housing, and their “subjective sense of happiness.” The inequality in the distribution of wealth in China has been increasing rapidly. The research showed that the top one percent of Chinese families own more than one-third of the total of Chinese wealth. Meanwhile, the twenty-five percent of families at the bottom own one percent of the nation’s wealth. The difference between urban and suburban populations and the difference between different geographic regions are the two primary causes of the imbalance in wealth. The imbalance is also reflected in the spending model. The research shows that the vast majority of Chinese families spend most of their income on basic needs, while a small number of families enjoy an extremely high-end life-style. Also, China’s healthcare costs are higher than the world’s main developed countries.
 
Source: People’s Daily, July 25, 2014
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2014/0725/c1008-25345140.html
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China News: Qualcomm Faces Antitrust Investigation in China

China News recently reported that China is conducting an antitrust investigation into the U.S.-based Qualcomm, which is the world’s largest cellphone chip maker. The investigation is focusing on high patent licensing fees and the “handset-based patent pricing model.” Experts in the Chinese cellphone industry have expressed the belief that Qualcomm abused its power of control over its intellectual property by establishing unfair prices and denying competition. Qualcomm holds critical patents that dominate the cellphone chip market and define the wireless communications standard. Based on publicly available data, some lawyers have estimated that, if Qualcomm is found guilty, its total Chinese income, which is half of its global revenue (half of US$20 billion), will be the basis for the fine. There is a good chance that the fine will set a record in Chinese antitrust history. 
Source: China News, July 24, 2014
http://finance.chinanews.com/it/2014/07-24/6421681.shtml
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Chinahr.com Published Research Report on College Students’ Top Employment Choices

Xinhua recently published an article about a report that Chinahr.com, the talent search and human resources website, had published titled, “Research Report on College Students’ Top Employment Choices.” The report contained the results of a survey conducted among college students and people who had graduated from college asking about their preferences of employment and pay choices. The results showed that, as of May 2014, 38.9 percent of the seniors graduating from college had not signed an offer yet. The results also showed that, even though 35.9 percent of college students chose State Owned Enterprise as their top employment choice because of the pay benefits and job stability, more of those who had three or more years of work experience expressed a preference for privately owned companies. In the meantime, 18.9 percent of the people who had graduated expressed an interest in owning their own business. That number had gone up from 2.21 percent in 2013.

Source: Xinhua, July 27, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2014-07/27/c_126800954_2.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Ministry of National Defense: Military Exercises Are Not the Major Cause of Flight Delays

People’s Daily reported that a notice that the the Ministry of National Defense issued stated that the PLA will conduct its annual military exercises along the Southeast coast starting on July 29. According to the Information Office of National Defense, the impact of the military exercises on the commercial flight schedule has been limited and has not been a major cause of the recent flight delays; it was mainly weather conditions that caused these flight delays. [Editor’s note: Signs posted at Shanghai’s two main airports indicated that recent flights had been delayed or cancelled because of an unspecified “other user” of the airspace conducting exercises in the area.]

Source: People’s Daily, July 27, 2014
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0727/c1011-25349596.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Daily: Commentary on Intensive Visits That Members of the Standing Committee Made in July

People’s Daily published an article that reported the comments from experts on the intensive visits that members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau made to a number of different regions during July. The article said that those visits were an indication that the political bureau is gathering firsthand information to prepare for the upcoming fourth plenary session of the Party’s 18th Central Committee. According to the article, the fact that all the visits they made to these sites included stops at the local manufacturing companies indicated that the members were evaluating the effectiveness of the economic stimulus plan that the central administration had initiated. Meanwhile, the article suggested that the visits to the Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu and Fujian Provinces could indicate that the central administration might speed up of the development of the “Silk Road economic belt and the 21st-century maritime Silk Road” strategy. Lastly the article said the fact that more visits were made to the regions that had minority nationalities was a sign that the central administration intends to improve the living standard in these areas in order to minimize ethnic conflicts.

Source: People’s Daily, July 25, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0725/c1026-25344645.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics