Chinascope – Page 784

Epoch Times: Unusual Protocol: Notice of Action against Zhou Yongkang Appeared on Non-Xinhua Website

According to an article published on March 2 in Epoch Times, news about disciplinary action against Zhou Yongkang appeared in the news twice. The first time was at 3 p.m. Beijing time during a press conference that the 2nd session of the 12th CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee) held. A reporter from the Hong Kong South China Morning Post raised a question about recent reports on Zhou Yongkang and asked if the CPPCC had any answers. The response from Lu Xinhua, the speaker, was that anyone who violated the law would be subject to punishment no matter what official rank that person had. Lu said, “I can only give you this answer. You should understand.”

Following Lu’s response, at 8:35 p.m. Beijing time, China’s Lianzheng (clean government) website published a notice saying, “Zhou Yongkang is suspected of serious disciplinary violations.” The notice stated that Zhou had been expelled from the party and will be subject to further notification until the fourth plenary of the 18th Congress. Epoch Times said that it was a rare occurrence for a news website other than Xinhua to publish such an important announcement.

Sources:
Epochtimes, March 3, 2014,
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/14/3/3/n4096103.htm%E8%AF%A1%E5%BC%82%EF%BC%81%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%BB%89%E6%94%BF%E5%BB%BA%E8%AE%BE%E7%BD%91%E6%8A%A2%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%97%E6%B5%B7%E8%AF%9D%E8%AF%AD%E2%80%9C%E9%80%9A%E6%8A%A5%E5%91%A8%E6%B0%B8%E5%BA%B7%E2%80%9D.html?photo=2
Lianzheng, March 2, 2014
http://www.lianzheng.org/plus/view.php?aid=11362

Briefings | | March 3, 2014 | Government/Politics

Guangming Daily: China’s Movies Face Challenges in Global Market

On February 27, the Academy for the International Communication of Chinese Culture of Beijing Normal University published a research paper that drew a conclusion about Chinese movies. According to Guangming Daily, which then published the findings, Chinese movies face significant challenges in the overseas market. The statistics showed that overseas Chinese movie audiences continue to decline, down from 37 percent in 2012 to 18 percent in 2013. The people who took the survey gave the movies ratings; the average was 5.7 out of 9.0. Kung Fu and action movies ranked the highest at 6.8. The statistics also suggested that those surveyed knew little about Chinese movie festivals. Over 57 percent had little or no knowledge of the existence of any of any Chinese movie festivals. The statistics also suggested that those surveyed are generally not interested in movies that reflect modern realism in China; however those people showed interest in knowing more about this subject, an indication that those modern realism movies had not been able to meet the requirement.

China’s movie box office revenue totaled 217 trillion yuan (US$35 trillion) in 2013. Of the movies shown, domestic movies accounted for 127 trillion yuan (US$20 trillion) or 58.65 percent. However ticket revenue for 45 domestic movies in the overseas market was only 14 trillion yuan (US$2 trillion). This amount was the equivalent of the box office sales in China from two U.S. made movies: “Iron Man 3” and “Pacific Rim.”

Source: Guangming Daily, February 28, 2014
http://news.gmw.cn/2014-02/28/content_10534643.htm

Briefings | | March 3, 2014 | Government/Politics

Information Office of the State Council Published Human Rights Record of the United States in 2013

In a reaction to the 2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that the United States issued on February 28, the Information Office of the State Council published the “Human Rights Record of the United States in 2013.” The record stated that the US slandered the human rights practices of close to 200 countries and regions but chose to cover up its own human rights situation. According to the record, human rights issues remained serious in the U.S. in 2013 and even deteriorated in certain areas. The record listed U.S. human rights violations in areas including, but not limited to: an increase in criminal cases; the PRISM (surveillance program); solitary confinement; a high unemployment rate; racial and age discrimination; a large number of child labor cases; and invasions into other countries such as Pakistan and Yemen.

Source: Xinhua, February 28, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-02/28/c_119546385.htm

Briefings | | March 3, 2014 | US-China Relations

China Establishes Central Internet Security and Information Leading Group

On February 27, 2014, China declared the establishment of the Central Internet Security and Information Leading Group and held its first meeting in Beijing. The CPC Central Committee General Secretary and Central Military Commission Chairman Xi Jinping himself assumed the head position of the group. Li Keqiang and Liu Yunshan were assigned as the deputy heads. Xi gave a speech at the meeting.

According to China’s state-run media report, the event signals that China is taking an important step forward in the national strategy of Internet security and information technology. Xi called on turning China from a big Internet country into a "global Internet power" [with the most Internet users in the world]. Xi pointed out that, if [the nation] is without Internet security, there is no national security. Xi also stressed the importance of Internet control. Xi said, “Online media [control] work is a long-term task. [We] must innovate and improve our online propaganda, spread our main message, stimulate positive energy, cultivate and practice the socialist core values, effectively guide online media, and have a clear cyberspace.”

Source: Xinhua, February 27, 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-02/27/c_119538719.htm

Briefings | | February 28, 2014 | Government/Politics

Report on Indices of Government Transparency

On February 25, the Institute of Law under China’s Academy of Social Science (CASS) and the Social Sciences Academic Press jointly released the Annual Report on China’s Rule of Law (the Blue Book on the Rule of Law).

The Blue Book contains a report on the indices of the transparency of the Chinese government based on the evaluation of 55 government departments under the State Council. The Ministry of Education ranked first with the highest score, while the National Railway Bureau ranked last with zero points.

With 100 points as the perfect score, the top five were as follows: The Ministry of Education (65.082); The State Administration of Work Safety (64.033); The National Development and Reform Commission (63.454); The Ministry of Commerce (61.635); and The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (60.7351).

The bottom five were The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (33.252); The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (25.3353); The Ministry of Justice (25.2854); The State Bureau for Letters and Calls (19.9555); and The National Railway Bureau (0).

Source: Xinhua reprinted by Guangming Daily, February 25, 2014

http://politics.gmw.cn/2014-02/25/content_10497663_2.htm

Briefings | | February 28, 2014 | Government/Politics

China Youth Daily: Environmental Protection Draws the Most Public Attention

A China Youth Daily team that monitors online public opinions issued a report on February 27. The report, based on a calculation of the amount of keyword-tagged information that has appeared at various online platforms since March 2013, came up with the top ten hot topics of public opinion, namely: environmental protection, anti-corruption, social security, food and drug safety, the stability of (housing) prices, Internet regulation, reform of the household registration system, judicial reform, health care reform, and social mores.

The issue of "environmental protection" rose to the top of the list, with three times more online discussions than the No.2 issue of anti-corruption. Of the 68 million online discussions, more than 70 percent (70.8 percent) of the netizens focused on PM2.5, a measure of particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter found in the air, which are believed to pose the greatest health risk. With over 48 million discussions on the matter it had more than a one third (35.6 percent) jump over last year. China Youth Daily received responses to over 1,000 questionnaires on how to deal with the air pollution. Approximately one third (29.3 percent) of the respondents called on the Government to strengthen its regulatory responsibility.

The topic of "anti-corruption" and "social security" ranked No. 2 and No. 3. on the list. The amount of total online discussion was about 22 million each, with a difference of only 3 percent. These two issues have made the list three years in a row, but the change this year is that "anti-corruption" jumped to No.2.

Source: China Youth Daily, February 27, 2014
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2014-02/27/nw.D110000zgqnb_20140227_1-03.htm

Briefings | | February 27, 2014 | Economy/Resources

[We] Should Not Be Blindly Optimistic about Talk that the “U.S.-Japan Relationship Is Breaking Down”

The People’s Daily website recently published an opinion article about a breakdown in the relationship between the United States and Japan. Below is an excerpt from that article:

Since December 26, 2013, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, the relationship between Japan, China, and South Korea has been in a frozen state. Recently, public condemnation and doubts from the international community, including the United States, about the Abe regime’s extreme right-wing tendencies have been growing. … There has been recent talk in the international community stating that "The U.S.-Japan relationship is breaking down." Will it really be so between the United States and Japan?

In this regard, we must remain highly aware and be sober minded. We must not be blindly optimistic.

First, recently, Abe’s hardline nationalist movement has clearly gained momentum in Japan. If there were no support from a big country behind it, how could Abe dare to act so recklessly as to even openly challenge China, South Korea, and the world? Who its "boss" is behind the scenes is well known to everyone, without any need to guess. The reason that the United States expressed disappointment about Abe’s move is mainly because Abe did not take sufficient action to mitigate the worries of another key U.S. ally, South Korea, about its agenda.

Second, since Japan and the U.S. signed a security treaty in the 1960s, the United States and Japan have maintained close contact and relations with each other. Even in the statement condemning Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, the United States also stressed that Japan is still a very important and even its staunchest ally and friend in Asia.

Third, at present, Japan’s domestic politics have shown a clear trend towards being overall rightist. From Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine as well as from a series of tough words and deeds, even Europe and America also had some doubts and suspicions about his motives and about Japan’s future direction. However, out of its own strategic interests, the United States will take advantage of this "Yasukuni" card, and continue to adhere to its stance of supporting Japan.

The Abe path is endangering the safety of the Asia-Pacific region and sometimes it may affect or even damage the Japan-U.S. relationship. However, the world should be clear that they are the same kind of animal. As long as its fundamental interests will not be jeopardized, then in front of a common "enemy," the United States is not going to reverse its relationship with Japan.

Source: People’s Daily (online), February 25, 2014

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0225/c1011-24454659.html

Briefings | | February 27, 2014 | 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.