The International Herald Leader (IHL, under Xinhua News Agency) published a commentary regarding the U.S.’s response to China’s hypersonic missile "weapons" test. Below is a summary of the article.
Health Authorities Downplay H7N9 Cases
Xinhua reported that the health authorities in Guangdong Province have beem downplaying information about the H7N9 epidemic. “They no longer actively release case information to the media and case notifications no longer contain the words ‘history of contact with live poultry.’”
Study Times: Ensure the Chinese Communist Party’s Publications Carry the Voice of Authority
On January 27, 2014, Study Times, a journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article on how to ensure the voice of authority of the Chinese Communist Party’s publications. According to the article, the Party’s publications must promote all kinds of achievements, lead the diverse social thought trend with the socialist core value system, and have the courage to face and actively respond to social hot spots and emergencies so as to lead public opinion. Internationally, the Party’s publications must create new concepts and new expressions that both China and the West accept and they must propagandize China and the Chinese Communist Party around the world.
“The essential attribute of the Party’s publications is to uphold the Party’s principles and lead public opinion. As for the management system, the organizations of the Party’s publications must be important departments of the Party and the government. In terms of the propaganda content, the Party’s publications must mainly promote the Party’s theories, the Party’s line, the Party’s principles, the Party Central Committee’s important decisions and plans, and the Party Central Committee’s major analyses and judgments on (China’s and the world’s) situation. Politically, [the Party’s publications] must maintain a high level of consistency with the Party’s Central Committee and resolutely safeguard the authority of the Central Committee. As for staffing, most news propaganda workers must become determined Marxists.”
Source: Study Times, January 27, 2014
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140127/3864.shtml
Study Times: China’s Dream Includes a Stronger Army and an Outgoing Military Strategy
On January 27, 2014, Study Times, a journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article on how China’s dream includes a stronger army. Up until now, China’s basic military strategy has been self-defense, to defend China’s mainland. According to the article, as China rises, China’s military strategy should be more and more outgoing. “(We) should not only be effective in deterring and defeating any aggression against our native mainland; we should also be effective in deterring and stopping any country that is against our vital interests abroad and deterring and stopping any neighboring countries that play with fire and intensify conflicts.”
As for China’s vital interests, the article particularly mentioned the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands), the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands), and outer space.
Source: Study Times, January 27, 2014
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140127/3852.shtml
Xinhua: HSBC January Chinese PMI Hit Six-Month Low
China Daily: ICBC to Take over the International Branch of Standard Bank
Xinhua: HK Government Announced Phase One Sanction against the Philippines
Microblog Postings Down 70 Percent Since Suppression Was Launched
VOA reported that, according to the results of a survey that The Daily Telegraph published, the number of postings on microblogs dropped 70 percent from 2011 to 2013. VOA stated that the Information Technology Institute of East China Normal University conducted the research at the request of The Daily Telegraph. They analyzed the usage information of 1.6 million microblog users from 2011 to 2013. The information revealed that, before March 2012, these users posted 83 million blogs each day. However, after the real name registration system was adopted in that same month, the number of postings dropped by at least 50 percent. The number dropped further again after a few well known bloggers were arrested.
Source: Voice of America, January 31, 2014
http://www.voachinese.com/content/china-crack-down-cut-weibo-traffic-20140131/1842253.html