On June 2, 2012, the Marxism theoretical research and development project conference was held in Beijing. The conference summarized the achievements made over the past eight years and further laid out the plan for the next step forward. Li Changchun, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, spoke at the meeting. Li requested that the work should “further carry out the key directives from the Sixth Plenary Session of the 17th Communist Party of China Central Committee held last year and that the work demonstrate a high level of understanding and confidence in the Marxist theory; further promote the development of the Party’s ideology and theory; promote the development of social sciences; and create a fine ideological and theoretical atmosphere ahead of the upcoming 18th National Congress.”

Liu Yunshan, the head of the propaganda department, hosted the meeting. There were 320 people from various propaganda departments, Marxism theoretical study groups, departments of education, and central news media agencies attending the meeting.

Source: Xinhua, June 2, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-06/02/c_112099638.htm

From May 28 to 30, 2012, the National Rural Youth League of the Communist Party held a conference in Changsha, Hunan Province. The purpose of the conference was to further carry out the key directives that Hu Jintao mentioned during the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Youth League, to summarize the Youth League’s work achievements made so far this year, and to lay out the plans for the Youth League’s work in rural regions.

The representatives from 22 Rural Youth Leagues at the provincial, city, and district levels attended the conference.

Source: China Youth Daily, June 3, 2012
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2012-06/03/nw.D110000zgqnb_20120603_4-01.htm

Qiushi recently published an article about the process of democratization in developing countries. The article stated that, since 1970, many developing countries have been dragged into joining the global democratization movement. Although democratic transformation has been going on for more than 30 years, most developing countries have gotten into trouble and experienced a democratization crisis. These crises have the following manifestations: 1). Democratization has brought about social turmoil, conflicts, and even war; 2). It resulted in poor efficiency in administration due to internal fighting; 3). It caused political corruption; 4) It affected economic development and brought poverty in its wake. The objective reasons for its failure include: 1) A poor economic foundation to support democracy; 2) The lack of an efficient system and of the laws to guarantee democracy’s execution; 3). The lack of a “democratic rationality” due to the poor quality of people’s education.

The article concluded that China should learn from the countries that failed after choosing the path of democracy and find a democracy suitable to China’s national situation; develop democracy in coordination with economic development; and not have a “shock style” democratization.

Source: Qiushi，May 31, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/zz/ywgc/201205/t20120531_161302.htm

The Gansu Provincial Public Health Department recently held a training for those who teach the practice of qigong. The report about the training attracted widespread attention. Since 1999, when the Chinese authorities launched the persecution of Falun Gong, a form of qigong, qiqong has been largely banned in mainland China.

On May 31, 2012, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health responded to public inquiries about the training. The spokesperson stated that the purpose of Gansu’s training was to help medical workers obtain more knowledge and skills in Chinese medicine. “Chinese medicine is a medical science developed over several thousand years; it has made great contributions. … Humankind has been deepening its understanding of life sciences, with constant new discoveries. Modern research also continues to provide scientific evidence substantiating Chinese medicine’s theories and methods. At the academic level, the government encourages theoretical explorations, innovative practices, and debates among different schools of thoughts."  

This official statement in favor of qiqong was released at the same time that public appeals for the authorities to stop the persecution of Falun Gong have been gathering momentum in China. Falun Gong is a meditation practice based on three tenets rooted in Chinese traditional culture: truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.

Source: Xinhua, May 31, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-05/31/c_112086812.htm

At a national meeting on May 25, Zhou Bohua, the head and Party chief of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC), identified some “blank spots” in the Party organization in the non-state sector, especially in single-person retail businesses, professional market places, and small and micro business. Zhou said that, as the next stage, SAIC will push forward the expansion of Party organizations in these areas.

According to the official statistics, 80% of China’s non-state enterprises and single-person retail businesses have yet to establish Party organizations. At present, China has 10.12 million non-state enterprises and 37.56 million single-person retail businesses, employing nearly 200 million people. The Party’s coverage of the small scale private enterprises is only 21%, with less than 1% coverage of single-person retail businesses.

For professional market places, where the merchants and entrepreneurs gather and trade, the state industrial and commercial authorities at different levels will dispatch instructors and liaisons to ensure they are covered by Party organizations.

Source: website of United Front Department, Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party, Mary 28, 2012
http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/S2012/201205/726532.html