Skip to content

The National Rural Youth League Held a Conference in Changsha

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

China and Europeans Countries Held High Level Political Party Forum

The third China-European Union High-Level Political Party Forum was held in Brussels, Belgium for three days starting on May 29, 2012. Wang Jiarui, head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, led a group of Chinese delegates to participate in the forum. Politicians and experts from China and Europe gathered together to explore new paths to engage both sides in working together to deal with common challenges.

Wang spoke at the forum and expressed China’s wish to openly cooperate with European countries, expand cooperation in international trade and affairs, enhance exchanges in dealing with domestic affairs and challenges, and resolve the current crisis.

Close to 100 people attended the forum, including the delegates from China and the representatives from parties at the major and local levels in Europe.

Source: International Department of Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, May 30, 2012 http://www.idcpc.org.cn/ziliao/cn_eu_party3/dongtai/120530.htm

Qiushi-: The Manifestation, Cause, and Lessons from Democracy’s Failure in Developing Countries

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

Over 350 Million Chinese Have No Clean Water

According to Zhang Wentai, Deputy Director of the Committee on the Environment and Resources of the National People’s Congress, over 300 million of China’s rural population and 50 million urban residents have no clean drinking water. Four factors have contributed to the problem: China’s wetlands are shrinking; its water sources are drying up; forests are being destroyed; and the “three highs” (high pollution, the high consumption of power, and the high consumption of water) are affecting water resources. In 2002 and 2003, official surveys of the water supply networks in several hundred cities found the quality of the water pipes to be inferior. For example, 50.80% of iron pipes, 13% of cement pipes, and 6% of galvanized pipes were below the national safety standard.

Source: China Youth Daily, May 31, 2012
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2012-05/31/nw.D110000zgqnb_20120531_3-05.htm

Ministry of Public Heath on Qigong: The Government Encourages Different Schools of Thoughts

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

China to Step up Expansion of Party Organizations in Private Sector

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

China Develops Strategies to Prevent Government Officials from Fleeing Overseas

On May 23, 2012, the Chinese Disciplinary Committee held its 3rd joint meeting discussing “how to prevent government officials who are in violation of law and discipline from fleeing overseas.” A participant observed that the current situation is rather complicated and the task is huge. The committee issued a directive that government officials be strictly prevented from fleeing overseas. It mandated specific actions including: enhancing the control and administration of certificates and documents for overseas travel; promptly learning the real time situation of both the private overseas travel by government officials and the emigration of their spouses and children; listing officials, along with their spouses and children who have already emigrated overseas, as major targets; striving to establish a very tight and efficient network to prevent them from fleeing.

Source: People’s Daily, May 24, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/17975851.html

Ninety Percent of CCP Central Committee Members Have Family Members Overseas

Issue 321 of Dongxiang, a Hong Kong magazine, reported the results of a survey that the Central Committee of the Communist Party recently conducted. The survey revealed that, as of the end of March 2012, 187 (91 percent) of the 204 members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party had family members living or working overseas or maintaining citizenship in other countries. The survey included the members’ sons and daughters, grandchildren, and siblings. For the 167 alternate Committee members, 142 (85 percent) had relatives who had emigrated overseas. 113 (88 percent) of  127 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China had relatives who had emigrated overseas.

Sources: Oriental Daily, May 28, 2012
http://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/china_world/20120528/00178_012.html
Dongxiang Magazine, Issue 321 of May 2012
http://www.chengmingmag.com/t321/t321toc/t321toc.html