Chinascope – Page 956

China’s Top Cop Investigated As Bo Xilai Scandal Develops

On April 19, 2012, the Associated Press quoted from overseas-based Chinese websites and political insiders that Zhou Yongkang, one of nine members of the Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, is also under heavy scrutiny and could face a reckoning as part of the recent scandal unraveling around the ousting of Bo Xilai, a Politburo member and former Party chief of Chongqing.

"Zhou, 72, is widely reported to have been the only leading official to have argued against last week’s striking decision to suspend Bo’s membership in the 25-seat Politburo – a step that effectively ended the political career of one of China’s most ambitious and high-profile politicians."

"Since then, Zhou has made tearful self-criticisms to President Hu Jintao and former leader Jiang Zemin, his political mentor, according to the U.S.-based Chinese-language dissident news site Boxun.com, which has been reporting accurately on the Bo scandal. Despite that, Zhou is now under some form of secretive investigation by the Party’s disciplinary body," it said.

Source: Associated Press, April 19, 2012
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2012/04/19/probe_of_security_boss_could_widen_china_scandal/

Briefings | | April 19, 2012 | Government/Politics

Huanqiu: The U.S. Should Do Some Soul Searching before Criticizing China

Huanqiu published a commentary on March 29, 2012, on the testimony that Don Yamamoto, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, gave before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, regarding China’s role and its influence in Africa. Yamamoto said, “China’s activities in Africa offer important opportunities for the continent, though there are major areas where our interests do not align.” The Huanqiu commentary was critical of this statement, among other things. “The biggest problem is that (China) moves the ‘cheese’ of the West (a sarcastic reference to U.S. inability to adjust to its loss of hegemony), thus violating the interests of the United States. Sino-African cooperation is in line with the interests of China and African countries. One should not ask China and Africa to reduce their cooperation for the benefit of U.S. interests. If the U.S. wants to protect its own interests, then the U.S. should first know what shame is and then have the courage to catch up by doing a better job, rather than being jealous of others and sabotaging or thwarting others.”

Sources: Huanqiu, April 16, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2012-04/2619402.html
Wikipedia: Who Moved My Cheese?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Moved_My_Cheese%3F

Briefings | | April 19, 2012 | US-China Relations

Study Times: Accurately Comprehend What Soft Power Means

Study Times, the theoretical journal of the Communist Party, published an article that attempted to correct “misconceptions” that Chinese scholars and government officials have about soft power. The article said that 90 percent of the publications related to culture (in China) have used the term "soft power." However, many people have described the term purely from the academic perspective and have missed its ideological meaning. The author pointed out that this misconception has had a negative impact on the development of China’s soft power; if it is not corrected, it could affect the direction of the development of Chinese style socialist culture.

The article asserted that the United States wants to dissolve the belief, confidence, and trust of Chinese Communist officials with a butter knife (of soft power) in order to change the Chinese Communist leaders’ Marxist beliefs … and eventually make them completely accept Western values and cultural thought. The 6th Plenary Session of the 17th Communist Congress proposed to develop a powerful nation with a socialist culture. The key is to develop the socialist core value system so as to fight against the infiltration of the western hostile forces and prevent a repeat of the tragedy that took place in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe .

Source: Study times, April 16, 2012 http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2012/04/16/16/16_36.htm

Briefings | | April 19, 2012 | Government/Politics

Study Times: Consciously Resist Rumors on the Internet

Study Times, the publication of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CCP, published an article on April 16, 2012, titled “Consciously Resist Rumors on the Internet.” According to the article, rumors related to historical contradictions and people’s resentment spread easily among Internet users and may eventually lead to mass action. Therefore, Internet users must not start rumors, believe rumors, or spread rumors. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities have developed a mechanism to use legal means to punish Internet rumor mongers. Internet users must be aware of the laws and regulations that cover the punishment of Internet users who spread rumors on the Internet.

Source: Study Times, April 16, 2012
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2012/04/16/01/01_36.htm

Briefings | | April 18, 2012 | Information/Technology

Liu Yazhou Emphasizes the Absolute Leadership of the Party and Hu Jintao over the PLA

On April 16, 2012, Qiushi, a journal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article by Liu Yazhou, Political Commissar of the PLA’s National Defense University, regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces. In the article, Liu emphasized Hu Jintao’s leadership over the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Liu stated: “In conclusion, (we) must adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the army in the whole process of ‘viewing politics as the priority, acting from the point of view of the overall situation, and maintaining discipline’ (following Hu Jintao’s instructions); all of our actions must firmly abide by the commands issued by the CCP Central Committee, the CCP Central Military Commission, and Chairman Hu.”

Source: Qiushi, April 16, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2012/201208/201204/t20120412_150779.htm

Briefings | | April 18, 2012 | Government/Politics

BBC’s Report on the Investigation of 10,800 Corrupt Officials in Guangdong Province

According to a report on the BBC Chinese website on April 14, 2012, since January 2010, Guangdong Province has investigated and taken disciplinary action against over 10,800 corrupt officials. The total amount of bribes that these officials accepted exceeds 1.1 billion yuan. An official from the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection said that the above anti-corruption action has restored nearly 1.8 billion yuan (US$285.5826 million) in economic losses. He did not disclose the total amount of economic losses that resulted from these corrupt officials’ actions.

Source: BBC Chinese Website, April 14, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2012/04/120414_china_corruption.shtml

Briefings | | April 18, 2012 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Widened Chinese Currency Trading Band Improves Internationalization

Xinhua reported that China’s central bank announced that China will widen the yuan trading band against the U.S. dollar. On every trading day, the yuan is currently allowed to trade 0.5 percent on either side of a midpoint price set by the central bank. The new rules will allow the currency to fluctuate by up to 1.0 percent on either side. The move is expected to lower the possibility of a near-term large scale flow of “hot money.” Experts expressed the belief that the widened trading band is one step closer to a free-floating yuan exchange rate. Over the past 7 years, China has been taking steady steps toward the goal of internationalization of the yuan (RMB), which includes cross-border RMB settlements, RMB direct investments overseas, and supporting the Hong Kong off-shore RMB trading market.

Source: Xinhua, April 14, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2012-04/14/c_111780377.htm

Briefings | | April 17, 2012 | Economy/Resources

Wen Jiabao: Stick to the Housing Market Control Strategy

On April 13, 2012, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao chaired an Executive Meeting of the State Council. Measures discussed included planning near term policies for China’s macro economy. Among all of the decisions made, the key one was to stick to the current policies controlling the housing market. Wen emphasized the requirement of ensuring that those polices would not suffer any level of roll back. The Executive Meeting also identified some other near term challenges: the global financial crisis has not ended; the European debt crisis still persists; the Chinese domestic economy is declining; the pressure of inflation is increasing; small-sized businesses are having a tough time obtaining financial help; and Chinese exports are slowing down. In addition to the housing market policies, the meeting focused on policies in 9 economic areas, which included enlarging the domestic consumer market.

Source: China Review News, April 14, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1020/7/4/9/102074989.html?coluid=151&kindid=0&docid=102074989&mdate=0414090603

Briefings | | April 17, 2012 | Economy/Resources

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.