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Wen Jiabao: What Will We Leave to Future Generations?

In Stockholm recently, Wen Jiabao met with local Chinese companies, overseas Chinese and representatives of Chinese students. In his discussion he raised the question of China’s future. He also pointed out a number of issues related to China’s economic development. He stated, “In a nutshell, our economic development is neither balanced nor coordinated; nor is it sustainable. (The problems) relate mainly to the widening income gaps between rural and urban areas and between different regions, to expanding inequality in income distribution, to over-consumption of resources, to  energy, and to severe environmental pollution. These problems lead us to think about what we will leave to future generations.” Wen stated that sustained growth “relies not only on economic development, but also on progress in society, on the quality of our people, and on the power of morality. No one would be able to beat such a country (that had those qualities).

Source: China News Service, April 25, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2012/04-25/3843708.shtml

Chengming: The Bo Xilai Incident Embarrasses Western Chinese Scholars

Chengming, a magazine of political commentary based in Hong Kong, published an article by Hu Xiaojiang, a popular Internet blogger, on the subject of the Bo Xilai incident. In the article, Hu laid out the weaknesses that Western scholars who are close to the Chinese Communist regime have in their ability to understand the direction of China’s politics and economy.

The article explained that the Bo incident indicates the following: 1) The power transition within the Chinese Communist Party is still not an orderly change, unlike the perception of many that China has established a stable and smooth system for the transfer of power. 2) China needs a bipartisan or multi-party system. 3) It proves again that the authoritarian system is a reverse elimination system in which the ruling party does not allow the existence of independent political thoughts to challenge the top authorities.   

The article offered a sharp explanation as to why these Western scholars fail to understand China correctly. On the one hand, studying China is their job security, so they often cannot help but prove their own value by beautifying the study targets. On the other hand, China’s corruption is so deep and so pervasive that many Western Chinese experts get paid for praising China’s totalitarian system.

Source: Chengming Magazine (Hong Kong), April 19, 2012 http://www.chengmingmag.com/t320/select/320sel07.html

China’s First Quarter Tax Revenue Growth Slows

On April 24, 2012, the Chinese Ministry of Finance released a report on the first quarter’s tax revenue, showing a tax revenue of 2.58 trillion yuan (US$409 billion), 10.3% higher than the same period last year. However the growth rate was down 22.1 percentage points; it was the lowest in the past three years.

The data show that from January to March, on a year-over-year basis, the domestic value-added tax, consumption tax, business tax, and corporate income tax increased by 5.4%, 15.1%, 7.6% and 20.5% respectively. The growth rates dropped 17.8, 6.4, 18.7 and 17.4 percentage points respectively from the same period last year. The import taxes and tariffs increased by 13.0% and 9.6% respectively, 35.8 and 37.9 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

It is noteworthy that real estate related tax revenue growth fell sharply. For the first quarter, the deed tax and the real estate sales tax decreased by 13.6% and 17.5%, respectively, 41.1 and 45.8 percentage points lower than the same period last year. The land appreciation tax increased by 4.5%, 108.4 percentage points lower than the same period last year. In addition, personal income tax revenue declined by 6.2% year-on-year, down 43.2 percentage points from the same period last year.

A Ministry of Finance official attributed the decline to the slowdown of domestic economic growth, as well as tax cut practices implemented in the fourth quarter of last year.

Source: Xinhua, April 24, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-04/24/c_111836288.htm

Qiushi: The Western Hand behind the Break-up of State-owned Enterprises

Qiushi publish an analysis that criticized the “noises that demonize the public ownership system and state-owned enterprises.” The article, entitled, “The Western Hand behind the Break-up of State-owned Enterprises,” expressed the belief that foreign investment may have become a national economic security issue. “Statistics show that, of the 28 major industries in China, 21 are controlled by foreign investment through (the foreign companies’) right to a majority of the assets. Foreign investments control the top 5 enterprises in almost every industry that has been opened up. These 21 industries are those where state-owned enterprises have withdrawn. China’s privately owned companies are not able to form an effective force to compete with the wolves of the Western multi-national corporations. … State-owned enterprises are the only major force in the market that can compete and fend off the multi-national corporations that Western monopolistic capital controls. … In any country, when foreign investments control an industry, it is likely to become a national economic security issue.”

Source: Qiushi, April 18, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/jj/jt/201204/t20120418_151879.htm

Hu Jintao Continues Clean Up of Bo Xilai’s Close Followers

The Epoch Times reported that the disciplinary authorities seized Fang Binxing, the Dean of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT). Fang is a close follower of Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang, and is known as "the father of China’s Great Firewall." It is widely rumored in the media that Bo bribed Fang with "money and women." In return, Fang helped Bo and Zhou to wiretap the secret conversations of China’s top government leaders.

On December 4, 2011, Fang hosted a ceremony in which he welcomed Wang Lijun to BUPT as an honorary professor. Fang praised Wang highly as being not only an "Iron Blood Police Spirit" and a "mighty strong man," but also a "gentle and cultivated professor." He said, "Wang’s addition to BUPT is a source that will, like a spring, bring forth motivation for the development of humanism." Following Wang Lijun’s escape and Bo Xilai’s ouster, Fang destroyed the documents that related to his relations with Wang and Bo.

Source: Epoch Times, April, 25, 2011
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/12/4/25/n3574497.htm
 

PLA Daily: Don’t Sow Discord Between China and Russia

On April 22, 2012, China and Russia started their first joint naval exercise. The 6-day exercise took place in the Yellow Sea. PLA Daily published an article rebutting the Western media’s warning that behind the apparent trust and friendship of the Sino-Russian military exercise, there is “hidden tacit friction.” It criticized the Western media, saying their intent was to interfere with China’s development, sow discord between China and its friends, and create a hostile environment for China. “Some Western countries not only fear that China will improve; they also fear that China and Russia, the two big countries, will be friends.”

The article praised steady growth of the Sino-Russian relationship and the strengthening of their military ties. Not only do the two militaries have friendly visits but they also frequently cooperate substantively and practically at high levels on a wide range of issues. “Relations between the two countries are now the best they have ever been.”

Source: PLA Daily, April 23, 2012
http://txjs.chinamil.com.cn/junshity/2012-04/23/content_4841936.htm

Qiushi: China Must Control Its Internet

A Qiushi article stated that, because some people and businesses are abusing the Internet, China must exercise its control over it. It listed a number of reasons.

The first reason that the article mentioned was that rumors and inflammatory remarks on the Internet can harm social stability and national security. It blamed the Xinjiang “July 5” event (where Uyghurs clashed with the Han people in Xinjiang) in 2009 on the Internet, saying that separatist Rebiya Kadeer and the “World Uyghur Congress” aroused the people and spread false information over the Internet. “Facing such a bloody lesson and such a cost of life, when those words jeopardize social stability and national security, how can we not control it?” “We cheer the police for how they attack those rumor creators and the telecommunication administrators for how they close those rumor spreading websites!”

Source: Qiushi Online, April 16, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2012/201208/201204/t20120412_150783.htm

Huanqiu: China Model Will Beat the West

Qiushi republished an article from Huanqiu which argued that, compared to countries that follow the Western-styled democratic and economic development model, China has made much greater progress. China does not need to negate its own political and economic model. In the end, China will laugh at its competition with the West.

The article criticized the Western democratic and economic model: the “Arab Spring” does not represent the world trend. Since those countries are trapped in turmoil, the “Arab Spring” will become the “Arab Winter.” Taiwan’s fairly peaceful presidential election is nothing, since Taiwan’s economy relies on the mainland. The Greek debt crisis and the U.S. financial crisis are a reflection of the fact that the Western model is going south.

The article claimed that, if China just continues on its current path and utilizes the opportunity to develop itself, its GDP will surpass that of the U.S in ten years. By then, the West will have no choice but to acknowledge the success of China’s political system and the China Model.

Source: Qiushi, April 16, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/wz/cmyl/201204/t20120416_151381.htm