Nanfang Weekend published an article which had an overview of ministerial level agencies and ministers of the Communist Party. Most of ministerial level agencies are under the State Council. The rest are within the Party system. Examples include the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Organization Department, the Publicity Department, People’s Daily, the Party School of The Chinese Communist Party, the Party Literature Research Centre, and the Party History Research Centre.

While there are at least 74 ministerial level agencies, there are more than 74 minister level cadres. Deputies may be  minister level cadres and non-ministerial level agencies may be headed by minister level cadres. Examples of the latter include heads of liaison offices in Hong Kong and Macau. The two Vice Presidents of China’s Supreme Court are also minister level cadres. Ten important social organizations are headed by minister level cadres including the Communist Youth League, the All China Women’s Federation, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Chinese Writers Association, the Chinese Disabled Persons’ Federation, the China Society and Technology Association, and the All China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.

Some of the leaders of state sponsored democratic parties are also minister-level cadres.

Source: Nanfang Weekend, February 16, 2012
http://www.infzm.com/content/70110

The Chinese state-run media People’s Daily and Xinhua both published a report describing Chinese Internet users’ reactions to the statement that the Japanese Mayor of Nagoya made denying [that the Japanese committed] the “Nanjing Massacre.”

The Chief Editor of Huanqiu (a newspaper under People’s Daily) summarized the statements from Internet users in saying that the Mayor of Nagoya must apologize. If he doesn’t, China should declare he is an unwelcome person, bar him from entering China, and impose personal sanctions against him. At the same time, all Chinese tour groups should bypass Nagoya, allowing the crisis to escalate. 

Source: Xinhua, February 23, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-02/23/c_122741053.htm

China’s Academy of Social Sciences published a report on a survey that indicated that more government officials (38.9%) than those of the general public (34.2%) agree that their children can be citizens or residents of foreign countries. The report concluded that those government officials of higher rank are even more likely to agree regarding their children. The ratio of those officials at the provincial/ministerial level is 53.3%; for those at the level of department chiefs or city mayors, it is 53.4%; county chiefs, 51.7%, and at the level of township chiefs 49.6%. The survey on which the above conclusions were based was conducted among government officials in 23 provinces and cities.

[Editor’s note: In China, the government bureaucratic hierarchy is, ranked in a descending order, premier, followed by provincial governors or ministerial heads, and then city mayors, county, and township chiefs.]

Source: Southern Metropolis Daily, February 21, 2012
http://nf.nfdaily.cn/nfdsb/content/2012-02/21/content_38395262.htm

Qiushi published an article about China’s image in international communities. The article stated that Western mainstream reports tend to “demonize, marginalize, and mystify” China. “In the political arena, the BBC, CNN and other Western mainstream media are highly concerned about how the Chinese government handles emergencies [social unrest]. Positive comments on the Chinese government primarily focus on the speed and attitude of the Chinese government’s reactions. … Compared to the American media led by CNN, the Western European media, represented by the BBC, tend to do reports that are more critical of China. For example, the BCC favors subjects related to Chinese minorities and ecology. In particular, its ‘Hard Talk’ program centers on Tibet and frequently interviews advocates of Tibetan Independence.” The article cited the example of BBC reports on poor weather during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, which touched off one criticism after another of China’s environmental problems, “while in the U.S., ABC edited the footage of the Olympic opening ceremony and its effect was much more beautiful than that edited by China’s domestic media.”

Source: Qiushi, February 20, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/gj/zgwj/201202/t20120220_139574.htm