Recently, Xinhua released a series of products and services at http://www.news.cn/yuqing/ designed to monitor and lead public opinion. According to Duan Saimin, the chief of the Xinhua public opinion center, when public opinion is properly guided, it will be conducive to the resolution of problems and can promote social stability and harmony. Otherwise, conflicts and problems will be amplified and affect local social stability and harmony. He acknowledged that few people in the local governments have recognized and understood the mechanism of public opinion. “They lack experience in responding to public opinion and some lack complete emergency procedures; … ultimately the conflicts and problems (that came up in the past) were amplified through the Internet, thus damaging the image of the government and enterprises, and causing irreparable harm.” According to Duan, since 2003, Xinhua has routinely provided public opinion reports to Communist Party leaders. Currently it has a team of over 100 public opinion analysts.

Source: Xinhua, December 20, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-12/20/c_122451786.htm

In a high profile article published on Qiushi, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship publication, Zhu Weiqun, the CCP’s deputy chief of the Department of Organization, proclaimed that a Party member must not have religious beliefs.

Zhu said, “At present there is a noteworthy phenomenon: there is a rising trend among Communist Party members of participating in religious activities and establishing close personal relationships with religious leaders. Some Party members have become de facto religious followers.” “If a Party member believes in a religion, he is bound to become the spokesperson for a certain religious force. In some regions, religious believers may administer the Party’s religious work and may make use of government resources to foster religious fervor.”

He added, “While domestic and foreign hostile forces have tried to use religion to engage in separatist activities in some ethnic minority areas, allowing religious beliefs for Party members will greatly weaken the Party’s combat strength in the struggle against separatism.” “Allowing religious beliefs for Party members will debilitate the Party in ideology and organization, causing the Party to degenerate from a Marxist political party into a non-Marxist political party.”

He suggested that “If a Party member is actively involved in religious life and missionary work, even using the identity of Party member to protect and promote illegal religious activities, the Party organizations should take timely measures to remove him from the Party,.”

Source: Qiushi, December 15, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/dj/201112/t20111215_129931.htm

On December 19, 2011, Study Times, the publication of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CCP, published an article affirming that “the foundation for China’s revival is socialist ideology.” According to the article, capitalist countries use the principle of "human rights above sovereignty" as an excuse to plunder global resources. Different from “free capitalism,” the core principle of socialism is “fairness.” Socialist ideology is what justifies the ruling status of the Chinese Communist Party. The article proudly concludes that the successful practice of socialism in China for over 30 years proves that socialist ideology is becoming the trend for the development of human civilization.

Source: Study Times, December 19, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/19/03/03_37.htm

Xinhua recently published an editorial commenting on the Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. The article expressed the belief that the sole motivation for Canada’s “betrayal” was to avoid a fine of CAN$14 billion due to the fact that Canada did not meet the requirements to which it had committed. The United States was referenced as another example of “Western selfishness” since the U.S. refused to even join the Protocol. Japan and Australia are considering the same action, following Canada’s move. The author of the editorial suggested that China should “pay close attention” to the “new signals in international relations” that appeared before and after the Climate Conference in Durban, and China should improve its readiness to face new strategic challenges in defending its national interests. The editorial concluded that moral standards no longer constrain some countries’ behavior, and the West will play more games showing a “loss of patience.”

Source: Xinhua, December 14, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-12/14/c_122418663.htm