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Yearly Archives: 2014 - 2. page

Some Chinese Schools Prohibited Students from Celebrating Christmas

On December 24, 2014, someone placed a notice online that, at Northwest University (a university in Shaanxi Province, China) some banners about Christmas had been displayed on campus. The contents included such statements as: "Be cautious about Christmas"; "Oppose Western holidays that are in poor taste"; and "Resist the expansion of Western culture." The Communist Youth League Committee of the university and the students’ associations authored the banners. Some netizens posted that, on Christmas Eve, all of the students were organized to watch videos inside the classrooms. The videos were related to traditional Chinese culture. The teachers stood guard at the classrooms. It was said that whoever celebrated Christmas would be disciplined.
Coincidentally, the Board of Education of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province issued a circular that required schools "not to hold any Christmas-related activities on campus." An official from the Board of Education said, "In the past, we offered guidance on this kind of foreign holiday. This is the first time a more explicit notice has been issued."
Source: China National Radio, December 25, 2014
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese University Prohibits Students from Celebrating Christmas

Beijing News reported that, on Christmas Eve, the Modern College of Northwest University, located in Xian, Shaanxi Province, made it mandatory for students to watch propaganda programs and indicated that it would punish those who celebrated Christmas. 

According to Beijing News, several students told its reporters that, on Christmas Eve, school instructors were on site at the propaganda multimedia program with many others standing guard around the building so that they could stop the students from leaving. Any students who left would be counted as being truant three times. 
The Communist Youth League of the college posted on its weibo on December 25, “Last night our college watched the college multimedia program in an organized way only to hope students would not blindly emulate foreigners and would instead pay attention to China’s traditional culture. We hope we can take a rational look and take the glory of the school as our own glory. Do not spread rumors or create rumors. Strive to become a glorious modern person." 
A student disagreed with the school response in his comments to The Beijing News. "The school does not let us celebrate Christmas. We have not said anything, but the school should not respond from the perspective that not letting us celebrate Christmas is to promote Chinese traditional culture. Actually they ‘forced’ us to watch the national propaganda films on that day. We are very unhappy about it." 
Beijing News reported that banners were strung up around the campus reading, "Strive to be outstanding sons and daughters of China, oppose kitschy Western holidays," and "Resist the expansion of Western culture." 

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Housing Market Continued to Decline in November

According to the latest data released on December 18 by the National Bureau of Statistics, November saw prices for new homes fall, when compared to the prices in October, in 67 of the 70 medium and large cities. There was no change in the remaining three cities. Thus, November is the third consecutive month of overall decline with no price increase across the board. Compared to November 2013, the prices for new homes dropped in 68 of the 70 cities. 

With respect to existing houses, when compared to prices in October, November prices dropped in 58 of the 70 cities and in 67 cities when compared to November 2013. 

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, December 18, 2014 http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201412/t20141218_655220.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

After Ling Jihua, Who Else Will Fall?

On December 22, 2014, after the announcement was made that Ling Jihua was under investigation, Mr. Ho Pin, CEO of the Mirror Media Group, told VOA that the next downfall of a big tiger (corrupt high official) could be Guo Boxiong, the former vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (a Jiang Zemin supporter). Mr. Ho Pin did not release the name, but he said that another big tiger will be exposed after Guo Boxiong. 

In an interview with Epoch Times on December 23, 2014, Dr. Li Tianxiao, a political critic of China issues, predicted that (Xi Jinping’s) next step to combat corruption will focus on the forces of Jiang Zemin’s fraction (Jiang Zemin was the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1989 to 2002 and President of the People’s Republic of China from 1993 to 2003). He stated, “The ultimate goal of Xi Jinping’s movement to combat tigers (the anti-corruption movement) is to target Jiang Zemin himself.”

Source: Voice of America, December 22, 2014 and Epoch Times, December 23, 2014
http://www.voachinese.com/content/voaweishi-1222-voaio-1/2568973.html
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/14/12/23/n4324397.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Huanqiu: Ling Jihua, Now under Investigation; Owes a Sincere Apology to the Entire Society of China

On December 22, 2014, the official Xinhua News Agency published a brief announcement about the investigation of Ling Jihua for “suspected serious disciplinary violations.” Ling is vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, director of the Central United Front Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and former chief of the Communist Party’s Central Committee’s General Office.

According to an editorial that Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published on December 23, 2014, Chinese netizens cheered across the Internet that same night. There had been speculation as to whether Ling would get into trouble. He was removed from his position as the former chief of the Communist Party’s Central Committee General Office prior to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held on November 8, 2012. The editorial hinted that Ling’s downfall was related to “a Ferrari Car Accident” in Beijing on March 18, 2012. His son died in the accident. “Yesterday’s news released a strong message, ‘Anti-corruption will not stop or pause. Regardless how high and how powerful an official is, or how big a tiger, as long as he is verified as being a corrupt official, he will not be exempt.’” Huanqiu‘s comments continued, “We hope that he (Ling) has a deep feeling of guilty now. He owes too much to the public, including a sincere apology to the entire society (of China).”

Source: Xinhua, December 22, 2014 and Huanqiu, December 23, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-12/22/c_1113737137.htm  
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2014-12/5277334.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Huanqiu: Corruption Is Very Serious in the Army

On December 23, 2014, the military section of Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an article titled, “Corruption Is Very Serious in the Army; Some Corrupt Officials Still Have Not Stopped Being Corrupt.” Corruption includes using the ability to trade in power, money, and sex. Some cases have involved huge amounts of money.

“Some stubborn, deeply hidden corrupt officials have attempted to muddle along.” They have not been discovered. Some even turn a deaf ear to the anti-corruption movement. They have not concluded their corrupt acts; nor do they stop their bribery. The problems are very shocking. “(We) must punish them. Let the corrupt officials really pay a heavy price.”

Source: Huanqiu, December 23, 2014
http://mil.huanqiu.com/china/2014-12/5278619.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China News: China Firmly Opposes Obama Selling Frigates to Taiwan

China News recently reported that U.S. President Obama just signed a bill to sell Taiwan four “Perry Class” frigates. These are the USS Taylor, USS Carr, USS Gary and USS Elrod. It is expected that the two parties will complete the transaction next year. The U.S. Congress started pushing this bill toward the end of 2013. It took 13 months to go through the legislative process. The Senate passed the bill on December 4 and the House passed it on December 10. Before the Congress passed the bill, the Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made it clear that the United States is once again breaking its promise and that China strongly opposes this bill. He also called for a complete stop to pushing this bill through and recommended that the President should not sign it. The Chinese government expressed the belief that this bill will “hurt the relationship” between the United States and China.
Source: China News, December 19, 2014
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Reporters Without Borders: China Has the Largest Number of Jailed Reporters

BBC Chinese recently reported that the Reporters Without Borders Organization, headquartered in Paris, just released its 2014 summary of global statistics on reporters subjected to violence. According to this latest summary, in 2014, 178 professional reporters were jailed worldwide. Among these reporters, Mainland China jailed 29, which represents a 17 percent share. That is the worst in the world. Also, out of all “citizen journalists” (non-professionals) jailed globally, the Mainland China government jailed 78. Combining the professional and non-professional jailed reporters, Mainland China has a share of around 30 percent, the highest among all nations. The Reporters Without Borders summary especially mentioned well-known Chinese reporter Gao Yu, who is facing a possible 15-year term, which is on top of the seven years she has already served. The summary also mentioned that 1,864 reporters have been attacked or threatened globally. Mainland China attacked or threatened 84 of those, thus ranking it number five (Ukraine, Venezuela and Turkey are the top three nations). 
Source: BBC Chinese, December 16, 2014
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics