On September 3, at the military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the World War II victory, Xi Jinping announced that China will cut its military by 300,000. At a press conference thereafter, Yang Yujun, spokesperson for the China Ministry of National Defense, provided additional information about the decision. Yang said that the Chinese military consists of about 2.3 million and will be reduced to 2 million. The move will mainly target troops equipped with outdated armaments, administrative staff, and non-combatant personnel. The purpose is to optimize the structure of the Chinese forces. The disarmament will be carries out step by step and will be completed by end of 2017.
Monthly Archives: September 2015 - 6. page
Li Keqiang: Global Volatility Puts Pressure on China’s Economy
On August 28, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council special meeting on new developments in the global economic and financial field and their implications for China and China’s policy responses. It was the first time that he called for such a special meeting, indicating that China faces tough issues in the area of economic growth.
Four vice premiers, three State Council members, the President of China’s central bank, the minister of finance, the head of the Development and Reform Commission, and the Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission attended the meeting.
Li said that recent world market volatility has created new uncertainties for the global economic recovery. The growing implications for China’s financial market as well as for imports and exports have placed new pressure on the Chinese economy. Financial stability affects the overall Chinese economy. Risk management needs to be improved and perfected to defend the bottom line of preventing regional or systemic risks.
Source: The Central People’s Government of China, August 29, 2015
Severely Tightened Security in Beijing for September 3 Military Parade
On September 1, 2015, Hong Kong Economic Times published an article on the extreme tightening of the security in Beijing for the Military Parade on September 3, 2015. Roads have been closed; shops, supermarkets, and restaurants have been closed; about 9 hospitals near Tiananmen Square have also been closed. Chinese Internet users commented ironically, “Why don’t they just [openly] call it martial law?”
The use of many subway lines in Beijing has been suspended.
To secure a “Parade Blue Sky,” open-air barbecues have been banned resolutely. The highest level of emergency measures has been applied to six nearby cities in order to reduce emissions. In Henan, the use of over 60 percent of business vehicles has been suspended. The main roads are required to be cleaned at least 4 times a day.
Source: Hong Kong Economic Times, September 1, 2015
http://china.hket.com/article/678830/%E5%B0%81%E8%B7%AF%E5%B0%81%E8%88%96%E9%86%
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Xinhua: What Does Japan Intend to Do with Its Continual Revival of Invasion Battleships?
Xinhua published a series of articles in its magazine Global Sphere commenting on Japan’s intention to resurrect its military. Below are some quotes from the articles.
“Recently, Japan officially launched the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s newest quasi-carrier ‘Kaga.’ It has the same name as the main ship known as the ‘devil ship’ aircraft carrier ‘Kaga’ that invaded China. In 2013, Japan’s quasi-carrier ‘Izumo’ followed the name of the old warships that invaded China. The Abe government’s excuse is very simple, ‘This is only the name of the ancient nation.’ There are so many names of ancient nations. Why pick the name of the battleship that was used for aggression in World War II and more than once. Japan used this name [of the battleship] again, totally ignoring the feelings of World War II victims. It adds insult to injury for the World War II victims. It is to summon the spirit of militarism and create more obstacles to Sino-Japanese relations.”
“Japan expert Yuan Yang from the Chinese Military Academy said that, many times, Japan has been like a bad child, constantly challenging the adults’ bottom line with petty actions. Adults do not care about him but feel somehow bothered. If we took him seriously, he would feel aggrieved. This approach seems to have become a strategy in Japan. Jin Canrong, Vice President of international relations at Renmin University of China, believes that the fact that Japan chose the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to launch the "quasi-carrier" into the water has a special meaning. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to use the nation’s emotions towards the tragedy to support his militaristic ambitions of rearmament. Jin said that now the U.S. military is financially weak; it is reducing its military budget. The U.S. military deployment in the Asia-Pacific region must rely on Japan. This gives Abe the opportunity for the massive development of military power.”
Qiushi: The Party Does Not Allow Any Special Party Members
On September 1, 2015，Qiushi Journal, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article in its 17th journal of 2015 titled, “The Party Does Not Allow Any Special Party Members.” On the same day, the article was reprinted on the Pengpai website and the Sohu website.
According to the article, “Some leading cadres” just do whatever they want to do. They view themselves as “Special Party Members” and do not follow the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s rules and policies. In particular, some leading cadres completely ignore the Party’s rules and political rules because of their authoritative power and their high positions.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, warned the whole Party, “The Party will not allow any special Party members who are above the Party’s constitution and the Party’s organization.” “The fact that the CCP Central Committee has severely punished Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Ling Jihua, and Su Rong [Editor’s note: All were members of the Jiang faction] demonstrates that tightening the Party’s discipline completely is not empty talk. The Party’s constitution is not a piece of blank paper. Within the Party, there must be no hiding place for corrupt officials and special Party members.”
Source: Qiushi Journal (the original is not available online), September 1, 2015
http://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1370485
http://star.news.sohu.com/20150901/n420205302.shtml
BBC Chinese: Human Rights Lawyer under House Arrest after Meeting with a U.S. Official
BBC Chinese recently reported that Chinese human rights lawyer Zhuang Daohe was put under house arrest after meeting with David Saperstein, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. When they met, Zhuang discussed the issues of China’s religious freedom with Ambassador Saperstein. China is very sensitive about the topic of religious freedom. At least one of Ambassador Saperstein’s predecessors was refused a visa to China. Washington was very low-key on Saperstein’s visit to China, with no meetings arranged in public places. Zhuang is a Christian and is known for his work as a lawyer who defends Christian human rights. In the past year, the authorities in Zhejiang Province have required many Christian churches to remove the crosses at the top of their church buildings.
Source: BBC Chinese, August 27, 2015
Global Times: Which Country Is the World’s Largest Democracy?
Global Times recently published a commentary written by Han Zheng, Party Secretary of Beijing Foreign Studies University, asserting that China is the world’s largest democracy instead of India, to whom the “media of the West" often attribute that same title. Han explained that it is a strategy of the West to classify China as a non-democratic country. He determined that the so-called democracy is a “historic social state” of the West to effectively maintain the capitalist system. Even the West has different types and forms of the so-called democracy. The West does not have the authority to judge which country is a democracy and which is not. Han said the Chinese political system is a true election-based system and big capital groups or special interest groups actually manipulate many so-called democratic countries in order to ensure that only a few political families inherit power. The commentary concluded that the Chinese system is the best fit for China’s domestic social structure and China is actually the largest democracy in the world.
Source: Global Times, August 27, 2015
Chiefs of Official Website of People’s Daily Arrested
On August 28, South China Morning Post reported that the CEO and the Deputy CEO of the People.CN website had been arrested for corruption investigations. People.CN is the official website of People’s Daily, which is the primary newspaper that speaks on behalf of the Communist Party. Several Mainland news channels also reported the event before the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued the official announcement. For a period of time, this news was blocked from all Chinese news websites. People.CN is a publicly traded company. On the afternoon of August 25, the Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended its stock. According to the Supreme Procuratorate, the Henan Provincial People’s Procuratorate conducted the arrests and the investigations. The investigations are still underway. People’s Daily, as the controlling stockholder, has already nominated a new Board member for People.CN.
Source: South China Morning Post, August 28, 2015
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