Keywords: Gao Yu, Ilham Tohti, anti-corruption, World Internet Conference, Taiwanese elections, Hong Kong politics.

CHINA – POLITICS

1. Veteran journalist Gao Yu stood trial in Beijing on Friday, affirmed innocence

1. // [Gao’s] charges are believed to stem from allegations that she leaked “Document No. 9” to overseas Chinese-language magazine Mirror Monthly. The 70-year-old journalist earlier this week proclaimed her innocence, announcing that a confession aired by CCTV in May was extracted under duress and should be dismissed as evidence against her. // Source: CDT
2. NYT’s Didi Kirsten Tatlow reports on the four-hour closed-door trial: // “She said she was innocent,” Mr. Mo said in a telephone interview shortly after the trial ended. “And I said that her guilt could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt.” He added that Ms. Gao had called on the judicial authorities to implement the spirit of legal reform that has been promised by China’s leaders and judge her fairly. “She said that she hoped the judge would show how the legal reform in China that was promised in the Fourth Plenum would impact her case,” Mr. Mo said, referring to a top Communist Party meeting last month that promised more justice for the country. Prosecutors have not made public the core of the charge against Ms. Gao, 70, but it is believed to center on accusations that she sent Mirror Monthly — a Chinese-language political magazine based in New York — a copy of an announcement issued in April 2013 by the party’s Central Committee. // Source: New York Times
3. BBC outlines her previous jail sentence on similar charges: // Ms Gao is used to fighting with the Chinese authorities. She served more than six years in jail in the 1990s on similar charges of stealing state secrets. She had been convicted of sending Party documents, including a speech by then-President Jiang Zemin, to a Hong Kong newspaper. // Source: BBC

2. Ilham Tohti seven students almost certain to receive jail terms

1. // Seven minority students stood trial on separatism charges yesterday for working on a website run by their prominent Uygur teacher in Urumqi in Xinjiang, a rights lawyer said. Li Fangping , a defence lawyer for economics professor Ilham Tohti, said at least three students pleaded not guilty and the court was expected to issue its verdicts at a later date. Li said the students were certain to be found guilty by the same court that sentenced their teacher – who was known for his criticism of the government and its ethnic policy – to life imprisonment in September. The students are accused of being members of the professor’s criminal gang. // Source: SCMP
2. Mingpao quoted Li Fangping that in the early stage of investigations Ilham’s students denied the allegation that Ilham was trying to incite secession, but later overturned their own testimonies. // Source: Mingpao

3. Anti-corruption drive continues

1. China corruption watchdog launches inspections, eyes Sinopec // China’s corruption watchdog has launched a series of inspections into state-owned enterprises and government bodies including China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group)… The inspectors, part of China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), will focus on senior figures within Sinopec who may be promoted to leadership roles. // Source: Reuters
2. // Zhao Wenbo, leader of the 12-member inspection team, told staff at the headquarters of the company in Beijing on Monday that the inspection would look for abuses of power and public fund embezzlement, an official newspaper under the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said. Fu Chengyu, the chief executive of Sinopec, said the company’s management would not interfere in the inspection, the report said. Zhao said that the inspection would focus on key figures in the company who might be promoted to leadership positions in the future. The 12 inspectors, from central and local anti-graft departments, were divided into groups to conduct interviews in separate rooms, the report said. State broadcaster China Central Television showed a video clip of each group, often formed by two inspectors – one for questioning and the other for taking notes – conducting interviews with Sinopec employees in a 10-square-metre room. The new round of inspections would target 13 government departments and state-owned companies, including mining and energy company Shenhua Group, power company China Huadian Corporation and telecommunications giant China Unicom. // Source: SCMP
3. State media said Xi Jinping decides on the target for CCDI investigations, and CCDI confirmed that “special investigations” (zhuanxiang xuncha 專項巡查) will become a norm for the anti-corruption drive. // 前两天，微信公号“人民日报政文”刊发了一篇文章，由该报专门联系中纪委的记者执笔。该文透露了一个细节：无论多忙，“习近平都要亲自确定巡视的对象，亲自审阅每份巡视报告，亲自听取每轮巡视成果汇报、发表重要讲话，指导下一轮巡视开展的思路”。// Source: Peng pai, CCDI website
4. Online report suggests graft-busters targeting another military ‘tiger’: //Investigators are still wrapping up the case against fallen former general Xu Caihou but speculation mounted yesterday that graft-busters were targeting another senior military officer. An article posted in Cha Shiju, or Political Observer, an online publication produced by mainland journalists on the WeChat platform, said there were hints that « the authorities are targeting another tiger within the military ». … The article came after Liu Yazhou, political commissar of the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University, said at a forum last week that the investigation into Xu, a former vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, and bribery and embezzlement charges against Gu Junshan , the former deputy chief of the military’s General Logistics Department, were only the start of efforts to tackle corruption in the military. // Source: SCMP
5. Full text of Liu Yazhou’s speech about anti-corruption. Source: People’s Daily
6. Caixin publishes the story of Ling Wancheng’s wealth
   i.     // Caixin expose of the business activities of Ling Wancheng, clearly identified in this article as Ling Jihua’s brother, something everyone knows already. Two of Ling Jihua’s brothers-Wancheng and Zhengce–are in detention. It looks like Ling Jihua is being slow-roasted in the media as Zhou Yongkang was in months before an official announcement of an investigation, and given that it is widely believed (but denied and unproven) that Caixin has a “good “relationship with Wang Qishan and the CCDI, the appearance of this article may be another interesting signal // Source: Sinocism
                                   ii.     // 令政策被带走时担任山西省政协副主席，其兄弟姐妹五人，除大哥令方针英年早逝，令政策与三妹令路线、四弟令计划一直“吃公家饭”，唯有小弟令完成先从事新闻工作，后下海从商，历任天天在线有限公司总经理、董事长，北京汇金立方投资管理公司董事长和中央电视台高尔夫网球频道副总监。尤其是2008年成立私募股权基金汇金立方之后，令完成和诸多拥有权力背景的同行一样，玩起了更易跨越法律边界的IPO攫财游戏，他带领包括多名山西商人在内的“合伙人”，将他们的财富版图星罗棋布般延伸至各大城市的多个行业，仅汇金立方投资企业成功上市后的所得财富目前累计已超14亿元。// Source: Caixin
7. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping claims to have old guard’s backing for anti-graft campaign // President Xi Jinping said yesterday that his administration’s anti-graft campaign had the « staunch backing » of retired party cadres, amid speculation that some former party leaders may not be prepared to fully support it. Citing a survey of retired officials this year by the Communist Party’s Organisation Department, Xi said « old comrades » generally approved of the party headquarters’ directions. « [You] have staunchly supported [our drives] to improve the party’s work style, and our determination to crack down on corruption, » Xi was quoted by state broadcaster as saying to a gathering of retired cadres in Beijing yesterday. « I hope all old comrades treasure [their] glorious past … and continue to be examples of the party’s glorious tradition and good practices. » // Source: SCMP
                                    i.     A People’s Daily report looks at how Xi values old comrades. Source: People’s Daily
8. Chinese official says the West is hampering anti-corruption efforts: // A Chinese diplomat said the lack of an extradition treaty with the U.S. and the prejudices of some Western officials are hampering China’s efforts to retrieve fugitives involved in corruption cases and their assets. Xu Hong, head of the foreign ministry department on treaties and laws, said Wednesday that all major countries have an interest in stopping the flight of corrupt officials and recovering ill-gotten assets. But in China’s case, he said, the pursuit is being slowed by “prejudice and bias against us” by lawmakers and judges in some Western countries, where he said Chinese fugitives tend to go and then stall their repatriation due to a lack of extradition treaties or other limited bilateral cooperation. The problems with Western governments and officials demonstrate “their lack of understanding of China’s laws,” Mr. Xu said at a media briefing. In an extension of Chinese President Xi Jinping ’s signature anticorruption push over the past two years, the government has stepped up efforts to repatriate fugitives. A campaign launched in July by the Ministry of Public Security called Fox Hunt 2014 aims to “block the last route of retreat.” The programs involve negotiating cooperation with foreign governments to investigate and return fugitives. // Source: WSJ, also see NYT’s report
                                   i.     Xinhua’s report on China’s longing for more cross-border cooperation // China launched its « Fox Hunt 2014 » operation in July, targeting corrupt officials and suspects in economic crimes that have fled the country. The goal is to « block the last route of retreat » for corrupt officials as ongoing crackdowns narrow the space for abuse of power. // Source: Xinhua

CHINA – INTERNET

1. China’s World Internet Conference at Wuzhen

1. // China showed governments and the planet’s biggest tech firms last week its vision for global Internet governance – clean, controlled and choreographed. Public officials and firms worth $2.5 trillion in market value, from Apple Inc to Facebook Inc, got first-hand exposure in the postcard-perfect town of Wuzhen as China showcased its first ‘World Internet Conference’ (WIC). « This place (Wuzhen) is crowded with tourists, who are perfectly orderly, » Lu Wei, China’s Internet tsar and director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said at the opening ceremony. « Cyberspace should also be free and open, with rules to follow and always following the rule of law. » … At a summit hosted by government leaders, nothing was left to chance and reporters were not allowed to ask questions directly in numerous events, a common practice at industry conferences in China. After one panel discussion was filmed with an official moderator, state media reporters were then given the cue to address empty chairs on a podium as cameras rolled. That footage was set to be spliced into the TV broadcast of the panel, featuring big industry names, in late November, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter, giving the impression that the reporters had carried out a dialogue with the industry leaders. … China’s leaders spoke of an Internet that should be free and open – and controlled on its own terms…. China wants to participate further in Internet governance and also in a certain sense it wants to advocate the China model of Internet regulation, including Internet control and censorship, » said Fu King-Wa, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre. …The University of Hong Kong’s Fu said comments on the WIC on Chinese social media were censored. Authorities also detained a small group of students demonstrating outside the town seeking access to Facebook, attendees said. // Source: Reuters
2. Website of the World Internet Conference
3. Cyber Administration of China deputy director Ren Xianliang wants to push Chinese Internet firms to list on Chinese stock exchanges, saying that it is important for obtaining the “right to speak” in Internet development: // 对此话题，任贤良明确对上证报记者表示，“除了在新三板、创业板(上市)，帮助互联网企业在主板市场上市无疑是我们的重要目标。”这是国家网信办高层首次表达支持互联网企业在主板市场上市。任贤良指出，互联网看上去虽然只是一个产业，但从中可以看出一个国家实力的强弱。既然时代赋予我们机遇，我们就一定要牢牢地抓住互联网发展的话语权。任贤良透露，如何创造条件让中国互联网公司在境内市场上市，这是国家网络信息办公室成立后，正在着重研究的一个重要课题。 // Source: 上海证券报

2. Microsoft to pay China $140 million for ‘tax evasion’

1. // According to an article published by China’s Xinhua official news agency on Sunday, an unnamed U.S. multinational must pay the Chinese government 840 million yuan ($137 million) in back taxes and interest, as well as more than 100 million yuan in additional taxes a year in the future. The article refers only to a company whose name starts with “M,” is one of the world’s biggest 500 firms and which established a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary in Beijing in 1995. Microsoft is the only company that fits that description. // Source: Reuters

CHINA – CULTURE

1. New hit « Xi Dada Loves Peng Mama » goes viral online

1. // A music video titled « Xi Dada Loves Peng Mama » telling the love story of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan recently went viral in China. In the video, netizens lovingly referred to the couple as Xi Dada (literally meaning Uncle Xi) and Peng Mama (literally meaning Mother Peng). As of last evening [23 November 2014], the music video had gained more than 22 million hits from netizens on Tencent’s video website. It was uploaded last Tuesday. The song was sung by two singers from central China’s Henan Province. // Source: CRI
2. // The video includes 33 photos of China’s first couple attending diplomatic events and two cartoons of them. The more than three-minute-long song includes elements of rap, electronic pop and rock and roll. The rap part was sung by nine children, aged four to 12 years… Online comments have pointed out that these lines resemble those from the well-known song about Mao Zedong called The East is Red, with its lyrics: “The east is red, the sun is rising, China now has Mao Zedong. » // Source: SCMP
3. Lyrics //中國出了個習大大，多大的老虎也敢打，天不怕嘿地不怕，做夢都想見到他！中國還有個彭麻麻，最美的鮮花送給她，保佑她祝福她，興家興國興天下！習大大愛着彭麻麻，這樣的愛情像神話，彭麻麻愛着習大大，有愛的天下最強大！男人要學習大大，女人要學彭麻麻，像他們一樣去愛吧，溫暖的愛能暖萬家！男人要學習大大，女人要學彭麻麻，像他們一樣去愛吧，有愛的人才贏天下！有種愛叫習大大愛着彭麻麻，在一起時他總微笑幸福看着她。有種愛叫彭麻麻愛着習大大，手牽着手她的微笑是最美的花 // Source: Sina
4. Song on Youtube

2. New “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” scroll (Xin Qingming Shanghe Tu)

1. Chinese artist Dai Xiang recreated the famous Song-dynasty era scroll “Along the River During the Qingming Festival”, incorporating sarcastic portrayal of current events such as “city management officers (chengguan) beatings”, “my dad is Li Gang”, “Guo Meimei incident” into the painting. The new scroll was shown at an exhibition and immediately created a stir on the Internet. Source: Nandu

TAIWAN – POLITICS

Taiwan’s 9-in-1 elections

1. // Almost 80 percent of Taiwan, an island of 23 million off the coast of China, is expected to head to the polls Nov. 29 to vote in local elections with more than 11,000 seats up for grabs. Voters will choose candidates ranging from mayors in Taiwan’s six biggest cities to low-level village chiefs and township councilors, who make up the bulk of the vacancies. But the elections are more than just an exercise in local politics. Beijing, which views the island as a renegade province that must someday be reunited with the Chinese motherland, has actively cultivated relationships with local Taiwanese officials in the lead up to the elections and will likely watch the outcome closely. With the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA), a trade pact that would open Taiwan to further mainland investment, stalled in the island’s parliament since March, elected officials on the village, county, and city levels could provide China an alternate avenue for making economic inroads into the island. … China, however, likely views Taiwan’s election this year as a harbinger of what’s to come in cross-strait relations. In 2016, Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s hugely unpopular president and KMT chairman whose rapprochement with the mainland has left many Taiwanese suspicious, will leave office because of term limits and voters will elect a new leader. Jacques deLisle, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, told Foreign Policy that the Nov. 29 elections are likely to be a referendum on KMT rule and Ma’s presidency, as well as a « prognosticator » of what will happen in two years’ time when, in the national elections, « issues of relations with China, Taiwan’s standing in the world, and ruling-party choices are very much on the table. » // Source: Foreign Policy
2. Ruling party faces challenges: // The contest for the post of mayor in the capital, Taipei, will be especially important. The city has remained a stronghold of the KMT ever since the party was forced to flee to the island from the mainland in 1949 at the end of the Chinese civil war. The DPP has won in the city only a single time: 20 years ago, when the KMT vote was split by a spin-off party. Now Ko Wen-je (pictured), an eminent surgeon who is without political experience and is running as an independent, is polling higher than Sean Lien, a scion of one of the KMT’s richest political families. The KMT chose Mr Lien as its candidate through a ballot of its members in the capital. But many Taiwanese see him as a privileged princeling. His father, Lien Chan, is a former vice-president who has helped forge closer ties between the KMT and China. The younger Mr Lien decided to enter politics after a lone gunman shot him at an election rally in 2010. Before that he worked in business, including in investment banking—experience, he says, that will help him manage Taipei’s economy. But many of Taipei’s young people, who were out on the streets in strength during the “sunflower movement” in and around the legislature in spring, resent the business elite. Mr Ko, who is often affectionately called “Ko P” (short for professor), appeals to those Taiwanese who are fed up with bickering between the two main parties. Being a doctor (he is chairman of the traumatology department at National Taiwan University Hospital), not a politician, appears to have helped him. The DPP decided not to field a candidate in Taipei after the party’s polls showed that Mr Ko was more popular within the DPP than any candidate it could field itself. Mr Ko appeals not only to middle-of-the-road voters, but also to some in the DPP who want formal independence for the island. Mr Ko has given support in the past to the DPP but has tried to avoid the question of independence during his campaign. // Source: Economist
3. Erik Tollefson says the Beijing-Seoul free trade deal sent political shockwaves through Taiwan, raising questions on whether it is too reliant on trade for economic competitiveness. : // Although the precise impact of China’s trade deal with South Korea on Taiwan is difficult to estimate, the raucous debate reveals two important points. First, in the midst of a tepid global economic recovery, relative economic gains matter more. Taiwan’s economy is not in ill health by any means: annual GDP is projected to grow close to 4 per cent this year, the fastest level of growth posted in three years. Granted, this was achieved largely on the back of robust third-quarter export growth as supply shipments for the iPhone 6 spiked. However, even if the free trade deal doesn’t severely affect Taiwan, it will help South Korea, with some estimates that it could add up to 3.3 per cent of GDP. In a world of seemingly inert demand and increasingly competitive pricing pressures, due to Japan’s recent decision to strengthen quantitative easing, these gains are even more important. Second, the deal signals a rapidly shifting regional economic environment, with China emerging as an indispensable participant. Indeed, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference discussed two main free trade plans: one led by the US, the other by China. However, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Washington’s strategic answer to limiting Chinese influence through free trade, has faced numerous obstacles, and the US will find it increasingly difficult to construct an economic zone of influence around China after Beijing recently announced new free-trade agreements with Australia and Myanmar. The Chinese economy, and Chinese firms, are becoming intricately woven in the region’s developed and developing economies alike – a trend that Taiwan understands well. All of these developments sharpen the policy dilemmas facing Taiwan. The main challenge of whether to further integrate with mainland China via the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement has captured the most attention due to the profound ramifications. The dilemma is only partially mitigated by the low but existent probability of Taiwan joining the TPP – a step that would potentially diversify economic trading partners. Even if Taiwan does ultimately join the partnership, however, it is facing another dilemma that could prove deleterious: an overdependence on trade to drive economic competitiveness. // Source: SCMP

HONG KONG – POLITICS

Beijing Explores Ways to Address Hong Kong Discontent: // Beijing is exploring ways to address public unhappiness with the electoral revamp package that sparked the nearly two-month-long protests, a person familiar with the discussions said. Advisers and officials in Beijing are focusing on the nominating committee that will select candidates running for Hong Kong’s chief executive post in 2017, according to this person with knowledge of the matter. They are considering adjusting the committee’s makeup to better represent the city’s population, in particular the pro-democracy camp, while still giving Beijing control of the election process, the person said…Any shift by Beijing wouldn’t be presented as a concession or even a compromise, the person familiar with the discussions said, but instead should be seen as a clarification of the August ruling by the National People’s Congress. // Source: WSJ

Beijing Hong Kong scholar Jiang Shigong said that Beijing is unlikely to drastically change the composition of the nomination committee // 強世功回應華爾街日報報道，認為不存北京大規模調整提委會構成方式的任何可能。(資料圖片)強世功回應華爾街日報報道，認為不存北京大規模調整提委會構成方式的任何可能。中通社訪問全國港澳研究會理事、北京大學港澳研究中心執行主任強世功，回應早前華爾街日報報道指政改方案中關於特首提名委員會組成可考慮調整，強世功反駁，不存北京大規模調整提委會構成方式的任何可能。強世功表示，「首先，無論占中發酵到何種局面，831決定是終極決定，是不可改變的。另外831決定中也說，提委會將按照第四任行政長官選舉委員會的人數、構成和委員產生辦法而規定。既然‘按照’，就說明提委會的構成方式不會輕易發生根本性的改變。」強世功又指，香港當前的問題並不僅是普選的問題，而是社會分裂問題，反對派若持續採取反中央、反政府的立場，鼓動市民或是在立法會採取不合作的姿態，那麼香港仍難彌合占中帶來的傷害。華爾街日報昨日引述知情人士指，北京官員們將重新考慮2017年選舉行政長官時，針對提名委員會「考慮調整該委員會的構成」。報道同時稱，這不代表讓步甚至妥協，而應被視為831決定的澄清。// Source: Wenweipo

Split within Occupy deepens as splinter group challenges leadership: // The split among pro-democracy protesters deepened last night with radicals confronting the campaign leadership to demand an equal say on the movement. The drama began as dozens of protesters who answered an internet appeal to confront the leadership marched, some wearing masks, to the main stage of the Admiralty rally site at 8pm. They carried placards reading “you do not represent us” and shouted at speakers on the stage // Source: SCMP

Triads behind Hong Kong protest violence? // A triad gang-leader tells me that the Hong Kong student protestors were infiltrated by agent provocateurs. The leaders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement also criticised the violent actions of those who attempted to break into the legislative assembly yesterday. It was the first time protesters have damaged public property. // Source: Channel 4

1. Apple Daily provides a detailed list of the gangs involved. Source: Apple Daily

 Mong Kok site cleared by bailiffs on Tuesday and Wednesday

1. // Hong Kong bailiffs tasked to enforce a court order against a key protest camp have successfully torn down barricades at an intersection in Mong Kok, after a tense face-off with pro-democracy demonstrators. The 20-man “removal team” cleared the juction of Argyle Street and Nathan Road in just 45 minutes. They cut the plastic cordons, tape and strong adhesives that held the barricades in place, and confiscated wooden pallets, fencing and umbrellas. With the barricades cleared at around 11.15am, the bailiffs breached the protest zone and moved to dismantle remaining tents. Police officers, deployed to assist the bailiffs if necessary, formed a line at the intersection to prevent demonstrators from re-occupying the area. Minutes later, some officers, yelling “Open the road”, began pushing back protesters in an apparent attempt to clear a passage for debris to be carried away to a waiting truck. // Source: SCMP
2. After Mong Kong clearance, students vow to target government buildings // The Federation of Students has threatened to set its sights on government buildings in response to the police clearance of the Occupy camp in Mong Kok following violent overnight clashes. « The further actions include a possibility of some escalations pointed at government-related buildings or some government-related departments, » federation core member Yvonne Leung Lai-kwok said yesterday. A possible target is said to be a footbridge leading to the government headquarters in Admiralty. // Source: SCMP

PUBLICATIONS

 WSJ Bob Davis on China’s economic downturn

1. // So why, on leaving China at the end of a nearly four-year assignment, am I pessimistic about the country’s economic future? When I arrived, China’s GDP was growing at nearly 10% a year, as it had been for almost 30 years—a feat unmatched in modern economic history. But growth is now decelerating toward 7%. Western business people and international economists in China warn that the government’s GDP statistics are accurate only as an indication of direction, and the direction of the Chinese economy is plainly downward. The big questions are how far and how fast. My own reporting suggests that we are witnessing the end of the Chinese economic miracle. We are seeing just how much of China’s success depended on a debt-powered housing bubble and corruption-laced spending. The construction crane isn’t necessarily a symbol of economic vitality; it can also be a symbol of an economy run amok. // Source: WSJ