CHINA – POLITICS

1. Bo Xilai sentenced to life imprisonment

   1. On Sept 22, the Jinan Intermediate Court announced that Bo Xilai would be sentenced to life imprisonment. After the announcement of the verdict, he cried out that the trial was “unfair” and “unjust”. Throughout the trial, and also through a leaked jail letter, he has emphasized that his name will be cleared one day. Contrary to usual practice, Bo was not asked whether he wished to appeal the verdict before the end of the trial. Bo has later decided to appeal nevertheless.
   2. As was the case during the trial, the verdict was reported by the court’s official microblog. Video report was available hours after. But propaganda department had instructed media not to investigate or speculate on the case.
   3. The verdict was heavier than previously expected (expected to be around 20 years).
      1. Washington Post Simon Denyer argues that defiant defense and turning against his own testimony hurt Bo’s chances at a lighter sentence, but it may help his legacy. Willy Lam said in the interview, “He launched a big show of defiance for the sake of his own legacy. But obviously that infuriated Xi Jinping. That’s why he was punished — for his defiance, not for his corruption.”
      2. Economist added that Bo dodged death penalty for “his left-leaning, Maoist-nostaglic political outlook and his elite pedigree”, and because he might have “information that could be damaging to China’s top leader, Xi Jinping”
      3. Diplomat’s Zheng Wang said Bo’s “Hollywood” performance in the courtroom left him a winner. “He denied all of the charges against him, upholding his image among his supporters. His supporters can still believe that Bo is an unlucky official who had a bad wife who took advantage of Bo’s power for money and property. … Bo’s skilled and carefully planned defense also made the prosecution’s arguments look weak. Bo took advantage of knowing the evidence that would be used against him ahead of time, since most of it came from his wife.”
      4. Others portrayed Xi Jinping is the number one winner. WSJ Jeremy Page said that “For many in the Party, the choreography aims to send a message that Mr. Xi now has unrivaled authority over the Party elite—civilian and military—as he prepares to unveil a package of potentially painful economic reforms at an important Party meeting, known as a “plenum,” in November.” Reuters similarly argued that Xi used the Bo case to assert his authority within the Party in order to ease the way for economic reforms.
   4. Bo’s post-prison prospects?
      1. Guardian’s Tania Branigan wrote that some scholars (e.g. Steve Tsang from University of Nottingham) think it is possible that Bo himself could one day re-emerge as a significant force if the system gets into trouble. Other scholars (e.g. Li Cheng of the Brookings Institution) suggest a different kind of legacy, seeing echoes of his tactics in Xi Jinping’s approach with initiatives such as the “mass line” rectification campaign to purify the party. “The chance that Bo returns to politics as a candidate for the leadership is zero. But he will remain as a factor that may shape the political trajectory of the country in the years to come.”
      2. Revenge through Bo Guagua?

2. China to lift Facebook/Twitter ban (since mid-2009) in Shanghai’s new Free Trade Zone?

   1. Announcement followed Sheryl Sandberg’s trip to China in early December, when she met with the head of China’s State Council Information Office.
   2. Government sources told SCMP on the condition of anonymity that Beijing has decided to permit Internet access to Facebook, Twitter, and other previously banned foreign websites within the Shanghai Free-trade Zone, and also welcome bids from foreign telecommunications companies for licenses to provide internet services within the new SEZ.
   3. But sources have made it clear that this move is aimed at resident foreigners and not the Chinese population at large. SCMP quoted one of the anonymous sources: “In order to welcome foreign companies to invest and to let foreigners live and work happily in the free-trade zone, we must think about how we can make them feel like at home. If they can’t get onto Facebook or read The New York Times, they may naturally wonder how special the free-trade zone is compared with the rest of China.”
   4. However, more recently, Chinese officials told the Xinhua News that the lifting of the Facebook ban was incorrect and they will be no changes to internet policy in the free trade zone.
   5. On the other hand, Shanghai announces free trade zone “negative list,” which prohibits foreign investments in cultural, sports, entertainment industries. The full list can be found here in Chinese

3. Left turn? “Public Opinion Struggle” (舆论斗争) and the Self-Criticism Campaign

   1. The phrase “Public Opinion Struggle” has been frequently appearing in the media lately, following Xi’s August 19’s speech on ideology. While recent People’s Daily commentaries have no mention of the term, PLA Daily, China Youth Daily and Global Times have seen mentions of it. Its last appearance was in 1980 in the People’s Daily. And this is different from “public opinion guidance” (舆论导向) during the Jiang era and “public opinion channeling” during the Hu era (舆论引导). Qian Gang at the China Media Project ran a detailed analysis, arguing that the hawkish attitude towards the media and civil society is worrying and that it threatens to impact core economic tasks. Qian warns that “China’s politics is now in danger of running back over the errors of the Mao era”. Another follow-up article shows that he movement against constitutionalism has made its way to the highest levels of official media, the People’s Daily.
   2. Xi Jinping is reported to be holding self-criticism sessions with local leaders, sometimes broadcasted on TV. He has participated in four separate half-day meetings with standing committee members of Hebei’s provincial party committee. He listened as the officials criticized their own conduct, laid out major problems and set down plans for rectification. The official name of these self-criticism meetings is “democratic life meetings” (民主生活會), a time-honoured CCP tradition frequently during the Cultural Revolution, now described as 中共党员在支部和党委中的一种经常性组织活动制度. This is one of the major activities of the “Mass Line Education and Practice Movement” that began in June 18, aiming to eliminate formality, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance. A Global Times editorial “welcomed” self-criticisms and tied this into Xi’s calls for opinion struggle.
      1. Chongqing’s “democratic life meetings”: five half-days of meetings, “全部12位常委同志不仅逐一作了深刻的自我批评，相互之间也开展了坦诚、善意的批评，批评意见共计130余条。”
      2. Many cadres criticized themselves for being too anxious to get things done (急於求成). Participants were described to have reactions such as 紅紅臉、出出汗 and at the same time 加加油、鼓鼓劲
   3. Maoist style to bolster CCP’s image? Meanwhile, netizens mocked the self-criticism campaign.

4. China’s state media has released details on how the government monitors the Internet

   1. According to the BBC, the Beijing News (新京报) says more than two million people in China are employed by the government to monitor web activity, what they call internet opinion analysts 网络舆情分析师. The monitors are on state and commercial payrolls. The report also says that these monitors were not required to delete postings. They are “strictly to gather and analyse public opinions on microblog sites and compile reports for decision-makers”
   2. The original Chinese reporting, which provides more details on how state authorities monitor and collect public opinion through the internet

5. Signs that corruption probe is spreading from central to provinces

   1. Reuters reports that “Taskforces working since May had found mismanagement and corruption in Jiangxi, Hubei and Guizhou provinces, along with the sprawling western city of Chongqing, the party’s Central Committee for Discipline Inspection said in a statement published on its website late on Thursday.” The original Chinese report said that “派往全国各地的10个巡视组中，有7个巡视组已经向派驻地方和单位反馈情况。”
   2. SCMP said that Chongqing, the former stronghold of Bo Xilai, was a eye-watching target of the investigators: “In a comment about the new Chongqing municipal government, Xu Guangchun, head of the Fifth Central Inspection Team, said the municipality had failed to impose sufficient checks and supervision over its top leaders, and certain leading cadres did not have firm political beliefs and failed to reach moral standards.” “Xu also warned about “corruption risks” in state-owned enterprises in the municipality, pointing to rampant “fly-style” corruption – committed by lower-ranking officials – within the organisations.”
   3. China Ministry of Supervision recommends “better institutional check and balance”.
      1. Define boundary of the exercise of public power 合理界定公权力行使的边界
      2. Disperse power 对过于集中权力进行制衡: 决策权、执行权和监督权既相互分离又相互制约，以权制权，形成制衡机制
      3. Restrain authority to use public funds 加强对财政资金使用权力的制衡

6. Zhou Yongkang made public appearance

   1. Zhou re-emerged in public for the first-time after a rumored corruption probe. On a visit to the China University of Petroleum, his alma mater, to celebrate its anniversary, Zhou gave Xi Jinping his backing and urged students to pursue the “Chinese dream”. His visit was reported by the school’s website but was not reported by any state media. Analysts suspect that his appearance was intended to counter speculation about the graft investigations against him, his family and his protégés. But Chen Ziming said that the underreported visit showed “showed opinions were divided among top authorities” and that “it was more likely that the investigation was continuing”.
   2. Chinese report on Zhou’s visit

CHINA – DIPLOMACY

1. Impact of US shutdown on China and China’s response

   1. State-run media took the opportunity to criticize partisanship in the US. Reuters quoted the editorial saying that the U.S. government shutdown had exposed “the ugly side of partisan politics” in Washington and expressed concern about its effect on the world economy.
   2. But Liz Carter at Foreign Policy argued that much of the Chinese official media reacted with less vitriol than might be expected: “Mainstream coverage of the shutdown has been widespread, but its tone has been explanatory, not celebratory.”
   3. The shutdown affected many Chinese tourists who visited the US during the National Day long holiday. Back home, Chinese netizens mocked the news as usual, and many took the opportunity to reflect on what if the same happened in China.
   4. The impasse forces President Obama to cancel a visit next week to Malaysia and the Philippines. Analysts said that might undermine his broader effort to put Asia at the heart of American foreign policy. While Obama had to cancel his trip, Xi Jinping began a charm offensive in Southeast Asia. He first visited Indonesia, addressing the parliament crowd with “how are you?” in Bahasa. His next stop will be Malaysia. Analysts see this as an opportunity for China to thwart U.S. efforts to bring the country into the Trans Pacific Partnership.

CHINA – ECONOMY

1. Unclear prospect of economic reforms?

   1. SCMP reports on Sept 30 that even though the Party are to set out plans for her economy in its key November third plenary session, much of the agenda of the economic reforms are “still hotly debated inside Communist Party”. “Fiscal, land and residency registration reform – all key ingredients of China’s declared goal of boosting its urban population – are the major sticking points as politicians debate how to implement the changes and as they also face resistance from powerful interest groups, such as state-owned monopolies.”
   2. Confirmed focus are financial reform (including a deposit insurance scheme, free trade zone), tax and fiscal reform, urbanization, but other parts of the agenda are less clear. To promote urbanization, for example, China needs to overhaul land and household registration policies that make many rural Chinese reluctant to move. In addition, political reform and an overhaul of China’s state-owned enterprises will be low on the agenda.

CHINA – SOCIETY

1. Shenyang hawker executed for killing chengguan on Sept 25

   • Unlicensed street hawker Xia Junfeng was taken away by chengguan in May 2009. In the interrogation room, he stabbed two officers to death before fleeing the scene. Xia argued he was acting in self-defense, claiming the two officers assaulted him first during the interrogation, but the statement was rebuffed by other chengguan officials. Xia was sentenced to death penalty.
   • Majority of public expressed their support of Xia as they were skeptical of the accounts of chengguan who are notorious for their rogue behaviour and violence against street vendors. It sparked a four-year campaign by supporters and activist lawyers to reverse the verdict. Many criticized the court handling of the case was legally flawed, as it only accept testimony from the prosecution. Activist lawyer Teng Biao is Xia’s defense lawyer.
   • Chinese commentaries on the case. It was previously expected that the Supreme People’s Court would repeal the death penalty.
   • Independent film about the case: 《朝來寒雨晚來風》by 胡力夫

2. PLA singer’s son Li Tianyi sentenced to ten years for gang rape

   1. SCMP reports: “Li’s sentence is harsher than all except one of his co-defendants, because he chose not to plead guilty.
   2. […] The Li family and their lawyers had in recent months spread information about the victim and the owner of the bar, where Li met the woman, to journalists in efforts to discredit their testimony ahead of the trial. Li’s mother, Meng Ge, in a last statement ahead of the verdict said that the court should consider that the victim was a bar girl paid to have drinks with customers. The court ruled that her profession “had no direct relationship” to the charges.”
   3. Sentences for Li and his co-defendants was released via weibo by the court. From Jeremy Goldkorn on Twitter: “Li Tianyi absent from Weibo’s trending list; all websites using non-searchable non-editable image of court’s report”

3. Is population control a big government revenue source?

   • Chinese lawyer Wu Youshui, who requested disclosure from 31 provincial governments, published a report on Sept 26 which says that, “nineteen province-level governments in China collected a total of $16.6 billion in fines last year from parents who had violated family planning laws”.
   • The family planning fine was known as “social support fees” (社会抚养费).
   • See here for Wu’s interview with Beijing News

4. Will religion play a larger role in China?

   1. Reuters ran an interesting piece, which quoted sources saying that “President Xi Jinping believes China is losing its moral compass and he wants the ruling Communist Party to be more tolerant of traditional faiths in the hope these will help fill a vacuum created by the country’s breakneck growth and rush to get rich”. Traditional cultures like Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism will help fill a void that has allowed corruption to flourish.
   2. Sources say that “the influence of religions will expand, albeit subtly.” “[They] will not be comprehensively popularized, but attacks on them will be avoided.”
   3. Some signs included Xi meeting Taiwan’s top Buddhist monk Hsing Yun, who was banned from China in the early 1990s for giving sanctuary to a senior Chinese official in the US, and Yu Zhengsheng visiting five temples in Tibetan areas and a mosque in Xinjiang, which was unprecedented for such a senior leader in terms of frequency.

CHINA – CULTURE

1. Jia Zhangke’s interview on his new movie, A Touch of Sin (天注定), which is inspired by steadily occurring incidents of violence in China, with the Guardian and Asia Society

HONG KONG – POLITICS

1. CY Leung said on National Day that “Hongkongers need to adapt to the changing regional and world order and identify new ways in which the city can contribute to the nation’s development”.

   1. Former CE Tung Chee-hwa, and Donald Tsang who was absent last year, also attended the ceremony. However, Donald was not arranged to sit together with CY Leung and Tung Chee-hwa.
   2. Henry Tang, who competed with CY Leung for CE last year, reminded the chief executive of the importance of accepting criticism, after a number of government policies had been “questioned” since Leung took office.

2. Beijing loyalist Rita Fan warns Hongkongers against being exploited by foreign envoys

   1. She said that “China is growing more influential, hence some global powers naturally want to do something to drag it down.” “As some Hong Kong people are so concerned with the 2017 election and the Occupy Central movement, it is perfect timing for these foreign countries to jump into the debate.”
   2. She asks HK people not to be be “too naive” or allow yourselves to be exploited by foreign diplomats who may have a hidden agenda when it comes to the city’s political reform.

3. Yesterday, CY Leung met Xi Jinping at the APEC meeting in Bali. Xi took a firm line on political reform in Hong Kong, telling CY Leung that the city must strictly follow the Basic Law and decisions of the NPC’s Standing Committee. Leung said he had reported on a range of issues affecting Hong Kong, but he did not say clearly if he had mentioned the Occupy Central movement or the idea for the public nomination of chief executive candidates.

4. 3 million live under the poverty line

   1. An official government report based on 2012 statistics found out that 1.3 million live in poverty, using a poverty line for the first time. The number reduces to 1 million after accounting for welfare. The poverty line was set as the median of the household income. Earning less than HK$3600 for one person is considered poor. For two people, HK$7700. For three, HK$11500.

PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS

1. Environmental Litigation in China: A Study in Political Ambivalence by Rachel Stern

   1. Interview with her by China Law & Policy

2. Frank Dikotter’s new book “The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957”

   1. Opening line: “The Chinese Communist party refers to its victory in 1949 as a ‘liberation.’ In China the story of liberation and the revolution that followed is not one of peace, liberty, and justice. It is first and foremost a story of calculated terror and systematic violence.”