CHINA – POLITICS

1. Third Plenary Session of the 18^th CPC closing on 12 Nov

   1. Some economic and administrative reforms are expected (most likely on fiscal, financial and administrative), focusing on state withdrawal from market and cutting red tapes, but expectations on state-owned companies, land reform, household registration reform are low. Political reforms are basically out of the question.
   2. According to past practices, the final document will be released later today by Xinhua, probably in the evening. But unlike the past, so far there have been no video or text report about the process of the Third Plenum.
   3. HKEJ found that an internal document called 《中共中央關於薄熙來嚴重違紀違法案及其教訓的通報》has been circulating in provincial and local governments since November 7. Content was about the “five causes and six lessons” 「5原因、6教訓」of the Bo Xilai case, saying that every level of government must study it, while obeying political discipline and central authority 上至省政府下至鄉鎮都須開會學習並表態，要嚴格遵守政治紀律、維護中央權威等。
      1. Shaanxi has convened their own Bo Xilai meeting: 会议认为，在党中央的坚强领导下，中央纪委、司法机关稳妥及时处理了薄熙来违纪违法案件，这是我们党深入推进反腐败斗争的重大胜利，充分体现了我们党建设廉洁政治、社会主义法治国家的鲜明立场和坚定决心。事实证明，党中央严肃查处薄熙来案件的决策完全正确，赢得了全党上下和广大人民群众的衷心拥护和支持。

2. “Terrorist attack” on Tiananmen Square

   1. On 28 October, a jeep ran into a pedestrian walkway in front the Tiananmen Square’s famed gate tower and exploded in flames after it hit the Jinshui Bridge, killing three occupants and two tourists. Speculation quickly circulated on the Internet but information was censored.
   2. Two days later, five suspects have been detained in connection with the car crash, which authorities described for the first time as a “terrorist attack”. The suspects are all Uygurs from various parts of the restive Xinjiang region. Authorities launched a massive manhunt for the suspects and said they found knives and another jihadist flag at the residence of another suspect.
   3. Public Security chief Meng Jianzhu said that the terrorist attack was plotted by East Turkestan Islamic Movement (東伊運), a Xinjiang terrorist group, and vowed to work with members in the Shanghai cooperation to prevent terrorism. (Although no one came out to either admit or deny responsibility) Beijing’s Uygur communities fear the suspected terrorist attack could disrupt their daily lives, damage their businesses and increase mistrust with members of the capital’s Han majority.
   4. State media have run extensive commentaries calling for a “united front” against terrorism. The political chief of the Xinjiang public security bureau Zhang Zeyu told a Xinjiang news portal that hostile Western forces were to blame for the region’s increased security risks. The report called for greater “ideological control” through propaganda and other measures in order to prevent the spread of “separatist forces” in the region. An editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the People’s Daily, said terrorists were “common enemies” of the entire country. “People from Xinjiang, especially the Uygurs will be the biggest victims,” it said.
   5. A week after, Xinjiang military chief Peng Yong was expelled from Communist Party after Tiananmen attack, but state media did not state the reason for his dismissal.

3. Regulator calls for reshuffle at ‘New Express’ over Zoomlion scandal

   • Guangdong’s press regulator said the management of the New Express tabloid should be reshuffled after a series of “incorrect” reports that alleged financial problems at heavy equipment manufacturer Zoomlion. The statement said: “Preliminary investigation shows New Express under the Yangcheng Evening News Group published numerous incorrect reports about Zoomlion from September 2012 to August 2013. The editorial management of New Express was chaotic.”
   • Chinese report is here
   • Other China commentators said that there are no winners in Chen Yongzhou’s case. See China Digital Times for more article collections.
   • After the Chen Yongzhou incident, Chinese authorities are thinking of ways to “manage” the media. According to Mingpao,
     1. 目前當局正在對全國25萬新聞記者進行「馬克思主義新聞觀教育活動」。有負責官員戲言，最後的辦法就是將全國75萬新聞工作者全部收歸「事業編制」，即將記者、編輯重新納入公務員體系。目前，內地僅有新華社、《人民日報》、中央電視台等中央級新聞媒體以及各地方黨報的記者、編輯被納入事業編制，即福利待遇比照公務員，有各種保障，而包括《新京報》、《南方都市報》、《南方周末》等暢銷的市場化媒體，都實行聘任制，人員自由流動，待遇缺乏保障。
     2. 官方考慮的舉措之二就是合併媒體，減少競爭。當局認為「惡性競爭」是新聞造假和「收錢抹黑」現象層出不窮的主因。這方面已經付諸實施的顯例就是上海的「文新」和「解放」兩大傳媒集團的合併，上月28日已成立上海報業集團，據說此舉在上海實驗成功後，將向全國推廣。未來像廣州這種一個城市內同時有「南方」、「羊晚」和「廣州日報」三大報業集團鼎足而立的狀能持續多久，頗成疑問。
     3. 最後官方也考慮對網站實行分類管理，即對新聞網站按傳統新聞機構管理，即由宣傳部派員領導、實行審閱制度、處罰制度等，而商業網站則嚴禁刊登新聞及討論時政。有消息稱，這種分類管理首當其衝的當屬內地著名的「財新網」和「財經網」，新浪、搜狐等門戶網站亦受影響，未來很可能要被迫分拆，而新聞部分所受管束將更嚴厲。而作為網絡管理的一部分，有消息稱，由著名媒體人胡舒立創辦的「財新網」，即將與原來的合作伙伴——浙江日報集團分手，投入新成立「上海報業集團」，至於胡舒立能否與新東家合作愉快，仍有待觀察。

4. Bloomberg is said to have shot down articles that might anger China

   1. NY Times reported that Matthew Winkler, the longtime editor in chief of Bloomberg News, had called four journalists in Hong Kong in the end of October, asking them not to publish an investigative report they had been working on a year, which “detailed the hidden financial ties between one of the wealthiest men in China (Dalian Wanda’s chairman Wang Jianlin) and the families of top Chinese leaders”. According to Bloomberg employees familiar with the discussion, during the call, Winlker defended his decision, comparing it to the self-censorship by foreign news bureaus trying to preserve their ability to report inside Nazi-era Germany. “If we run the story, we’ll be kicked out of China.” But Bloomberg later denied the allegations.
   2. In 2012, Bloomberg infuriated China by publishing a series of articles on the personal wealth of the families of Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping. Bloomberg’s operations in China have suffered: new journalists have been denied residency and sales of its financial terminals to state enterprises have slowed. Chinese officials have said that such news coverage crosses a red line.
   3. “Most important for the larger Bloomberg company’s bottom line, financial news terminal subscriptions, which cost more than $20,000 per year and are the main revenue generator for Bloomberg, slowed for a spell in China, after officials issued orders to some Chinese companies to avoid buying subscriptions. Despite all that, Bloomberg got a license renewal this July from the State Council, China’s cabinet, that allows it to continue providing financial news for two more years.”
   4. Another Bloomberg article by Cathy Chan, a HK reporter, was halted after a conference call with New York, employees said. The article outlined how children of Chinese leaders, or “princelings,” had secured jobs at foreign banks.
   5. On the other hand, a veteran Reuters reporter on China, Paul Mooney, is denied his China visa. China’s Foreign Minister declined to give a reason. NY Times said that “The rejection comes at a time of rising tensions between foreign news organizations and the government, which has been using its economic clout, the issuance of visas and Internet controls to express displeasure with coverage it deems unflattering.” Last year, Al Jazeera English shut its Beijing bureau after the authorities refused to renew press credentials and the visa of its China correspondent, Melissa Chan.
   6. An NPR report interviews Emily Parker, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, says accusations of self-censorship go far beyond this one case. Orville Schell, a journalist and author who runs the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, says China has growing leverage over those who rely on the country for revenue or their livelihoods.
   7. Economist ran another article about foreign media in China, arguing that it is harder for foreign media companies to resist such demands from the Chinese government. It took Bloomberg and NY Times as an example, which published exposés about the wealth of the family members of China’s top leaders: “Less familiar is that both companies have also been effectively blocked from taking on new staff or replacing current employees in China. Chinese authorities appear loth to expel current journalists working for such high-profile employers, especially those reporters who actually broke the wealth exposés, as this would make international headlines. They instead use forms of pressure that attract little attention, such as delaying visa requests interminably, while making clear that the media outlet’s future coverage should be “more objective”.”

5. China’s Tibetan Policy: silencing Dalai Lama in Tibet

   1. A top official said that Beijing aims to stamp out the voice of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Tibet by ensuring that his “propaganda” is not received by anyone on the Internet, television or other means.
   2. The top official is Tibet’s party secretary Chen Quanguo. He wrotean essay titled 以敢于亮剑的精神确保西藏意识形态领域安全 —— 认真学习贯彻习近平总书记在全国宣传思想工作会议上的重要讲话精神 on party journal Seek Truth on 1 November to pay tribute to the Xi’s August 19 speech on ideology.
      1. 各种思想文化交流交融交锋更加频繁，特别是敌对势力和十四世达赖集团勾联聚合、沆瀣一气，把西藏作为分裂渗透的重点区、破坏捣乱的主战场，千方百计与我们争夺阵地、争夺人心、争夺群众，使西藏始终处在意识形态斗争的“风口浪尖”。
      2. 以勇于担当的精神做好意识形态工作强化“一个责任”。各级党委把意识形态工作摆上重要议事日程，成立由党委书记任组长的意识形态工作领导小组，建立例会制度，切实加强对意识形态领域重大问题的分析研判、重大任务的统筹指导
      3. 抓好“两大阵地”。始终坚持党管媒体的原则不动摇，始终坚持政治家办报、办刊、办台、办新闻网站的立场不动摇，始终坚持弘扬主旋律、传播正能量的主线不动摇
      4. 坚决开展反分裂斗争。采取理论揭批、舆论驳斥、政策宣讲、现身说法等形式，深入揭批十四世达赖集团政治上的反动性、宗教上的虚伪性、手法上的欺骗性，深入揭批十四世达赖集团所谓“中间道路”、“大藏区”、“高度自治”的反动图谋，教育引导各族干部群众将藏传佛教与十四世达赖区分开来、将十四世达赖与达赖的称号区分开来，自觉与十四世达赖集团划清界限，在反分裂斗争这个重大政治原则问题上旗帜鲜明、立场坚定，与党中央保持高度一致。
      5. 努力实现党中央的声音形象在全区120多万平方公里的辽阔疆域上听得到、看得到，敌对势力和十四世达赖集团的声音形象听不到、看不到。

6. Chen Yi’s son Chen Xiaolu faced criticism against his confession on the Cultural Revolution

   1. In August, Chen Xiaolu, the PLA general Chen Yi’s son, made an open confession about his wrongdoings during the Cultural Revolution when he was a Red Guard leader and apologized to the victims who had been oppressed by him.
   2. SCMP reports said that many other second Red Generation figures took issue with Chen’s confession.
      1. 內地媒體《人物》雜誌 ​​​​ 也援引陳小魯朋友郝新平的話稱，有其他紅二代朋友“很強烈地”表達了對陳的不滿，說“陳小魯不像話”。有分析指，作為文革公開道歉的’紅二代’第一人。 ”其實，在文革結束的那麼多年裡，在各種場合，以各種形式，為自己的文革中的錯誤道歉、懺悔的，陳小魯並非第一人，但沒有很大的社會影響。而陳小魯作為一名“紅二代”，他的道歉，必然會有“名人效應”。
      2. 分析稱，在歷次政治運動中的整人行為道歉，雖然得到受害人的諒解，但也為此受到批評和指責，承受了巨大的政治壓力”，其原因是讓不願道歉的人難堪。也有分析批評陳小魯能為文革道歉本身也是一種持權，如果陳是一介平民，校方斷然不敢配合。若他不聽勸阻，也會因「尋釁滋事罪」被拘留，矛頭直指包括現在最高領導人習近平在內的「紅二代」。
   3. Another apology, by Liu Boqin, appeared in Yanhuang Chunqiu earlier in June 2013 and drew attention

7. Bo Xilai Supporters Found New Political Party

   1. Supporters of Bo Xilai have set up a political party, two separate sources said, in a direct challenge to the ruling Communist Party’s de facto ban on new political groups. The Zhi Xian Party (至憲黨), literally “the constitution is the supreme authority” party, was formed on November 6, two days before the Third Plenary Session.
   2. It named Bo as “chairman for life”, Wang Zheng, one of the party’s founders and an associate professor of international trade at the Beijing Institute of Economics and Management. The CCP has not allowed any opposition parties to be established since it came to power following the 1949 revolution, so history suggests it will not look kindly on this new party. Activists have been jailed in the past for setting up political parties, although parties have never before coalesced around fallen top political figures.
   3. An interview with the founder Wang Zheng on BBC
      1. 我們一年多來一直在為薄熙來這個事情努力，過程中發現薄熙來案明顯是個政治問題，不是刑事問題。而公民個人呼籲都沒有起到作用，所以，既然政治問題就要用政治手段解決，而且要用組織的形式」。”
      2. 薄熙來在重慶所做的事情實際上恰恰和憲法相吻合。這幾十年中國的改革方向和路線實際上違背憲法。最明顯的，憲法第一條規定的就是：中國的根本的政治制度是社會主義政治制度。社會主義制度的根本特徵是共同富裕。但這幾十年強調的是一部分人先富起來，而且導致中國的貧富懸殊越來越大。薄熙來在重慶做的最典型的、受到老百姓歡迎的恰恰是這一點，他強調的是共同富裕。所以從憲法高度上說，他和黨內的其他高級領導人所做的相比，（薄熙來）是完全按照憲法、實際上是憲法回歸的行為。所以我們在成立政黨的時候會從憲法的角度去主張。
      3. 宗旨就是維護憲法。對所有的組織必須在憲法框架內活動，尤其是執政黨。必須在憲法框架內領導我們。凡是違背憲法的，我們堅決抵制。雖然法律這麼規定，但實際上沒有人去做。多年以來，執政黨經常違反憲法做的一些事情，八大民主黨派並沒有去反對它，並沒有阻止它。所以新的政黨要有這種使命。

8. Activists challenge authorities by going to dinner (tongcheng fanzui 同城飯醉)

   1. WSJ: “On the last weekend of every month, government critics gather for unassuming meals in as many as 20 cities across the country to discuss issues from failures in the legal system to unequal access to education. The gatherings are intentionally low-key, organizers say, but their overall goal—to lay the groundwork for democratizing China—isn’t.”
   2. Longtime participants trace the movement’s origins to a proposal that called for a new “culture of citizenship”to overcome the “seemingly ubiquitous corruption and privilege that undermines rule of law” in China. Published online in 2010, the “Citizens Promise” was backed by a group of reformers that includes Xu Zhiyong, a law professor who was a visiting scholar at Yale in 2004 and 2007, and Wang Gongquan, a venture capitalist who made a fortune investing in real estate and the dot-com boom in the late 1990s.
   3. A democratic way to dinner: Taking a cue from “Robert’s Rules of Order,” a manual for deliberative assemblies published in 1876 by a U.S. Army colonel and based on rules used in the House of Representatives, participants propose topics that have ranged from protests over land expropriation to models of democratic governance, which are then voted on. Each person around the table is given an allotted amount of time to speak.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS

1. Seeking Truth publishes essay by Qiu Shi again

   1. 《求是》刊发秋石文章：革命理想高于天：
      1. 习近平同志在参加河北省委常委班子专题民主生活会时对大家说，有一个道理要反复讲，就是党的干部必须永不动摇信仰，矢志不渝为中国特色社会主义共同理想而奋斗。理想信念是一个国家、民族和政党团结奋斗的精神旗帜，理想信念动摇是最危险的动摇。
      2. 理想信念问题是一个极其重要的问题，必须经常讲、反复讲。从党和国家发展大局讲，经济建设是中心，同时必须高度注重精神建设、精神力量和精神生活；从党的建设工程讲，权力要被关进制度的笼子，同时必须补足理想信念这个共产党人精神上的“钙”；从党的执政方略讲，人民群众是坚实的执政基础，崇高信仰是党的强大精神支柱，只要我们永不动摇信仰、永不脱离群众，就能无往而不胜。
      3. 必须警惕和防止理想信念的滑坡与动摇。一个政权的瓦解往往从思想领域开始，思想防线被攻破了，其他防线就很难守住。苏联为什么会解体?苏共为什么会垮台?一个重要原因是理想信念动摇了。戈尔巴乔夫私下曾说过，共产主义思想对我已经过时。
      4. 心中永远要有共产主义这盏明灯。习近平同志讲，共产党人的最高理想是实现共产主义。实现共产主义需要一个相当漫长的历史时期，但我们党员干部心中要有这盏明灯。
      5. 道路自信、理论自信和制度自信
      6. 抓好党性教育这个核心，从中国革命历史中汲取最好的营养剂

2. People’s Daily《正確看待改革開放前後兩個歷史時期》on November 8

   1. Author was Party’s Historical Research Department 中共中央黨史研究室
   2. …repeating the two “cannot deny” (“不能用改革開放後的歷史時期 否定改革開放前的歷史時期，也不能用改革開放前的歷史時期否定改革開放後的歷史時期。＂) “無論用哪一個歷史時期否定另一個歷史時期，都是對自己這個歷史時期的否定。如果用不正確的觀點簡單地否定這兩個時期或者其中的任何一個時期，必然導致對中國共產黨的領導和 ​​​​ 社會主義制度的否定，也必然導致對改革開放和中國特色社會主義的否定。我們一定要有這樣的政治上的清醒。”
   3. “敵對勢力這兩個方面的否定，從根本上說，都是對歷史事實的背離，都是想搞亂人心，企圖瓦解中國共產黨執政的歷史依據和思想根基，進而毀掉社會主義中國的未來和廣大中國人民的福祉。“前車之覆，後車之鑑。 ”蘇聯解體、蘇共垮台的一個重要原因，就是全面否定蘇聯歷史、蘇共歷史，否定列寧等領袖人物，搞歷史虛無主義，把人們的思想搞亂了。”
   4. Reuters: “China’s Communist Party gave an emphatic no to any political reform that may threaten its rule in a lengthy document published on Friday, the day before it starts a key meeting to set the economic agenda for the next decade. …The document echoes an October report in an influential party journal that denounced Western calls for political reform, saying such pressure was aimed at getting rid of the Communist Party.”

CHINA – SOCIETY

1. China plans to scrap official ranking system based on petitioner numbers

   • The Beijing News reports that China is planning to scrap an official ranking system that grades provincial and city officials according to petitioner numbers. The mechanism has in place since 2005. It allocates negative points to officials according to the number of petitioners from their jurisdictions that visit Beijing and affects official’s chances of promotion. It has long been seen as a contributing factor behind heavy-handed crackdowns on petitioners in recent years, including illegal kidnappings, deportations and placing people in black jails.
   • The aim of the overhaul is to encourage petitioners’ complaints to be settled locally and to ease the pressure the system places on local officials, according to anonymous sources from central government agencies and a deputy director of a provincial petition bureau broke the news on Monday. The practice of petitioners visiting Beijing has placed increasing pressure on central government, which, concerned with maintaining social stability, ordered local officials to stop petitioners at all costs. The report said that the ranking system not only resulted in crackdowns, but was also used by some petitioners as a means to threaten officials

HONG KONG – POLITICS

1. Hong Kong Ballet caught up in censorship row

   1. On 25 October, the ballet group staged the premiere of The Dream of the Red Chamber, a collaboration with Germany’s Ballett Dortmund, at the Cultural Centre. At the end of the ballet, a 12-minute projection sequence depicted different stages in China’s history including the Ming dynasty, Qing dynasty, the provisional Republic of China and the Cultural Revolution. In the part depicting the Cultural Revolution, dancers in Red Guards uniforms waved copies of Mao Zedong’s “little red book”. However, in the performances following the premiere, the projection sequence was cut from the show. The section appeared in the show when it was presented in Dortmund last November.
   2. HK Ballet has denied it censored its latest show for political reasons and has pledged to restage the part. Its Artistic Director said the cut was solely for artistic reasons. Other ballet representatives said the sequence was cut because it was “too long” and “too modern” and might be hard for local audiences to accept.
   3. Meanwhile, Mingpao interviewed Piotr Gregorowicz, Video Designer of Ballett Dormund, who said that after the premiere a lady, aged around 40 to 50 with short hair, came on stage with the Zhang Xiaoming, head of the Liaison Office of China in HK and ordered ballet representatives to delete the projection sequence, saying that “she does not want to see it”.
   4. Wang Xinpeng, the choreographer of Ballett Dortmund, himself experienced the Cultural Revolution and left China because of Tiananmen 1989.

2. HKTV license debate continues

   1. Amidst opposition from most of pro-establishment politicians, Legco failed to pass the bid to invoke special powers to investigate ExCo on matters related to the HKTV licence despite strong public support. The motion to apply the Legco (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance was defeated 27 to 33 in the House Committee of the Legislative Council.  Pro-establishment members kept criticizing the government’s decision, but most voted “no” on the motion. Two Legco members, one voted “yes” and one voted “no”, admitted that the Liaison office of the CPC had contacted them earlier to discuss the TV license issue.
   2. Meanwhile, pro-Beijing newspapers Takungpao and Wenweipo supported the Liaison Office’s intervention because they said it is a perfectly justified duty for the Chinese government to defend the executive-led system (中聯辦支持特區政府依法施政天經地義), since using special powers would impair it.

PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS

1. Empress Dowager Cixi – The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, by Jung Chang

   1. Using Chinese archives in Beijing, Chang offered a revisionist – but contentious – account of Cixi, which, according to her, was ‘the concubine who launched modern China’. Rather than a “cruel, hapless despot with an extravagant lifestyle, and a conservative who suppressed reform in China for decades”, Chang portrayed Cixi as a reformer who laid the foundations for China to become the economic superpower of today.

2. Ian Johnson on New China Cities: Shoddy Homes, Broken Hope

   1. How urbanization led to the ghettoization of China’s new towns, where migrant communities have been moving into

3. Washington Post interviews Teng Biao on citizen activism and his experience with state repression