KEYWORDS: anti-craft campaign, SOEs, socialist democracy, Hong Kong political reform, Occupy Central.

CHINA – POLITICS

1. Mid-autumn anti-graft campaign

1. China vows to strengthen supervision on discipline violations during holidays. Xinhua Minister of Supervision Huang Shuxian has warned they will publicize the names of officials who violate the central authorities’ thrifty regulations during upcoming holidays, urging officials to abide. Huang made the remarks when being interviewed on Wednesday night at the official website of the ministry and the Central Commission for Discipline and Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Huang said that during the upcoming Mid-autumn Festival and National Day holiday, anti-graft bodies will supervise gift-giving and mooncake ceremonies, extravagant dinners with public funds and bonus funds among governments, public institutions and state-owned enterprises. Source: Xinhua, posted originally in an “online chat” by the CCDI website
2. China Youth reports 11 cases of mid-autumn corruption, and that government workers said that they get no mid-autumn welfare this year. Source: China Youth Daily
3. The Beijing News says “powerful corruption crackdown” is to help remove obstacles to deepening reform, and that the upcoming Fourth Plenum will become a turning point from only treating the symptoms of corruption to treating the causes. Source: The Beijing News
4. WSJ reports that Beijing’s anticorruption and austerity campaigns are prompting some officials and state-sector bosses to look for greener pastures in the private sector. / Government and state-sector jobs have been among the most sought-after in China in recent years because of job security, generous perks and access to powerful networks. Yet this is changing, as officials’ benefits—from banquets to business-class seats and business-school—have been stripped away in the Communist Party’s austerity drive. Senior officials are facing restrictions on choosing resorts for business dealings, and have been told to scrap overseas leisure travel altogether. / Source: WSJ

2. Party school professor publishes study on Chinese cadres

1. Party school’s Study Times publishes an essay titled 关注领导干部生活状态, based on a study on Party cadres in China. The authors summarized the state of life of cadres as “一边是工作上的废寝忘食，一边是生活上的贪污腐化”, having long working hours and little family life. Author suggests 我们要改变过去单方面塑造“铁人”范式领导楷模的思维定势，转变理念，弘扬“新型官风”，倡导新生活、新政风、新政治，塑造鲜活、全面的“新型官员”形象。这不仅可以让领导干部的形象更加真实，更接地气，进一步增加普通老百姓对党员领导干部的认同感，还可以引领、传播健康的生活理念。作为中国社会的“精英阶层”，不仅仅他们的工作节奏和方式能够直接影响社会整体的运行模式，其生活理念和方式也极易在潜移默化中为大众所追随。Source: 人民网
2. The Beijing News interviews the Party School professors who conducted the study. Source: The Beijing News
3. Russell Leigh Moses looks at the doubting voices of the anti-corruption campaign/ But there are others who aren’t so sure that the current emphasis on cracking down by punishing officials will bring good results. Those skeptics say that there may be more effective ways of fighting graft in the system. One way is to look more critically at some of the ways China’s political system operates. That’s a major reason why the Shandong study was so prominently featured across state media in the past few days. It supports a more complex view of China’s corruption problem. Specifically, it suggests that cadres might not immediately begin behaving badly. Instead, they become susceptible to a political system built more for self-promotion than sound policy-making. According to the Shandong findings, the way forward isn’t so much reconnecting cadres to citizens. Rather, it suggests that officials should be able to rejoin their families and build a better social life. The “new normal” that Xi and his allies like to refer to isn’t normal at all, the study suggests. In fact, it’s putting pressure on officials to work even harder—leaving the root causes of corruption in the system long after the current crusade has expired. Others voices in China are calling for different approaches. One group favors a simple zero-tolerance policy where gifts of any sort are concerned, blaming officials for simply not being moral enough to resist enticement. Some others want the party to stop being so concerned about what cadres do in the darkness and to start looking at what government isn’t doing well in the daytime….Another alternative approach calls for the party to move away from relying on abrupt inspections designed to catch cadres committing crimes. Instead it appeals for building better institutions and procedures, such as more regular audits and oversight. Combating corruption is fine, this argument goes, but clean government should be aiming to create better governance, not just cowed cadres. Source: WSJ

3. Party approves salary cut on bosses of state-owned enterprises

1. The reforms were passed at a Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping… Former premier Wen Jiabao was unable to carry out a pledge to introduce similar reforms. Xinhua reported that the government wanted to narrow the gap between what top executives earned and the salaries of employees lower down the ladder. A survey by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission showed that from 2010 to 2011, the average salary level of top executives at firms it controlled was between 650,000 and 700,000 yuan (HK$817,000 and HK$880,000). Maximum pay cuts faced by top SOE executives is 70%. On top of that, the job responsibilities of government-appointed executives would also be gradually amended, with some joining their boards of directors. Day-to-day operations will be handled by senior managers recruited from outside, with salaries in line with international standards. The model would be similar to that at the MTR Corporation in Hong Kong. The MTR is majority-owned by the government and it appoints officials to the board of directors. Daily operations are run by professional executives. Source: SCMP

Xi stresses adherence to China’s political path ahead of NPC’s anniversary

1. President Xi Jinping on Friday said China must promote socialist democracy through the improvement of the system of people’s congresses, as the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top legislature, celebrates its 60th anniversary. While hailing the system of people’s congresses as China’s fundamental political system, Xi said “In new situations, we should hold high the banner of people’s democracy, while adhering to and improving the system of people’s congresses as required by the times.” Source: Xinhua

• • Ex-Premier Li Peng attended the meeting with other veteran Party leaders. Source: Mingpao
  • During his 9000-word speech, Xi also stressed that China must reject any foreign import of political system. 習近平說：「要堅持從國情出發、從實際出發，既要把握長期形成的歷史傳承，又要把握走過的發展道路、積累的政治經驗、形成的政治原則，還要把握現實要求、着眼解決現實問題，不能割斷歷史，不能想像突然就搬來一座政治制度上的『飛來峰』。」Source: Mingpao

4. Chinese leaders mark anti-Japanese war victory day

1. Xinhua Chinese leaders on Wednesday attended a ceremony to mark the 69th anniversary of the Victory Day in the Anti-Japanese War, the first time since the legislature ratified official observance of the day. The ceremony, which was held in the morning at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and other leaders including Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli. Ratified by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in February, Victory Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is officially observed on Sept. 3 in China. / Source: Xinhua

• • At a later symposium, Xi urges anti-Japanese aggression spirit, as the country is expecting many “great battles” in its future development. / “We must get prepared for many great battles with new historical characteristics as the country is striving to achieve its goals, gradually realize the common prosperity for all, and realize the Chinese dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Xi said. The President pointed out that, “in the journey ahead of us, we must unswervingly adhere to the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, put development as CPC’s top task in governance, comprehensively deepen reform and stick to the path of peaceful development.” When summarizing the significance of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xi said the victory utterly crushed Japanese militarism’s scheme of enslaving China, resurrected China’s status as a big power in the world, and created bright prospects for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Source: Xinhua
  • Xi’s full speech at the symposium is found here. 今天是中国人民抗日战争和世界反法西斯战争胜利纪念日。69年前的今天，中国人民经过艰苦卓绝的浴血奋战，打败了穷凶极恶的日本军国主义侵略者，赢得了近代以来中国反抗外敌入侵的第一次完全胜利。Source: Xinhua
  • PLA newspaper pledges stronger army on victory anniversary / China’s top military newspaper, the PLA Daily, called for a stronger army in a strongly worded article commemorating the 69th Anniversary of China’s victory in the Anti-Japanese War. Sixty-nine years on, the trauma of the war has not faded with time, said the article published in the newspaper run by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Sept. 3, which marks China’s Victory Day in the Anti-Japanese War. “Every Chinese person should remember the history and the heroes in the war, whatever diversified values the society is entertaining,” said the article written by Jiexinping. “The Chinese nation cherishes peace, but peace is not surrender to evil power or compromise in dignity.” Source: Xinhua

5. Zhou Yongkang and the rule of law, any connection?

1. SCMP examines the connection/ The Communist Party leadership intends to use the inquiry into former security tsar Zhou Yongkang and his associates as proof of China’s move towards the rule of law at the upcoming fourth plenum. The investigation into one of the most powerful members of the political elite, along with his network, is being sold as one that will follow established legal procedures and hold up to critical scrutiny. But anti-graft officers questioning some suspects continue to employ old-school tactics of coercion and threats, and the process remains politically charged, sources with links to the suspects and the investigators say. “The central authorities may want to investigate the cases linked to Zhou under the code of rule of law, but in practice, the junior-level officials and investigators … handle the cases as political tasks assigned by their superiors,” a source said. They were more concerned with ensuring the suspects were found guilty than ensuring a fair process, the source added. Source: SCMP

CHINA – SOCIETY

 China to overhaul exam, enrolment system by 2020.

1. Plans hinting at a complete overhaul of China’s exam and enrollment system for high schools and colleges by 2020 were outlined in a circular released by the State Council on Thursday. The reforms will be aimed at easing pressure, promoting fairness and increasing supervision, Vice Education Minister Du Yubo said during a news conference at the State Council Information Office. One measure will see portions of the college entrance exam taken throughout high school years, rather than upon graduation, creating a more staggered approach. Pilot programs will begin this year and the reform efforts will be expanded nationwide three years later, according to the circular. They hope to connect all levels and types of education. / Source: Xinhua

CHINA – MEDIA

China to Limit Foreign TV Shows on Streaming Sites

1. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT)’s introduction of a “censor first, broadcast later” policyrequiring Internet companies to employ government censors to stream foreign television programs online in April led to concern that the policy would be used to ban foreign content. Shortly after, four U.S. TV serials “disappeared” from popular Chinese streaming sites, but state media reports attempted to assure readers that this wasn’t the start of a new trend. This week, SAPPRFT is expected to announce new limits on the number of foreign programs allowed to stream from Chinese websites. Source: China Digital Times
2. /The regulations, set to be announced as soon as today, will cap the number of foreign shows at 30 percent of content offered by the sites, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the rules haven’t been made public. A cap on foreign content is part of a broader government campaign to tighten Internet controls and limit content for China’s 632 million Web users. In April, China barred video websites from airing four U.S. television shows including “The Good Wife” and “The Big Bang Theory.” / Source: Bloomberg Businessweek
3. The Wall Street Journal explains the expected SAPPRFT regulation in the context of Beijing’s recent moves to increase “Internet management” capabilities and limit the soft power influence of foreign content. /Authorities haven’t given a reason for those moves. But they come as Chinese leaders try to tighten regulation of information circulating via chat apps and on Internet sites. As well, China is seeking to build its own culture of television, movies and animation to counter what it sees as the soft-power influence of the U.S. In a government report released in March, Chinese government planners called on officials to “quicken development of public cultural undertakings including the press and publishing, radio and television, and literature and art as well as the culture industry.” Executives among Chinese video companies said the new limits could have a positive impact on the companies by cooling the bidding for licensing foreign TV shows. Video-streaming sites paid a total of 4.2 billion yuan ($683 million) last year to license foreign and domestic programming, according to research firm EntGroup, up from 3.2 billion yuan the year before and compared with 300 million yuan in 2007. / Source: WSJ

HONG KONG – POLITICS

1. Beijing Rules Out Democratic Reforms for Hong Kong

1. For months, pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong have been escalating their demands for universal suffrage and other democratic reforms as Beijing has steadily tightened its control over the territory. On Sunday, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee dashed any hopes for democracy when it outlined the structure of future elections for chief executive, saying the position would be chosen by popular vote, but only after all candidates won the endorsement of more than half of a committee that is aligned with Beijing. Source: China Digital Times
2. Xinhua’s report on NPC’s decision. Source: Xinhua
   • 1200-member nomination committee, composed of four sectors
   • 2-3 candidates
   • Candidates must obtain over half of the votes from the nominating committee
3. The New York Times’ Chris Buckley and Michael Forsythe report: /The decision by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee drew battle lines in what pro-democracy groups warned would be a deepening confrontation over the political future of the city and of China. The committee demanded procedural barriers for candidates for the city’s leader that would ensure Beijing remained the gatekeeper to that position — and to political power over the city. Li Fei, a deputy secretary general of the committee, told a news conference in Beijing that the nominating guidelines — including a requirement that candidates “love the country, and love Hong Kong” — would “protect the broad stability of Hong Kong now and in the future.” The move closes one of the few avenues left for gradual political liberalization in China after a sustained campaign against dissent on the mainland this year under President Xi Jinping. In pressing its offensive in Hong Kong, Beijing has chosen a showdown with a protest movement unlike any it has ever faced on the mainland. / Source: New York Times

2. China sent angry letter to British lawmakers, complaining intervention in internal affairs

1. A letter from the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee sent to British lawmakers, which is posted on the UK Parliament’s website, called for Britain to cancel an inquiry on Hong Kong and stated that the territory was part of China and dealt with under Chinese internal affairs. “What your committee did has sent a wrong political signal to the outside world and disrupted Hong Kong’s political reform process, and will have a negative impact on the relations between our two countries,” the uncompromising letter from the NPC committee said. Source: SCMP
2. This also includes a letter from the Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. In reply, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee said: “I want to be quite clear that we are not seeking to interfere in China’s internal affairs. What we are investigating is the FCO’s ongoing assessment of the implementation of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred to China. That is part of our role in oversight of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and it is an entirely legitimate interest of the Committee. We will also consider other aspects of how the FCO handles the relationship between the UK and Hong Kong, such as business and cultural ties. We plan to continue with our inquiry, and I very much hope that we can find a way, through discussion with the Chinese authorities, for China to make a contribution to our understanding of how the principles of the Joint Declaration are being put into practice.” Source: UK Parliament
3. The inquiry “The UK’s relations with Hong Kong: 30 years after the Joint Declaration” can be found here. Source: UK Parliament
4. Undeterred by warnings from Beijing, British lawmakers will press ahead with an inquiry into post-handover Hong Kong and will visit the city with an “open mind” seeking to meet people from all shades of politics. Richard Ottaway, chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Sunday Morning Post: “We are planning to come in December and I have no reason to think that we won’t be there….The inquiry would welcome evidence from all interested parties, Ottaway said….Ottaway said Beijing’s distrust of the inquiry was misplaced, as similar reports had shown the British “open mind and fairness when faced with the evidence”. Source: SCMP

3. On the Financial Times, HK’s ex-governor Chris Patten urges Britain to speak up for Hong Kong

1. Patten compares the electoral arrangements proposed by the National People’s Congress to elections in Iran. He argues that the UK is honour bound to speak up, and commercial consequences should not override this obligation. “The Joint Declaration under which the territory passed from British to Chinese rule guaranteed Hong Kong’s way of life for 50 years after 1997. Deng Xiaoping’s “one country, two systems” pledge is backed by an international treaty, lodged at the UN. As successive British governments have accepted, the UK has a continuing “moral and political obligation” to ensure that China respects its commitments.” Source: FT
2. Meanwhile, CY Leung hit back Patten’s comments on HK. “First, before Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, all governors of Hong Kong were not elected by Hong Kong people,” a spokesman for Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said in a statement. “Second, the Sino-British Joint Declaration does not provide for universal suffrage at all,” he added, referring to the agreement signed in 1984 that set out arrangements for the transfer of sovereignty under a “one country, two systems” formula. Britain made no mention of democracy for Hong Kong until the dying days of about 150 years of colonial rule. Source: Reuters

4. Margaret Ng writes about Hong Kong’s democracy dilemma /

1. Once Beijing achieves complete control, there is no reason why it would allow Hong Kong’s system to democratize. The aggressive administration of the current chief executive, C.Y. Leung, has already been bypassing long-established good practices and principles without any effective checks and balances….In fact, the proposed system will be worse. Under current practice, a person is eligible to run for chief executive with the support of just 150 people on the Election Committee. This has allowed the democrats in Hong Kong to field candidates to challenge the contenders backed by Beijing and force Beijing’s proxies to declare an election platform to which they can then be held accountable. But under the new framework, becoming a candidate will require the endorsement of more than half the members of the nominating committee. Source: New York Times

• • See also Margaret Ng’s interview on Sunday Mingpao 吳靄儀：後佔中不會原地踏步 Source: Mingpao

5. From Taiwan, Broad Support for Democracy in Hong Kong

1. Taiwan’s main political parties say they support Hong Kong residents’ calls for a greater say in choosing their leader following Beijing’s decision to limit electoral reforms in the semiautonomous Chinese city….Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, who was born in Hong Kong, expressed concern for the city’s democratic aspirations during a meeting of the Kuomintang, Taiwan’s governing party, which he also heads. …The opposition Democratic Progressive Party was more critical, calling the Chinese legislature’s decision on Hong Kong’s elections a “pity.” A party spokesman, Huang Di-ying, was quoted in a statement as saying that the more than 780,000 participants in an informal referendum in Hong Kong on the city’s political future, along with the hundreds of thousands who joined a march on July 1, had “loudly called out for democratic reforms.” The response from Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities “shuts out the people’s call for true general suffrage and casts a shadow over the process of democratization,” Mr. Huang said. …The breadth of the Taiwanese support for Hong Kong democracy indicates that Beijing’s steps on the issue have probably hurt its efforts to win support in Taiwan, said William Stanton, director of the Center for Asia Policy at National Tsing Hua University and a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto United States embassy. “It is very rare that you see both the K.M.T. and the D.P.P. kind of lining up,” he said, referring to the main political parties. “For Ma to come out, I guess he felt he had no choice. For all his faults, I think he really does believe in democracy as he defines it.” Source: New York Times
2.  Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, is interviewed on Bloomberg. Source: Bloomberg
3. Students plan one-week school boycott to protest Beijing’s election restrictions. /Students across 14 universities and colleges today threatened to stage a week-long school boycott – which they said would be their “last warning” to officials over Beijing’s restrictive framework on Hong Kong political reform. The students said they would escalate their actions if the city government refuses to back public nomination – allowing all registered voters to name chief executive hopefuls, an idea repeatedly slammed by Beijing. The groups led by the Hong Kong Federation of Students, representing eight universities that comprise a portion of the city’s 80,000 students, are demanding the resignations of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the government’s reform task force, spearheaded by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. They are also urging reforms to Hong Kong’s legislature by abolishing the functional constituencies, the lawmakers’ seats which are widely regarded as representing the interest of business elites and are undemocratically elected. The boycott is regarded as a curtain raiser to Occupy Central’s upcoming civil disobedience action. / Source: SCMP

6. Newspaper editorials and op-eds on electoral reform

• Mingpao

i.     人大決定備受議論特首普選命懸一線 (1/9)

ii.     董建華認政制有問題期望促成破管治困局 (4/9)

iii.     民主派反制舉措應與激進勢力切割(6/9)

iv.     陳健民：抗命時代的開始 (8/9)

v.     葉健民：中央真的有能力收拾殘局嗎？(5/9)

• Hong Kong Economic Journal

i.     普選雖淪為雞肋泛民或仍有可為 (1/9)

• SCMP

i.     Michael Davies, “Beijing has failed to honour its promise to Hong Kong”

ii.     Simon Young, “Faced with Beijing’s political reform decision, pragmatism must guide legislators”

iii.     Former US consul general Steven Young, “A blow for Hong Kong, a lost opportunity for China’s democratic progress”

iv.     Chang Ping, “In today’s China, is democracy even possible?”

v.     Imperfect electoral model is still a step forward

• Apple Daily

i.     長平, 香港需要外國正義勢力

7. See other coverage on HK

• “No Matter What Beijing Says, Hong Kong Is Ready for Full Democracy”. Source: Times Magazine
• “Unyielding”. Source: Economist
• “The struggle for Hong Kong” / Xi Jinping, the party chief and president, had the opportunity to use Hong Kong as a test-bed for political change in China. Had he taken this opportunity, he might have gone down in history as a true reformer. Instead, he has squandered it. / Source: Economist
• “China Anti-Dissent Playbook May Fail In Hong Kong” Source: AP
• “Support for Occupy Hong Kong Over Vote Waning, Group Says”. Source: Bloomberg
• “China’s Hong Kong Mistake”. Source: The New Yorker
• “Dispatches: China Sows Seeds of Crisis in Hong Kong”. Source: Human Rights Watch
• “Hong Kong’s Piketty problem”. Source: The Business Spectator

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1. Nanfang Zhoumo compares rules on officials reception (公务接待) in China, which differ across provinces. 从纸面规定看，这20个省份都严格落实中央统一要求，要求本省党政机关在进行国内公务接待时要“厉行勤俭节约，反对铺张浪费”。但是，南方周末记者采访发现，地方政府在执行文件要求时，并不一定能严格落实，他们进行公务接待的依据经常是“官场惯例”Source: Nanfang Zhoumo
2. Qian Gang traces the abandonment of Xi Jinping’s early rhetoric on constitutionalism—”ruling the nation in accord with the constitution”—following the omission of a major speech on the subject from a newly published collection, and concludes that the wording of statements from next month’s fourth Party plenum, at which rule of law is set to be the primary focus, will be “an important test of how and whether the agenda has shifted.” Source: China Media Project, China Digital Times
3. Fordham Law School’s Carl Minzner wrote at East Asia Forum on the likely characteristics of a “new orthodoxy” on law, which increasingly invoke extra-legal mechanisms, that might emerge from the upcoming Fourth Plenum. Source: East Asian Forum
4. The Associated Press’ Didi Tang reports on the pressure applied to friends and families of activists and others who find themselves at odds with the authorities. Source: AP