| Old Boss Wants to Become New Boss Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:29 AM PDT As the 18th Party Congress draws near, former leader Jiang Zemin is believed to be wielding his clout behind the scenes. A recent appearance at a concert once again stirred up curiosity from the public. From Zhang Jie and Keith B. Richburg at The Washington Post: […] China-watchers – and the active community of Internet users on Twitter-like microblogging sites known as "weibo" — took considerable interest in photos of Jiang that suddenly appeared on overseas Chinese Web sites this week, attending a recent concert at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts, affectionately called "The Egg." […] But China's ubiquitous Internet censors have tried to squash the swirling speculation by blocking Jiang's names from the weibo search engines. The photos only appeared on overseas Chinese media Web sites. But that hasn't stopped China's Netizens from talking, mostly by using more oblique references, like; "Old comrade and his wife went to a concert."
Some analysts read Jiang's public appearances as a sign of his desire for continued influence over policy and personnel consulting. From Cary Huang at South China Morning Post: There has been much speculation that Jiang's influence may eclipse that of current general secretary Hu Jintao in the new leadership line-up , as members of Jiang's faction and their allies seem to be gaining an upper hand in the contest for seats on the next Politburo Standing Committee, the party's top power echelon. […] There are suggestions the next standing committee will have only seven members, down from nine at present. Top contenders for those posts include Shanghai party boss Yu Zhengsheng, vice-premier and Chongqing party chief Zhang Dejiang and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan; all three come either from the Shanghai faction or are princelings – Jiang's power base. "Jiang's Shanghai faction allied with the princelings to rival the populist group led by Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao after what they saw as the failures of governance in the current administration," said Zhang Lifan, who was a historian at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the nation's top think tanks.
Jiang is not the only old boss who wants his say. See Jeremy Page at WSJ: Mr. Jiang isn't the only elder statesman to re-enter the political fray. Three others have published books this year, including 87-year-old Qiao Shi, a former rival of Mr. Jiang who is also thought to have played a part in discussions on the Bo scandal, according to the party insiders. […] As top Chinese leaders step down earlier—based on an unofficial retirement age of 68 introduced in 2002—many of them are around longer after leaving office and using their unofficial powers and contacts to play a more active, and visible, role in political discourse. The result is an increasingly ungainly decision-making system that makes it harder to achieve consensus on the economic and political reforms needed to balance rapid growth and social stability, analysts say. Policy-making has been paralyzed for much of this year as retired and departing leaders scheme to ensure promotion of protégés who can preserve their political influence and protect their family interests for the next decade. […] Mr. Qiao, considered a relative moderate, has long advocated strengthening the rule of law and published a book in June that focused on his efforts between 1985 and 1998 to strengthen the legal system and the national parliament—a move that some analysts saw as an attempt to highlight the weakening of those institutions over the last decade.
See more on Jiang Zemin via CDT.
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Post tags: 18th party congress, Bo Xilai, CCP, Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, leadership transition, princelings, Youth League faction
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| Chinese Actresses Falling Short in Hollywood? Posted: 28 Sep 2012 11:58 PM PDT China Daily seems to be worried about the "short shrift" Chinese actresses are getting in Hollywood blockbusters: The latest sign of a Chinese invasion in Hollywood is a string of performances so short, you'll miss them if you blink. Chinese actresses, many of whom are superstars in China, are appearing in big-budget Hollywood movies, but in roles that are more decorative than groundbreaking. [ . . . ] The driving force behind these Chinese beauties' Hollywood debut is Chinese capital, which has found its way into productions of international box-office clout. Chinese investors made their projects into co-productions so that they can reap a higher share of the Chinese box office. To achieve that, the investors needed to incorporate a significant Chinese element in the storyline and have as much as a third of the main cast be Chinese actors. These actresses represent the Chinese participation in high-profile Hollywood productions.
I wrote about this co-production issue last Thursday. These studios are gaming the system here. On one hand, I understand the expectation for more Chinese actors in these pictures. That's actually what the co-production rules mandate. On the other hand, Hollywood will do whatever it thinks will result in more profitable films. If that means putting in hot Chinese girls, they'll do it. If, on the other hand, they think these actors do not relate well to a non-Chinese audience, perhaps because of language/accent issues, then their performances are going to end up on the cutting room floor. Come to think of it, are there a lot of other non-native English speakers filling those big Hollywood roles? Very few, and those foreigners who aren't Brits, Canucks, Aussies or Kiwis generally have strong English skills (I'm thinking Northern Europeans). French accents are sometimes OK, but other than that, it gets tough for foreign actors. Expecting Chinese actresses to suddenly make it big in Tinseltown sounds like a stretch to me. Contrary to conventional wisdom, looks aren't everything in Hollywood.
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Post tags: co-productions, Hollywood
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| Kin of Last Chinese Emperor Hold Reunion Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:20 AM PDT Descendents of China's last emperor Puyi gathered in Beijing on Thursday to mark the publication of a new series of books. Barbara Demick at The Los Angeles Times details the family's memories of Puyi and their rocky path through the Communist era: In a rare reunion of one of China's most famous families, four relatives of the late Emperor Puyi convened Thursday at the willow-fringed lakefront mansion in Beijing where he was born in 1906. One of the more reviled figures of Chinese history, Puyi was elevated to the throne as a 2-year-old and abdicated at age 6, only to be reinstalled as a puppet of the Japanese occupation during World War II. […] There's considerable curiosity in China about those remaining royal family members, but their existence does not carry the same cachet as elsewhere, perhaps because of decades of anti-imperialist indoctrination by communists. The relatives hardly ever get together, and even less often in public — royal blood being something you don't advertise in a communist country — but made an exception to mark the publication of a new series of books about their family. […] Zheng, his niece, recalled that Puyi once tried to take a bus, but being chivalrous, let all the women get on first. One of them was the conductor, and the bus left without him. Another time, she went with him to a shop near the botanical garden and realized he had never used money.
See also Biography of Last Chinese Eunuch Reveals a Tumultuous Life, via CDT.
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Post tags: history, Imperialism, Puyi, qing dynasty
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| Murakami on Islands Dispute, Rushdie on Ai Weiwei Posted: 29 Sep 2012 12:07 AM PDT Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has commented on the tense stand-off between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Murakami wrote in the Asahi Shimbun that (from AFP): "When a territorial issue ceases to be a practical matter and enters the realm of 'national emotions', it creates a dangerous situation with no exit. "It is like cheap liquor. Cheap liquor gets you drunk after only a few shots and makes you hysterical. "It makes you speak loudly and act rudely… But after your drunken rampage you are left with nothing but an awful headache the next morning. "We must be careful about politicians and polemicists who lavish us with this cheap liquor and fan this kind of rampage," he wrote.
Murakami's novel 1Q84 has been among the many targets of recent anti-Japanese boycotts, alongside sushi, cars and even medicine. But although upset by this development, the author warned against retaliation. From Japan Real Time: "I fear that as both an Asian and Japanese writer the steady achievements we've made (in deepening cultural exchanges and understanding with our Asia neighbors) will be hugely damaged because of the problems regarding Senkaku and Takeshima this time," wrote Mr. Murakami. […] The removal of Japanese works in bookstores across China "shocked" the 63-year-old author. It represented how far reaching the territorial tiffs have become, threatening to tear down the regional cultural bonds that took decades to build. Mr. Murakami said it's not his position to criticize China for suspending the sale of books written by Japanese authors "because it's China's domestic problem." "But here is what I'd say loud and clear: Please don't retaliate against China for taking such steps. If we do, it becomes our problem, and it will come back and hit you."
British-Indian author Salman Rushdie, meanwhile, has written an open letter with PEN president Peter Godwin to Chinese president Hu Jintao and foreign minister Yang Jiechi. The letter protests the ongoing travel restrictions on the artist Ai Weiwei, whose passport has been confiscated and whose appeal against charges of tax evasion was rejected on Thursday. Excellencies: We write on behalf of the 3,000 members of PEN American Center, and on behalf of thousands more admirers of contemporary international literature and art, to protest the travel bar against artist Ai Weiwei, who was due to participate in a PEN event in New York on October 11. We understand that his passport, confiscated during his 81-day detention in April 2011, has still not been returned to him, although more than a year has passed since his release and his probation expired in June 2012. […] Like our colleagues throughout the world's art and literary communities, we were shocked when Ai Weiwei was detained in 2011, and we are deeply disappointed to learn that he remains unable to travel freely and participate in international fora and conversations in which he has so clearly earned a place. We believe restricting his right to travel abroad risks violating Chinese and international laws, and that it does little to advance the goals and aspirations of the Chinese government and its people. We therefore entreat you to return Ai Weiwei's passport immediately and lift all restrictions against him, allowing him to travel to represent his own work and his ideas. We very much look forward to welcoming him back to New York.
Ai was the subject of a New York Times op-ed by Rushdie soon after his disappearance in April 2011.
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Post tags: Ai Weiwei, anti-Japan demonstrations 2012, authors, diaoyu islands, Hu Jintao, nationalism, novelists, senkaku islands, writers, Yang Jiechi
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| Gold Mooncakes Smell of Corruption Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:50 PM PDT As the Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with a backlash against conspicuous luxury goods, Xinhua's Hu Tao and Yuan Ruting note a whiff of corruption emanating from gift sets of solid gold mooncakes: One of the most favored gift box consists of two pieces, which weigh 50 grams each. The price is 42,900 yuan (6,821 U.S. dollars), equalling to 429 yuan per gram. The price of standard metal bars is around 360 yuan. […] In some stores, gold and silver mooncake giftboxes sold out on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays running from Sept. 30-Oct. 7. […] The country has historically attached great importance to personal relations, but high-valued gold mooncakes are out of the reach of many people, said Xia Xueluan, a Peking University sociologist. […] To eliminate corruption, the government must be strict in law enforcement, and strike the high-valued gift market, said Xia.
Another set of mooncakes recently drew attention for the virulently anti-Japanese slogans with which they were decorated. As Victor Mair wrote at Language Log, these included "the strange incitement to 'Bite Little Japan to Death!' [which] may have been inspired by the morbid thought that, with each bite of a mooncake, patriotic Chinese should imagine that they are biting 'Little Japan(ese)'." On Thursday, Tania Branigan explained the mooncake tradition at The Guardian, including measures already taken against excessively lavish gift sets: "It's just like how Americans eat turkey. Nobody knows why we eat them, we just do," said 25-year-old Tang Cong, who works for an internet company in Beijing. […] They have even appeared in non-edible form. Gold shops sell solid discs styled to resemble the pastries. Last autumn, the makers of Angry Birds produced a special edition of the game with golden mooncake slices instead of eggs. […] Soaring prices have prompted authorities to step in and curb the excesses of the mooncake trade in recent years. Regulations now outlaw unnecessarily lavish packaging and the inclusion of expensive bonus gifts, such as high-priced alcohol, in the boxes. "It was partly because of corruption, but also it was just a waste of resources," said an official at the Beijing Association of Roasted Foods and Sweets.
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Post tags: anti-Japan demonstrations 2012, corruption, tradition
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| Forensic Expert Explains Challenge to Heywood Story Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:27 PM PDT This week, senior forensic scientist Wang Xuemei published a blog post challenging the official explanation for the death of British businessman Neil Heywood. Gu Kailai, whose husband Bo Xilai will now face charges related to the case, was said at her trial to have poisoned Heywood with cyanide, but Wang declared that the evidence did not support this conclusion, asking "who had the most to gain from Neil Heywood's death?" The original blog post was quickly removed, but a cached version survives. On Friday, Wang put up another post explaining why she had spoken out. From a partial translation by Josh Chin at China Real Time: As a forensics examiner in the supreme legal supervisory body of a great country that accounts for one-fifth of the world's population, my life's value at this point in time consists in resolutely examining and raising questions about possibly incorrect causes of death that fall within the scope of my official duties. It consists in snuffing out human errors that could result in disastrous desecration of the souls of dead men and in being a sanitation worker who does her utmost to quickly clean away the spiritual trash that pollutes people's hearts and sullies social morals. …No individual, no group, no organization can use me, Wang Xuemei, to speak the lies they want to speak or commit the sins they want to commit, because I'm a professional who is deeply loyal to the souls of the dead and who acts in accordance with what Heaven decrees.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, forensics, gu kailai, murders, Neil Heywood
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| Photo: Megaphone, by Christopher Cherry Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT |
| Drawing the News: Evil Kungfu Panda and More Posted: 28 Sep 2012 05:29 PM PDT This week, Drawing the News showcases political cartoons on the anti-Japan protests, CCTV's attempt at populism and official corruption: 
Artist: Rebel Pepper (via Over the Wall) Rebel Pepper comments on the vigor of recent anti-Japan protests following Japan's purchase of three of the Diaoyu Islands. He notes that the mob's reaction to Japan mirrors perennial anger with the "Old Monk" (the Dalai Lama). When pro-Tibet demonstrations hounded Olympic torchbearers in 2008, Heilongjiang provincial websites were instructed to direct patriotic discussions at the "Dalai clique's secessionist forces." 
Artist: Kuang Biao Anti-Japan protesters can be as viciously patriotic as they wish, but they are not permitted to inject any domestic issues into their list of demands. The dispute is a convenient distraction from the evergreen problems of poverty and corruption in China. "Patriotic fervor" won't improve people's lives any more than a little Chinese flag will help a beggar on the street. 
Artist: David 8th Generation (via AmazeNews)
CCTV's flagship evening news show, Xinwen Lianbo (News Simulcast), just announced an updated format which will include more "people's voices" (民生) in its reporting. David 8th Generation (@大家画大卫8世) drew this cartoon to "congratulate" Xinwen Lianbo on the change. The eye at the top represents the show's current programming. The format change will not open anyone's eyes. 
Artist: Sinking Stone "Watch Brother" Yang Dacai lost his job after smiling at the scene of a horrific truck crash and brandishing multiple luxury watches. Consciously or not, he is now pulling other officials down with him. Sinking Stone imagines a sinister Kungfu Panda, ready to pounce from his perch atop a government stamp and then hightail it to the U.S. with his green card. "What goes around comes around," reads the caption. "Who doesn't own a few watches?" 
Artist: Dashix "Subconsciously striking you is like swatting a fly!" exclaims the cartoon version of Liaoning police officer Zhang Yan. Zhang and a crew of construction workers battled a farming family at the scene of a forced demolition in the town of Panjin. One villager, Wang Shujie, allegedly set himself on fire and rushed at Zhang with a sickle. Zhang then says he "subconsciously fired his gun" six times, killing Wang. Cradled in Zhang's broken arm, Rebel Pepper will have none of it. Irene Hsiao contributed translation.
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Post tags: anti-Japan protests, anti-japan protests 2012, CCTV, Dalia Lama, Dashix, diaoyu islands, Drawing the News, forced demolition, Kuang Biao, Liaoning, political cartoons, political humor, Rebel Pepper, Tibet, Xinwen Lianbo, Yang Dacai
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| Bo Xilai Expelled from Party, Will Face Criminal Charges (Updated) Posted: 28 Sep 2012 05:30 AM PDT Together with the long-awaited announcement of a start date for the 18th Party Congress, Xinhua revealed on Friday that Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Party and will now face criminal prosecution: Investigations found that Bo seriously violated the Party disciplines while heading the city of Dalian, Liaoning Province and the Ministry of Commerce as well as serving as a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and party chief of Chongqing Municipality. Bo abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case of Bogu Kailai. He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family. […] Bo had affairs and maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women. He was also found to have violated organizational and personnel disciplines and made wrong decisions in personnel promotion, which led to serious consequences. The investigation also found clues to his suspected involvement in other crimes.
The trial of Bo's former sidekick Wang Lijun triggered renewed speculation that Bo would face criminal charges last week. A lengthy Xinhua account of the trial described a dramatic encounter between the two men and implied that Bo had failed to act on knowledge of his wife's crime; furthermore, Wang was said to have earned a reduced sentence by cooperating with other investigations, of which Bo seemed a likely target. Bo's fate is not unprecedented, as Michael Forsythe wrote at Bloomberg News: Bo's is not the first case of a Politburo member to be referred to the criminal justice system. Former Beijing party chief Chen Xitong was imprisoned for corruption following his 1995 Politburo expulsion and former Shanghai party boss Chen Liangyu was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2008 for taking bribes after he was expelled from the Politburo in 2006. Chen was replaced in Shanghai by Xi Jinping, the current vice president, who is forecast to take over the top party and government positions within the next year.
The news about Bo was released on Friday evening at the start of the week-long National Day holiday, and announced with a cursory recitation of Xinhua's report in the number two slot on the Xinwen Lianbo evening news. Top billing went to the 18th Party Congress start date: at The Wall Street Journal, Jeremy Page commented on the timing of these two major stories The twin announcements from the state-run Xinhua news agency indicate that party chieftains have likely reached broad agreement on who should run the country for the next 10 years. Internal differences over how to handle the Bo case are widely believed to have delayed an announcement on when the leadership change would begin. […] […] By unveiling the accusations against Mr. Bo at the same time as the announcement of the beginning of the leadership change, party officials appear to be trying to send a signal to the country regarding corruption, the abuse of power and the decadent lifestyles of many within the party elite—issues that have inflamed national public opinion. It also serves as an acknowledgment that the issues have become a direct challenge to the party's hold on power.
For background on the case, see past coverage on CDT, and also The Bo Xilai Scandal: Power, Death, and Politics in China, a $1.33 Kindle ebook by The Financial Times' Jamil Anderlini. Updated at 06:01 PST: China Real Time's Josh Chin has rounded up some initial reactions from Sina Weibo, including the following: Liu Chun, vice president of web portal Sohu: How is that all I care about is the last line [about the women], that all I can think of is gossip? Could it be that there are some people I know who are a part of it? Lei Yi, historian: What we should be thinking about is how, at every step along the road, he was violating discipline. How did he climb so high? We should consider problems with the system. Sisi2008's World: Before every leadership change, some big official takes a fall. I don't know what this says. DarrenLIU (censored): Inappropriate sexual relations with multiple women. Damn. That's not the sexual problem most Chinese officials have.
On Twitter, meanwhile, Liu Xiaoyuan weighed in (via TIME's Austin Ramzy): 薄熙来对王立军要承担用人失察责任，那么，谁来对薄熙来承担用人失察之责？ — 刘晓原律师 (@liu_xiaoyuan) September 28, 2012
Lawyer @liu_xiaoyuan tweets: Bo Xilai failed in his oversight of Wang Lijun, so who failed to oversee Bo? — Austin Ramzy (@austinramzy) September 28, 2012
At the Associated Press, Christopher Bodeen presented a range of views on the political motives behind Bo's toppling: "They want to drive a stake through the heart of his political career, and make it absolutely impossible, not only for him to reappear but for anyone else who has that idea of trying to create that sort of personalized, political, charismatic leadership in some part of China which may challenge the leadership," Rana Mitter, professor of Chinese history and politics at Oxford University. […] Bo's supporters called the Politburo decision a political tactic. "I have doubts on any criminal wrongdoings of Bo Xilai. I need to see the evidence," said Han Deqiang, an economics professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a leading voice in what Chinese call the new left. "I think this is a political battle turned into a criminal one." […] "This announcement is long overdue. This means there is some progress in the rule of law in China. There is more transparency," said Li Zhuang, a formidable defense lawyer who found himself jailed in Chongqing after he accused police of extracting his client's confession by torture. "Of course it is also political. In China, politics and law often go hand in hand."
Updated at 14:36 PST: Edward Wong at the New York Times weighs in with more about the accusations against Bo: The most serious accusations against Mr. Bo appeared to be those relating to bribes and the Heywood murder, though no details were given. Ms. Gu was also accused of taking bribes. One Chongqing resident with government ties said officials had learned of the decision in afternoon meetings in that city; at one session, the attendees were told that Mr. Bo had taken several million renminbi in bribes and Ms. Gu had taken more than 20 million renminbi, or $3 million. The Xinhua report also said Mr. Bo had violated party discipline for many years, starting with posts in the city of Dalian and Liaoning Province, continuing during a stint as commerce minister and extending through his four-year governance of Chongqing, where he was known for a so-called anticorruption crackdown and a revival of Mao-era patriotic songs through public singalongs. The report also said investigators found Mr. Bo "had or maintained inappropriate sexual relationships with a number of women," but did not give names. That line did not appear to be referring to potential criminal charges, but instead read like an attempt to soil the reputation of Mr. Bo in the eyes of ordinary Chinese. Officials in Chongqing were also told of Mr. Bo's improper relationships, as well as those of Wang Lijun, a former police chief, and Wu Wenkang, another Bo associate in the government, said the resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a fear of official reprisal. The public airing of such serious and sordid charges showed that party leaders had reached agreement that Mr. Bo had to be dealt with severely.
Meanwhile on Sina Weibo, netizens seemed especially taken with one particular accusation: "a number of women" as in "Bo had or maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women" trending now @ #2 in 时事 on Weibo — Liz (@withoutdoing) September 28, 2012
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Post tags: 18th party congress, abuse of power, Bo Xilai, bribery, Chen Liangyu, Chen Xitong, Chongqing, corruption, dalian, gu kailai, Li Zhuang, Liaoning, Liu Xiaoyuan, Neil Heywood, new left, Wang Lijun, Xi Jinping, Xinhua
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| The Daily Twit – 9/28/12: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like National Day Posted: 28 Sep 2012 04:21 AM PDT Yes, the air is crisp and cool, and you can almost taste the nationalist fervor as the holiday week approaches. Officially, Saturday will be a work day, then the holiday will run from Sunday to the following Sunday, October 7. Eight days of fun and patriotic contemplation. I will be holding down the fort here at China Hearsay's Beijing headquarters for the duration, but that's only because my wife hid my passport somewhere and I'm afraid to travel in-country when a billion other people might have similar plans. Speaking of nationalism, you may not have heard that China and Japan are in the midst of what academics are calling a game of nationalist chicken (well, they should be calling it that) in the East China Sea. Seems that no one wants to give up on anything resembling a feral goat-infested rocky outcropping (h/t Barbara Demick). I'm sure we can all understand that. After weeks of "I'm sure they'll come to a solution" chatter among experts, I definitely got a "Holy shit, they might start shooting at each other" kind of vibe out there today. That's probably not a good thing. Here's some stuff to read: Morning Whistle: China tells UN that Japan "stole" its islands — Oh no, they didn't. In front of Ahmadinejad and everyone? Damn, that's cold. Probably not a good way to get Japan to negotiate. I wonder what the news is over in Japan? Let's check in with the Asahi Shimbun to see if there's any glad tidings: Noda vows no compromise as Japan, China dig in on islands row Abe eyes lifting ban on collective self-defense INSIDE LOOK: Japan tried but failed to avert disaster in China dispute Um, I think I'm going to stop reading the Asahi Shimbun. Too depressing. Anything else on the island beat? Worldcrunch: Taiwanese Cash in on China-Japan Island Dispute — First it was South Korea getting all those Chinese tourists, now the Taiwanese are holding their products out as the high-quality alternatives to Japanese goods. The question is whether buying patterns will change, and if so, for how long? Wall Street Journal: Japanese Car Plants in China: Who's Feeling the Heat? — Auto industry expert Michael Dunne talks about what the dispute means for Japan in the huge Chinese car market. Don't forget that foreign auto production in China is done by joint ventures, so if the Japanese manufacturers take a huge hit, so will their local partners. Caixin: 'Economic war' with Japan unwise for China — The message here: Chinese consumers need to separate economics from politics. Foreign Policy: The most ridiculous anti-Japan boycotts — Some of the sillier casualties from that "economic war." For some reason, porn and Hello Kitty (and probably Hello Kitty porn) didn't make the list. In other news: Reuters: China's dorm room discontent emerges as new labor flashpoint — More discussion about the latest Foxconn labor situation. As reporters dig into the incident, complaints about living conditions abound. Wall Street Journal: New Labor Attitudes Fed Into China Riot — More on Foxconn, living conditions and clashes between workers and security guards. Forbes: The Coming Collapse of China — Not! — The latest not-at-all-subtle pushback against Gordon Chang's particular type of China economy doom and gloom story. China Daily: M&A regulations to be relaxed — Probably a combination of two things here. As the government has had to deal with more and more reviews, there have been delays. At the same time, making these easier may boost this type of activity. It's a win-win during an economic slowdown. New York Times: China Politics Stall Overhaul for Economy — Sounds like D.C. No consensus, so no action, even when it is desperately needed. These election/handover years can really suck. BREAKING NEWS – Financial Times: Chinese Communist party expels Bo Xilai — Meh. Not exactly a surprise, but it certainly is news. And coming in at 7:00pm on a Friday before a holiday, well, you know what that's all about. The government also announced that the 18th Party Congress will be on November 8, which is a bit later than usual. But better late than never, I always say.
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| 18th Party Congress to Begin November 8th Posted: 28 Sep 2012 04:03 AM PDT Xinhua reports that the long awaited 18th National Congress of the CCP is to start on November 8th, marking the beginning of China's once-a-decade leadership transition. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided at a meeting on Friday to submit the proposal to the seventh plenary meeting of the 17th CPC Central Committee, which will be held on Nov. 1. The Political Bureau meeting, presided over by Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, studied the preparatory work for the November meetings. Participants of the meeting also reviewed the draft work report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to be submitted to the upcoming Party congress. […] A new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be elected at the congress, according to the meeting. All preparatory work for the congress is going smoothly at present and preparations should be continued earnestly to ensure a successful congress, according to the meeting.
The news was released, by no mere coincidence, alongside the announcement that Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Party and will now face criminal prosecution.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 18th party congress, CCP, Hu Jintao, leadership transition, party congress, Xinhua
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