News » Politics » Bo Xilai One Step Closer to Judicial Punishment

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• Bo Xilai One Step Closer to Judicial Punishment
• China: Police Offer Rewards for Leads on Self-immolations
• Taipei declines comment on controversial US campaign ad
• China Blocks Web Access to Times After Article
• Chen Guangcheng Honored by Human Rights First, Meets Bale
• Chinese leader Wen Jiabao's family accumulate billions during his time in office
• Lawyer not sure if he could fight Bo Xilai case in court
• Wary of Tibet immolations, Beijing offers $32k for tips
• Before party meet, calls for political reforms in China
• Top China Stories from WSJ: Yuan Roams, Military Shift, Bo Trial
• Government Report Reveals China Debt Bomb
• Coal Price in China Falls Amid Economic Downturn
• The Chinese Communist Party, Partially Defined
• TSMC chairman pessimistic on global economy
• Hong Kong's last governor embroiled in fallout from Savile scandal
• TSMC plans 18-inch wafer plant in northern Taiwan
• TSMC Q3 earnings hit record high
• Chinese Officials Will Pay for Tibet Immolation Tip-Offs
• Chinese Ministry of Industry denies internet “cut off” rumor
• New Leaders of Military in China Announced

Bo Xilai One Step Closer to Judicial Punishment Posted: 25 Oct 2012 08:23 PM PDT Bo Xilai at the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 14, 2012, before he was removed from his post and charged. He has now been stripped of his NPC position, a formally on the road to prosecution. (Mark RalstonAFP/Getty Images) In a single sentence published at nearly 10 a.m. on Friday Oct. 26 Beijing time, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece Xinhua announced that disgraced official Bo Xilai had been dismissed from his position in the Communist Party's legislature, the National People's Congress, a necessary step on the way to putting him in front of a judge. The decision was made by the Standing Committee of the Chongqing City National People's Congress, which Bo Xilai had ostensibly "represented" in Beijing during the Party's political conclaves. The step was a formality on the way to prosecution, according to Heng He, a political commentator with NTD Television, a New York-based Chinese broadcaster. "Before he is handed to the judicial authorities his representative status with the People's Congress has to be terminated, as a way of removing immunity," Heng He said. NPC members cannot be prosecuted, per regime custom. The Chongqing City NPC did the honors because they are the body that "elected" him, Heng He said. "This rumor has circulated for a week already," Heng He said. "This just confirms it." Editor's Note: When Chongqing's former top cop, Wang Lijun, fled for his life to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu on Feb. 6, he set in motion a political storm that has not subsided. The battle behind the scenes turns on what stance officials take toward the persecution of Falun Gong. The faction with bloody hands—the officials former CCP head Jiang Zemin promoted in order to carry out the persecution—is seeking to avoid accountability for their crimes and to continue the campaign. Other officials are refusing to participate in the persecution any longer. Events present a clear choice to the officials and citizens of China, as well as people around the world: either support or oppose the persecution of Falun Gong. History will record the choice each person makes. The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter. Click www.ept.ms/ccp-crisis to read about the most recent developments in the ongoing crisis within the Chinese communist regime. In this special topic, we provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation. Get the RSS feed. Who are the Major Players?

China: Police Offer Rewards for Leads on Self-immolations Posted: 25 Oct 2012 10:00 PM PDT The police in a heavily Tibetan region of China are offering $7,700 for information on those orchestrating the self-immolations to protest Chinese rule.

Taipei declines comment on controversial US campaign ad Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:06 AM PDT Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday declined to comment on the use of President Ma Ying-jeou's image in an election campaign advertisement in the United States that mistakenly has China'...

China Blocks Web Access to Times After Article Posted: 25 Oct 2012 10:00 PM PDT The Chinese government began blocking access to The Times after publication of an article describing the wealth accumulated by relatives of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Chen Guangcheng Honored by Human Rights First, Meets Bale Posted: 25 Oct 2012 07:34 PM PDT Last night, at the annual Human Rights First Award dinner, Christian Bale finally met blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, whom he attempted to visit this past Decemberin China.

Chinese leader Wen Jiabao's family accumulate billions during his time in office Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:30 PM PDT Family of Wen Jiabao control assets worth at least £1.67 bn according to detailed review of company and regulatory filings. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Lawyer not sure if he could fight Bo Xilai case in court Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:41 PM PDT A lawyer for disgraced former top Chinese politician Bo Xilai, who has been employed by the family to represent him, said on Thursday he was unable to say if the government would allow him to represent Bo when the case comes to trial.

Wary of Tibet immolations, Beijing offers $32k for tips Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:36 PM PDT Chinese police said on Thursday they were offering up to $32,000 as a reward for information on the 'black hands' behind a string of self-immolations in a Tibetan-inhabited region.

Before party meet, calls for political reforms in China Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:08 PM PDT Ahead of the ruling CPC's key Congress to elect a new leadership, calls for political reforms in China's one-party system are getting louder, with a top official saying that the CPC can no longer "dodge" the issue citing obstacles.

Top China Stories from WSJ: Yuan Roams, Military Shift, Bo Trial Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:59 PM PDT The once-predictable Chinese currency has become increasingly volatile; China promoted four more Chinese generals to key military posts; the trial of Bo Xilai is unlikely to take place before next month's meeting to select China's new leaders.

Government Report Reveals China Debt Bomb Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:56 PM PDT The Hang Seng Index graph outside a bank in Hong Kong on Aug. 25, 2011. A new report from a Chinese regime think tank reveals that China has debt problems. (Laurent Fievet/AFP/Getty Images) Debt-crippled Western nations who have hopes that China will rescue them should think again: a new report from a Chinese regime think tank reveals that China has debt problems of its own. The State Council Development Research Center's (DRC) Oct. 22 report, "Research on China's Financial Risks," shows the combined central and local government debt at 23.76 trillion yuan ($3.8 trillion), or 59 percent of 2010 GDP. While this number is lower than most Western governments, it is the distribution that is most troubling. Local governments' short term debt is the most critical, with the highest potential for a financial blow up. In fact, the debt is so high that 78 cities and 99 counties would need to allocate 100 percent of their budget to service it. A $640 billion central government stimulus plan enabled local governments to borrow heavily in 2009, in the wake of the global 2008 financial crisis. In order to borrow from banks, local governments set up special financial entities that carried out local infrastructure projects, mostly highways and airports. According to the DRC report, 42 percent of these local debts mature at the end of 2012 and 53 percent by the end of 2013. The report examined 1734 of the special entities and found that more than 26 percent of them are losing money. Since many local governments are experiencing difficulties in paying the interest on their loans, the probability is low that they will retire the debt on time. Many of the projects aren't generating enough cash to service the debts, so some local governments have taken on new loans to retire old ones, compounding the problem. It is very likely that the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) will be forced to introduce a new policy, extending the deadline for entities that cannot pay back the debt, according to the National Audit Office. There is no sign that investment activity is leveling off, however. On the contrary, it is increasing. Because officials' performance is measured by how much they boost the GDP, the incentive is high for them to overspend in order to create a track record of political achievement, leaving the debt for the next generation. Wu Jinglian, a well-known Chinese financial scholar and State Council expert, points out that the current investment plan presented by local governments has reached 17 trillion RMB ($2.72 trillion). Addressing the 2012 International Financial Forum, he warned that the Chinese regime's current economic growth stimulus plans are not sustainable, and will create dire consequences if deployed, as this paper reported in a Sept. 19 article. Speaking in a closed door forum in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, in October 2011, economic scholar Larry Lang predicted that the local debt would cause an economic tsunami, as The Epoch Times earlier reported. He warned: "Every province in China is Greece. All levels of government will go bankrupt in all aspects." Related Articles Chinese Real Estate Developers Flee Debt chinareports@epochtimes.com The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.   Click www.ept.ms/ccp-crisis to read about the most recent developments in the ongoing crisis within the Chinese communist regime. In this special topic, we provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation. Get the RSS feed. Who are the Major Players?

Coal Price in China Falls Amid Economic Downturn Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:32 PM PDT A photo taken on Nov. 15, 2010, shows a coal mine in Huo Lin Guo Le, China's north Inner Mongolia region. (Gou Yige/AFP/Getty Images) According to Chinese energy experts, the economic downturn has driven down the price of coal in China, while the weakened demand for coal by energy companies has caused power plants to be overstocked. Wu Yin, Deputy Administrator of China's National Energy Administration, said in a speech on Oct. 11 at the 2012 China International Forum on Coal Industry, that large and medium-sized power plants remained overstocked with coal for 29 days with a total of 90.32 million tons of coal as of Sept. 30. Wu attributes the excess to China's economic slowdown. Chinese coal companies have continued to receive imported coal supplies since June, but energy companies were generating less electricity, which drove down coal contract prices. The China Securities Journal reported on Oct. 12, the average price of Shanxi Premium Mix in Qinhuangdao Port, for the third quarter, was 632 yuan (approximately US$100.8) per ton, falling 18 percent since the second quarter. China Merchants Securities expected third quarter earnings of coal companies to be substantially reduced, especially metallurgical coal companies. The third quarter earnings of major metallurgical coal companies dropped 62 percent compared to thermal coal companies, which averaged a 34 percent drop since the second quarter. The director of China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, Lin Boqiang, told Sound of Hope (SOH) Radio that because of the economic downturn, companies use less electricity, so the price of coal fell sharply, but the storage remains high. Boqiang said, "When the economy is slightly worse, less power is used, so the coal storage is bound to be more. Since it is cheaper now, it is possible that people will buy more. I think it's a good opportunity to cancel the coal contracts." Wang Lijie, director of Research Institute of Energy Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, told SOH Radio, "Coal prices have risen a few fold in the past decade, but the price of electricity does not rise much. The price of the coal will immediately rise again once the economy turns better." Related Articles Police Beat Back Coal Plant Protesters in Hainan Province chinareports@epochtimes.com The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter. Click www.ept.ms/ccp-crisis to read about the most recent developments in the ongoing crisis within the Chinese communist regime. In this special topic, we provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation. Get the RSS feed. Who are the Major Players?

The Chinese Communist Party, Partially Defined Posted: 25 Oct 2012 06:10 PM PDT Sullivan, Lawrence R. "Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Communist Party," The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2012. ISBN: 978-0-8108-7470-1. (Scarecrow Press) Ever wondered what the "dictatorship of the proletariat" really means? What about that "February adverse current" you'd never heard about? These abstruse definitions and many, many more now complete a historical dictionary of the world's largest and longest lasting Leninist political organization, the Chinese Communist Party. With more than 400 entries (cross-referenced in bold), an introduction, appendices, and bibliography, the new volume by Scarecrow Press will be useful indeed. Pick any Party organ, apparatchik, event, or watchword. The Organization Department, for example. You learn that it controls high-level staffing positions within the CCP (well, the one in the Central Committee, which is the focus of the entry; though Organization Departments exist at every level of the Party's administrative structure), that it was founded in the Yan'an era to manage the influx of cadres, and lies on the outskirts of Beijing in an unmarked building with no listed phone number. It "forms the institutional core of the Leninist Party system." You learn that the selection of appointments is often heavily influenced by bribery and patronage, and that being the head of an Organization Department is a highly sought after position. A list of holders of the chief office concludes the entry. Readers are directed to related entries on "cadres" and "rectification campaign." The chronology is a useful refresher on the CCP's important dates and its development: birth (1917–1924); the First United Front (1924–34); the Yan'an period (1935–46); the first CCP rectification (1942–45); the civil war (1946–49); economic reconstruction and political consolidation (1950–57); the Great Leap Forward and its aftermath (1958–65); the Cultural Revolution (1966–76); late Maoism (1976–78); economic reform and political crises (1978–97); and the post-Deng period and emergence of China as an "economic superpower" (1997–2010). The introduction by Lawrence Sullivan provides a fair summary of CCP doctrine and shifts in its rule, bringing it up to Xi Jinping's likely succession. But it delves little into the lies and general ruthlessness and brutality with which the CCP rules China, and suggests that the Party will probably stay in power for decades while failing to highlight any of the looming economic, social, or demographic factors that may complicate matters. One puzzles over what guided decisions for inclusion or exclusion. The anti-spiritual pollution campaign of 1983–84 is included, for example—as it should have been—but there is no entry for the anti-Falun Gong campaign, which is ongoing and was much more thorough and destructive than the former. There is an entry on the Central Propaganda Department, but not one on propaganda or use of the media for promoting the Party's line generally. There's no entry on culture. Other broad concepts like democracy are given an entry. But there is no entry for, say, coercion, a concept that is much more tangible, and a more important instrument than democracy in the Party's arsenal. Some people's birthdates are entered as question marks. How hard would it have been to Google the name of Wu Guoguang and enter his year of birth (1957), or pick up the phone and confirm it? The omissions don't seem to be deliberate attempts to burnish the CCP's reputation. The entry on "thought reform" explains that "interrogations, the writing of 'confessions,' incarceration, and even torture were all used to remold the 'thoughts' of intellectuals who did not support the CCP nor accept the worldview embodied in Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.'" But there is no comparable entry on the system of re-education through forced labor; or the use of psychiatric institutions to persecute dissidents; or the whole security apparatus of coercion and repression generally. One imagines that all this, which is deeply significant for the meaning of CCP rule and the people on the ground that must contend with it, could have been put under "public security" and given a few paltry pages. There is no entry on the one-child policy. And neither is there a list, at the beginning, of all the entries that are to follow. One must thumb through every page. Related Articles The Chinese Regime Obscures Its Power Rankings chinareports@epochtimes.com The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

TSMC chairman pessimistic on global economy Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:54 AM PDT The chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest contract chip maker, expressed pessimism over the global economy Thursday amid political uncertainties in the United States and ...

Hong Kong's last governor embroiled in fallout from Savile scandal Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:54 AM PDT Chris Patten, chairman of the BBC Trust and the last British governor of Hong Kong before its return to China, has come under attack in the investigation as to why the British national broadcaster dro...

TSMC plans 18-inch wafer plant in northern Taiwan Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:54 AM PDT Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest contract chip maker, is planning to build an 18-inch wafer plant in 2016 that will focus on development of chips on the advanced 7 nanometer tec...

TSMC Q3 earnings hit record high Posted: 26 Oct 2012 02:54 AM PDT Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world's largest contract chip maker, said Thursday its earnings for the third quarter hit a record high in the company's history on the back of a shipment incre...

Chinese Officials Will Pay for Tibet Immolation Tip-Offs Posted: 25 Oct 2012 04:57 PM PDT A volunteer looks at a photo during an exhibition highlighting recent reported self-immolation victims in Tibet, presented by Amnesty International's Taiwan branch in Taipei on June 29, 2012. Chinese police have recently put out a bounty for those who inform on would-be immolators. (Mandy Cheng/AFP/Getty Images) Chinese police in a Tibetan area in Gansu Province, where many self-immolations have taken place in recent days, are offering as much as $8,000 for information about Tibetans who are planning to set themselves on fire. As many as 58 Tibetans, according to some accounts, have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest against the perceived destruction of their culture, religion, and way of life at the hands of Chinese authorities. The reward notice was sent out on Sunday. It said, "Anyone who reports and informs the legal authorities on the people who plan, incite to carry out, control and lure people to commit self-immolation will be awarded 50,000 RMB," according to the International Campaign for Tibet, which posted the notice online. The amount is around slightly over $8,000.  The notices were posted in Gansu Province's Gannan prefecture and police confirmed with the news agency that they put them up. People who give authorities information on those who organized the four most recent self-immolations will be rewarded as much as 200,000 yuan (about $32,000), the notice added. Tibet's government-in-exile has said that Tibetans inside China should not set themselves on fire, saying that there is a "small population and each life is precious."  The International Campaign for Tibet said there is "an intense military buildup in the town of Labrang and Labrang Tashikyil monastery" in Gansu Province, one of the most influential and largest in the Tibetan region. Two days ago, a man who sold bread outside the monastery set himself on fire, just a day after another carried out a self-immolation.  Mary Beth Markey, who heads the Tibetan rights group, said that the language on the tip-off notices "is consistent with the absence of official acknowledgement of policies or practices that have assuredly contributed to the 58 self-immolations in Tibet since February 2009." "Instead officials continue to characterize the Tibetan self-immolations as imitative, criminal, or misguided acts of 'terrorism-in-disguise," she continued. The Central Tibetan Administration made similar comments earlier this week.  It said the "systematic repression of their freedom of religion and human rights, destruction of Tibetan language, culture and environment, and assimilation of Tibetan nationality through induced massive influx of Chinese population into Tibet" is triggering the immolations. Related Articles China's Unknown War Against Tibet Documented in New Book chinareports@epochtimes.com The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Chinese Ministry of Industry denies internet “cut off” rumor Posted: 25 Oct 2012 04:53 PM PDT Beijing, China – It is reported that China is to "cut off" internet connection during its once-in-a-decade leadership change, the 18th National Congress of Chinese Communist Party on November 8.  According to Chinese Central Broadcasting Station, the Ministry of Industry requires "internet cut off"  for 48 hours in all major telecommunication companies from November 7 to 8th. Ministry of Industry denies the rumor on October 25 and said it is a term used for telecom operators in the industry. "Cut off internet" means "shut data centers" to be accurate. All data centers should restrict access during the period, and it forbids any maintenance works on servers or engineer works. The term does not apply to ordinary websites and users. FMN

New Leaders of Military in China Announced Posted: 25 Oct 2012 10:00 PM PDT China announced the promotions of five generals this week, shaping the top leadership of the rapidly modernizing military ahead of the 18th Party Congress.

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