| Labor Camps Under Scrutiny as NPC Opens Posted: 05 Mar 2013 12:38 AM PST While state media reports in January indicated that China's re-education through labor (laojiao) system would be reformed or even abolished, The Washington Post's William Wan observes that government officials have backtracked in recent weeks as the obstacles to reform have grown more evident: A big hurdle, legal experts say, is that authorities have grown dependent on labor camps as an expedient way to silence critics. Police can send people to the camps for up to four years with no judicial process. Citizens have been punished for crimes as trivial as writing an unflattering blog post about a local official. Some prisoners are there because of their religious practice or because they have tried to raise complaints about local injustices to central authorities. The camps provide what is essentially free labor to state ventures. But critics say the practice has also undermined the government's claim to abide by rule of law. "They know it's bad for China's soft power abroad and for legitimacy at home," said Jerome Cohen, a Chinese law expert at New York University.
Even if reality has caught up with reform rhetoric, Didi Kirsten Tatlow of The New York Times reported Monday that delegates to this month's National People's Congress were issuing strong calls to end the laojiao system: "The reeducation-through-labor system to a certain extent makes citizens live in fear," said Dai Zhongchuan, a delegate and law professor from Huaqiao University in Fujian Province, in a report by china.com.cn, the news portal of the State Council Information Office and the National Internet Information Office. "Not to go through the courts to decide on a crime is to deprive and limit personal freedoms. Not to take steps to restrict and monitor this can very easily lead to the abuse of power," said Mr. Dai.
Xinhua News also claimed that lawmakers still recognize the need for reform: The labor camp system, known as laojiao, was "a disgrace to China's national image and required urgent reform," as it runs against the principles of lawful governance and justice which the country pursues, said Yang Weicheng, who is a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) and lawyer from Shandong Province. Deng Hui, an NPC deputy and law school dean from Jiangxi Province, said the labor camp system violated various laws, including the Law on Legislation and the Administrative Penalty Law. It's also a deviation from a human rights convention the Chinese government had signed, he added. "The reform of laojiao is imminent and inescapable," Deng said.
See also previous CDT coverage of China's re-education through labor system.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: labor camps, NPC 2013, political reform, re-education through labor, soft power
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| 45 Arrested in HK For Smuggling Baby Powder Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:10 PM PST Hong Kong customs officials arrested 45 people late last week on charges of smuggling baby milk formula into mainland China, after a new emergency law took effect on March 1st which limits passengers to no more than two cans (1.8 kilograms) of the product. From the Los Angeles Times: The new Hong Kong law stipulates a penalty of up to $64,500 and two years in prison for anyone convicted of breaking the milk powder export limit. At Hong Kong's international airport, the public address system informed passengers that they were not permitted to carry out more than two cans of powdered milk formula. Mainland traders are known in Hong Kong as "locusts," for stripping store shelves of milk powder and other consumer goods for resale across the border. The booming milk powder trade in Hong Kong was fueled by fears on the mainland that domestically produced baby formula is tainted with industrial chemicals. Rowdy demonstrations by Hong Kong residents protesting the cross-border consumer-goods trade last year helped turn milk powder into a powder keg threatening relations between Hong Kong and the mainland. Hong Kong parents complain that they are unable to find baby formula for their own children.
The accused included 26 Hong Kong residents, 18 mainlanders and one person with a foreign passport, according to the South China Morning Post. A number of tainted baby formula scandals have hit China in recent years – thousands of children fell ill with kidney problems in 2008 from milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine – and mainland mothers have since turned to places such as Hong Kong and even Australia for their baby food. More recently, a cancer-causing element was found in samples of a mainland dairy company last year. China's health minister called the smuggling of infant formula a "temporary problem" in Beijing on Monday, according to the Financial Times. Checking in from the sidelines of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Sunday, the South China Morning Post noted a mixed bag of opinions on the issue among the members of China's top political consultative body: Wang Xudong, head of the School of Information Technology at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, lashed out at Hong Kong's measures, calling them strict. "The Hong Kong government is way out of line…[It] only cares about Hong Kong's babies, not at all for the ones on the mainland. [It thinks] it isn't enough to only seize milk powder, but even imprison the carriers," Wang said. … Other CPPCC members called for a serious crackdown on food safety violators after an seemingly endless stream of scandals in China. They said food safety issues were at the core of the milk power controversy. Three-time CPPCC member Pan Qinglin from Tianjin urged heavier punishment on offenders. "I suggest imposing the death penalty to [foodmakers who put people in danger]… [Food fabrication] has damaged the image of the Chinese Communist Party," he said.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: baby formula, children's health, CPPCC, dairy industry, food safety, food scandal, milk contamination, smuggling
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| NPC May Establish Unified Food and Drug Agency Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:43 PM PST Among the most anticipated policy unveilings at the ongoing Two Sessions is the likely consolidation of some of China's 27 ministries and countless lower-level government bodies. The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television and General Administration of Press and Publication, for example, may be absorbed by the Ministry of Culture, while the Ministry of Transport is widely expected to swallow the colossal and scandal-wracked Ministry of Railways. Responsibility for food and possibly drug safety, currently scattered across 13 separate agencies, may also be unified in a single body in order to better combat the country's steady stream of public health scares. From Zhuang Pinghui at the South China Morning Post: The ministerial-level body, due to be approved within days at the annual session of the National People's Congress, will follow the example of the US Food and Drug Administration. It will integrate regulation and law enforcement in one agency. […] Despite numerous nationwide crackdowns, consumer confidence in the mainland's food and drug industry has been shattered. The current system is tangled in red tape, with up to 13 government agencies controlling food and drug regulation and supervision. The industrial and commerce authority, for example, is responsible for packaging, while the Ministry of Health handles food safety standards. The Ministry of Agriculture steps in if animals are involved. Academics and food safety watchdogs have long complained that the numerous agencies create blind spots and overlaps of power that contribute to the chaos. Super-sized ministries may not fulfill their promised efficiency gains, however, as The Economist (via CDT) recently explained. The structure of Chinese food production is also highly fragmented. Here, too, consolidation seems likely, as huge numbers of small-scale suppliers give way to a much smaller number of industrial-scale farms. While big agribusiness can bring its own problems, this trend is expected to greatly simplify food production chains and ease monitoring and enforcement of food safety.
© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: drug safety, food safety, GAPP, ministries reorganization, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Health, National People's Congress, public health, SARFT, super-ministries, two sessions
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| Photo: 龙口桥 Dragon’s Mouth Bridge, China, 2013, by Chris Aston Posted: 04 Mar 2013 03:20 PM PST |
| Defining Reform Under Xi Jinping (Updated) Posted: 04 Mar 2013 03:01 PM PST With the annual session of the National People's Congress now underway, observers are waiting to see how Xi Jinping, who will be sworn in as president at the end of the session, will deal with a number of issues confronting the country. Global Times gives an overview of the meetings, which include gatherings of both the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the National People's Congress: About 2,200 members of the 12th CPPCC National Committee will discuss major issues including the election of new leaders of the top advisory body and proposals for the coming National People's Congress (NPC) on Tuesday. They will also review government work reports and hear recommendations for improvement. "This year's two sessions have a distinct feature, which is to witness the transition of the top government leaders," Yun Jie, director of the administration research department at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that a smooth leadership transition is crucial to China's future over at least the next five years. Chi Fulin, director of domestic reform think tank the China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development, expects the meetings to shed light on China's future reforms because NPC deputies and CPPCC members will make proposals to the government on issues concerning people's livelihoods and state affairs. Lü Xinhua, a CPPCC spokesman, said 840 proposals had been submitted by members as of Saturday noon. The Global Times found many of the proposals tackle issues including fighting corruption, institutional restructuring and environmental protection, particularly curbing air and water pollution.
While last year's congress was held amid the breaking scandal involving former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai, this year's congress aims to refocus public attention elsewhere. From the New York Times:
Most analysts agree that the proceedings this year will ignore the plight of Mr. Bo, who is being detained awaiting prosecution on charges of corruption, abuse of power and obstruction of justice. This year, the party's new top leaders, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, have paved the way for the 13-day session with vows to end flagrant privileges and self-enrichment by officials and their families. They have also vowed to create a more efficient government, and reduce the acrid smog that has enveloped Beijing and other northern Chinese cities for weeks this winter. "They've already taken many steps that have raised hopes among ordinary people — now we're looking for signs that the hopes can be satisfied," said Deng Yuwen, an editor for The Study Times, a weekly newspaper published by the Central Party School in Beijing. "The congress won't have any breakthroughs, but it can indicate where and how fast the leaders want to take things."
Yet the congress itself is widely viewed as a rubber stamp, with any debate or negotiations taking place behind the scenes. For the many journalists who attend the proceedings, it can be difficult to gain access to key players or to inside information about how proposals are introduced and debated. The Wall Street Journal's China Real Time reports: While delegates to the two meetings will get to discuss key plans for streamlining the government and even make recommendations, it's hard to conceive of this pageant as much more than a talk shop when there is only one full session a year. The quest for authoritative and objective reporting might be easier with a little less secrecy surrounding even the simplest information. A list of all delegates to the advisory body was released without explanation of what any of the more than 2,000 representatives did to get into this august body. Even the time of the CPPCC's opening session was kept under wraps until the last moment – and they were similarly coy with the closing date for the parliament session, which formally opens Tuesday. That presents a bit of a challenge for serious news coverage, leaving state media to occupy the role of stenographer. CPPCC chairman Jia Qinglin noted that over the last five years the advisory body had organized more than 500 in-depth studies, zeroing in on the economy, people's livelihood and regional development, state media reported. Xinhua revealed that a total of 28,930 proposals had been submitted by CPPCC members over the past five years, and 26,583 of these had been addressed. There were no details on which had actually made it into policy or law.
For domestic media, reporting on the congress is tightly proscribed. CDT recently translated a list of ten topics that are off-limits for reporting during the session. One piece of data – the annual military budget – was not revealed at the press conference on the eve of the session's opening as expected [See update below]. As AP reports: The legislature's spokeswoman defended booming military spending Monday, saying the vast investment has contributed to global peace and stability, though she did not announce the coming year's percentage increase, as usually has been done on the eve of the legislature's opening. With China now the world's No. 2 military spender after the U.S., the amount of this year's increase will be a barometer of the complicated relationship between Xi and the politically influential military. A big boost would show Xi wants robust backing for the People's Liberation Army at a time when China has tense territorial disputes with neighbors and wants to reduce U.S. influence in the region. A smaller increase would show that Xi feels he already has strong military support without the need to pander to its recent demands for ever-larger outlays. Growth in the military budget should match or exceed last year's rate, if only to keep up with rising inflation, said Ni Lexiong, a military expert at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Tensions with Japan and others, he said, should ensure a bigger voice for the military.
Other changes that are expected to be announced during the congress include an administrative reorganization of government ministries. Notably, the scandal-plagued Ministry of Railways is expected to be demoted and broken into commercial and operational arms. From Reuters: "Part of the Ministry of Railways will be merged with a super-Ministry of Transport," said a second source who has leadership ties, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to foreign reporters. The source was referring to the operations of the railways. A state-owned enterprise will absorb the ministry's commercial arm, which has responsibility for passenger ticketing and freight operations, the sources added. The Railways Ministry has faced numerous problems over the past few years, including heavy debts from funding new high-speed lines, waste and fraud. The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale.
Individual delegates to the CPPCC and other activists have issued public calls for specific reforms at the NPC. As the New York Times reports, some delegates are calling for an end to re-education through labor, or laojiao, camps, following vague promises from the government on the issue: "The reeducation-through-labor system to a certain extent makes citizens live in fear," said Dai Zhongchuan, a delegate and law professor from Huaqiao University in Fujian Province, in a report by china.com.cn, the news portal of the State Council Information Office and the National Internet Information Office. "Not to go through the courts to decide on a crime is to deprive and limit personal freedoms. Not to take steps to restrict and monitor this can very easily lead to the abuse of power," said Mr. Dai.
Human Rights Watch issued a letter to Xi Jinping calling for the abolition of laojiao and a number of other reforms. But as the New York Times article quoted above points out, deeper political reforms are unlikely to come to fruition at the current congress: The apparent scaling back of the plans for administrative changes reflects how difficult it will be for the leadership to deliver on promises to free up the economy from state-owned enterprises and fight corruption, while still preserving single-party rule, said Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore. "In all these issues, there's the same basic problem of deep distrust between the people and the government," Mr. Zheng said. "Because there is so much distrust, the government is reluctant to make deep reforms. What they call reforms turns out be reassigning powers within government, not giving up powers to society. That's not real reform — and then people feel increasingly frustrated."
UPDATE: Early Tuesday morning Beijing time, Xinhua released the military budget: China plans to raise its defense budget by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan (114.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013. — Xinhua News Agency (@XHNews) March 5, 2013
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, Li Keqiang, NPC 2013, political reform, re-education through labor, super-ministries, Xi Jinping
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| Ministry of Truth: Ten Points on Two Sessions Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:30 AM PST The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Central Propaganda Department: Matters Needing Attention During the Two Sessions: (1) Without exception, do not report on officials' financial disclosure during the Two Sessions; do not comment; do not republish reports from foreign media. (2) During the Two Sessions, coverage of sudden incidents or mass incidents in Shaanxi Province must go through the Propaganda Department and then listen to planned reports. (3) For the time being, regional media must cease monitoring public opinion outside the borders of their jurisdiction. (4) Without exception, all information on the issue of anti-corruption which has not been verified by the discipline inspection commissions of your respective jurisdiction must not be reported. (5) Reduce the number of negative articles on home pages. The Internet Information Office [probably of the State Council Information Office] requests timely management of this task. Particularly ensure that social networking sites are taken care of. (6) Media personnel must not post information which is harmful to the government on their Weibo accounts. All weibos posted by media organizations, reporters, and editors must represent their respective work units. (7) Report less on interaction among the leadership. Do not report "shocking" news on representatives. Do not turn reporting on the Two Sessions into entertainment. Report more on the voices of grassroots representatives and committee members. (8) Reuse reports from authoritative media sources and complete coordinated reports [with these sources]. (9) Reports on learning from Lei Feng must not veer off course or have a negative influence. (10) Coverage of congress amenities and work style and the Clean Plate Campaign must focus on new accomplishments, but reign in the scope [or reporting]. (March 3, 2013) 中 宣部：两会期间报道注意事项：1）涉及官员财产公示报道，两会期间一律不报道，不评论，不转发境外媒体报道。2）两会期间陕西突发事件及群体性事件，需报 经宣传部后，听从安排报道。3）各地媒体暂时停止跨地域舆论监督。4）所有未经各地党委纪律检查委员会证实的各类反腐信息，一律不要报道。5）减少首页负 面稿件数目，网络信息办公室要求处置的要及时处理，重点管理好社交网络。6）媒体从业人员微博不得发布对政治有害消息，媒体法人，记者，编辑微博所发内容 代表单位名义。7）少报道领导互动，不报道代表委员"雷人雷语"，不把两会报道娱乐化，多报道基层代表和委员声音。8）转发来源使用权威媒体报道，配合性 报道要做足。9）学雷锋报道不得偏离方向，出现负面影响。10）会风，作风，光盘行动报道重点在取得新的成就，但要把握好尺度。
Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as "Directives from the Ministry of Truth." CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation. Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.
© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Internet censorship, media censorship, Ministry of Truth, National People's Congress, NPC, NPC 2013, propaganda, two sessions
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| China’s Real Estate Bubble, and Hopes for Democracy Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:24 AM PST For CBS' 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl visits China to investigate the "largest housing bubble in human history" and explore ghost cities, such as Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and housing and shopping developments that have been built and left empty around the country: Stahl interviews developer Wang Shi who acknowledges that the bubble is "dangerous" and on the verge of bursting. In an accompanying Internet feature, Stahl also interviews real estate mogul Zhang Xin — the "richest self-made billionaire woman in the world" — who made waves not for her comments on the real estate market in China, but on democracy, made in the last minute of this clip: 60 Minutes Overtime gives more background on Zhang's comments and discusses her activity on weibo:
[The SOHO Sanlitun office and shopping area, developed by Zhang Xin and her husband Pan Shiyi. Photo by TonyV3112 / Shutterstock.com]
© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: democracy, economic development, Ordos, pan shiyi, real estate bubble, zhang xin
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| Shine Has Worn Off Wukan’s Early Triumphs Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:39 AM PST While a disputed land sale has sparked protests and demands for democracy in the Guangdong village of Shangpu, Reuters reports that "spring is over" in the nearby village of Wukan, which made headlines last year for holding elections after ousting its own village leadership in late-2011 land grab protests: Reuters visited Wukan six times over the last year-and-a-half, chronicling the early protests, the uprising, its eventual triumph and now its disillusionment. The events in Wukan focused keen attention in Beijing over a problem the central government had long underplayed – rampant land seizures across China. The government is drafting revised land management legislation for the annual parliament session in March that would require farmers – an estimated 650 million of them in China – to be adequately compensated and relocated before officials can expropriate any land. But Wukan's failure to overcome entrenched corruption shows how difficult it is for grassroots protest to spur lasting change in China. Towering above Wukan is a vast local, regional and national edifice of Party control and vested interests. Indeed, even the Xi administration's push to overhaul the land seizure law faces opposition from developers, businesses and local governments that depend on property sales. "For Wukan, amongst all the villages in China, to be able to rise up and protect their interests, then to conduct a democratic election and to become a kind of experimental ground, is significant," said Peng Peng, a senior researcher with the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences. But the inexperience of the new leaders and their halting progress over the land issues has exposed the teething problems of nurturing village democracy in China, he added. "There can't just be democracy, there needs to be solid administration, too."
Resentment has simmered among Wukan villagers at their leaders' inability to secure the return of their land, but the Financial Times reports that deputy village chief Yang Semao believes critical villagers "are not reasonable:" In its year in office, the committee has succeeded in returning 200 hectares of land sold off by the previous village chief, Mr Yang says. But many villagers are still determined to seize property for which the deeds were transferred to factory owners and businessmen several years ago. Confronted with persistent criticism – in painful contrast to the adulation they once enjoyed of a once remarkably united village – Mr Lin and many committee members have contemplated resigning. "I am afraid of seeing people, afraid of hearing my doorbell ring," Mr Lin told a Shanghai television station last month. "Why? Because whatever I do or say now, people are able to find a way to blame me."
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: democracy, land grabs, local politics, mass incidents, political reform, protests, Wukan
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
| Villagers Protest Land Grab, Demand Democracy Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:56 AM PST Police have set up a blockade around the Guangdong village of Shangpu, just 100 kilometers away from Wukan, after residents clashed with thugs they claim were sent by the local communist party chief in connection with a disputed land deal. The villagers have demanded democratic elections, according to AFP, which has gained entry into Shangpu: At the main entrance of the village of 3,000 people, 40 police and officials stood guard, barring outside vehicles from entering. Not far away, a cloth banner read: "Strongly request legal, democratic elections." Shangpu's two-storey houses, typical of the region, and low-slung family-run workshops are surrounded by fields awaiting spring planting. But the main street is lined with the wrecks of cars damaged in the clash, with glass and metal littering the ground. Residents said they should have the right to vote both for the leader who represents them and on whether to approve a controversial proposal to transform rice fields into an industrial zone. "This should be decided by a vote by villagers," said one of the protest leaders, adding: "The village chief should represent our interests, but he doesn't."
Residents told AFP that the village chief and party head fraudulently collected signatures to facilitate the transfer of farmland to a local businessman for industrial use, and they fear they will not be properly compensated. China's state-run Global Times reported on Monday that the county-level public security bureau arrested the village leader and eight others it claims were hired by the village leader to attack the Shangpu residents: County authorities said that on the morning of February 22, village committee director, Li Baoyu, called police to report he was attacked in his office and injured by six masked thugs. Less than an hour later, police say, Li hired his own thugs from other villages and ordered them to attack residents of Shangpu village, said the newspaper. According to county police the fight injured four residents and damaged at least 26 vehicles, two of which were burned. Police earlier arrested Li, and on Friday eight other assailants were detained. The police are still hunting for 10 other men.
© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: corruption, democracy, Guangdong, land grab protests, mass incidents, Shangpu, village elections, Wukan
Download Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall
 |
Comments