Next premier Li Keqiang sets out case for reform
Posted: November 23, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, economic reform, Li Keqiang Leave a comment »SCMP reports: “Li Keqiang tells local officials country will have to rely on reform to achieve economic goal of a ‘moderately prosperous society’
“The man who will become premier next year has made a strong case for reform just days after the unveiling of the Communist Party’s new leadership, saying reform is the biggest dividend.
“Li Keqiang, speaking at a seminar with selected local officials on Wednesday, organised by the State Council, said China would still be able to see the completion of a ‘moderately prosperous society’ by 2020 even with a lower economic growth rate of about 7 per cent a year, China News Service reported.
“‘We do not blindly pursue gross domestic product growth and it is very likely that our future development will go through a period of moderate growth rate that can hardly stay in double digits,’ he said. ‘To achieve the goal [of building a moderately prosperous society], we’ll have to rely on reform, which still has enormous scope and potential to be explored.’”
For details, please visit SCMP website at:
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1088690/next-premier-li-keqiang-sets-out-case-reform
China targets bank executives’ perks in anti-corruption drive
Posted: November 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, bank executive, China, Chinese politics, corruption, frugal working style Leave a comment »Reuters reports from Beijing: “China will ban executives from state-owned banks and financial companies from spending extravagantly on cars and houses, state news agency Xinhua said, in Beijing’s latest effort to clamp down on corruption and official waste.
“The 12 regulations, issued jointly by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Supervision and the National Audit Office, come after Communist Party chief Xi Jinping warned that the party risks major unrest and the collapse of its rule if corruption is allowed to run wild in China.
“They also come amid growing public anger over widespread graft.”
“The new rules, which will take effect in December, stipulate that the representatives from state-owned banks or financial institutes belonging to the central government must stay within the guidelines of spending allowed on cars, Xinhua said.
“Many Chinese banking executives often use luxury cars for official and private use.
“The rules also prohibit these executives from ‘using public funds to pay for the individual’s residential purchases, residential renovations, property management fees and so on’, according to Xinhua.
“The government also said executives from these companies were not allowed to violate guidelines for using public funds to accumulate ‘high expenses for entertainment activities’, Xinhua said.
“China earlier imposed a “frugal working style” rule on its civil servants, which went into effect on October 1, barring them from spending public money on lavish banquets or fancy cars, and from accepting expensive gifts.”
For details, please visit Reuters website at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/21/us-china-corruption-idUSBRE8AK0N120121121
China’s backroom powerbrokers block reform candidates – sources
Posted: November 21, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese politics, Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Li Yuanchao, Liu Yandong, power struggle, powerful elders, Wang Yang Leave a comment »Reuters exclusive: “Retired leaders in China’s Communist Party used a last-minute straw poll to block two pro-reform candidates from joining the policymaking standing committee, including one who had alienated party elders, sources with ties to the leadership said.
“Two sources said the influential retirees flexed their muscles in landmark informal polls taken before last week’s 18th party congress, where the seven–member standing committee, the apex of China’s power structure, was unveiled.
“The clout of the elder statesmen, who include former party chief Jiang Zemin and ex-parliament head Li Peng, underscores the obstacles to even limited reform within senior levels of the party, which has held continuous power since 1949.
“The informal polls are the first time the party has flirted with ‘intra-party democracy’ to settle factional fighting over the line-up of the standing committee. It held informal polls in 2007 to decide the larger Politburo.
“Two of the candidates voted out of the standing committee were widely viewed as reformers: Wang Yang, the party chief of export powerhouse Guangdong province in the south, and Li Yuanchao, minister of the party’s organization or personnel department.
“Neither Wang nor Li could be reached for comment. The party spokesman’s office declined immediate comment.
“Shedding light on the opaque backroom process, the two sources said votes on the new standing committee were taken among the outgoing 24 members of the Politburo and more than 10 party elders, who had retired from senior posts.
“The group held more than 10 rounds of deliberations, including at least two informal polls, over several months at the military-run Jingxi hotel in Beijing and other venues, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.”
“Elders wielded considerable influence over the process and forced a second poll in October to push out Li Yuanchao, the sources said.
“Eight people were in the running for the five slots on the standing committee beneath Xi Jinping, named party chief, and Li Keqiang, who will be the next premier.
“‘Wang Yang was ousted to avoid Bo supporters creating trouble,’ one of the two sources said.”
“The sources said Li was dumped because he alienated some elders by promoting too many of outgoing President Hu Jintao’s allies in his capacity as head of the party’s personnel department and by ignoring recommendations by retirees keen to elevate their own men.”
“State news agency Xinhua said last week that senior party cadres met in Beijing in May and ‘democratically recommended’ standing committee and Politburo members. It did not reveal the results.”
“Leadership changes in China are thrashed out in advance through horse-trading between party elders and retiring leaders anxious to preserve clout and protect family interests, but must also go through a choreographed selection process at the congress.
“In previous congresses, held every five years, there was no competitive voting: the number of candidates on the ballot matched the number of seats available in the Politburo and on the standing committee.
“The straw polls hardly signal a desire for democratic political reform. But they did provide a vehicle through which some of the infighting between factions could be resolved.”
For details, please visit Reuters website at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/21/us-china-congress-poll-idUSBRE8AK01F20121121
China’s Xi warns of unrest if graft not tackled
Posted: November 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese politics, corruption, danger of collapse, Xi Jinping Leave a comment »Reuters report from Beijing: “If corruption is allowed to run wild in China then the ruling Communist Party risks major unrest and the collapse of its rule, state media on Monday quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying at one of his first major meetings since taking the role.
“In unusually blunt language, Vice President Xi, who assumes Hu Jintao’s job as head of state in March, said that graft was like ‘worms breeding in decaying matter’ — an old Chinese phrase meaning ‘ruin befalls those who are weak’.
“‘In recent years, some countries have stored up problems over time leading to seething public anger, civil unrest and government collapse — corruption has been an important factor in all this,’ state newspapers quoted Xi as telling a study session for the Politburo, the party’s second-highest decision-making body.
“‘A great deal of facts tell us that the worse corruption becomes the only outcome will be the end of the party and the end of the state! We must be vigilant!’ Xi added.
“‘Recently, our party has had serious discipline and legal cases of a despicable nature which has had a bad political effect and shocked people,’ he said, without naming any of these incidents.
For details, please visit Reuters website at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/us-china-politics-graft-idUSBRE8AI03A20121119
China downgrades powerful domestic security chief position
Posted: November 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese politics, Meng Jianzhu, security chief, Zhou Yongkang Leave a comment »Reuters reports from Beijing: “China confirmed on Monday that it had downgraded the position of domestic security chief as part of a move to a new and smaller top elite, an expected move that reflects fears the position had become too powerful.
“The official Xinhua news agency said in a brief announcement that Zhou Yongkang’s position as head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, a sprawling body that oversees law-and-order policy, had been taken over by Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu.
“The hulking, grim-faced 69-year-old Zhou had to retire along with most members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the inner council at the apex of power, at this month’s 18th Party Congress, due to his age. He turns 70 in December.
“Meng, however, is only a member of the new Politburo, the 25-member body which reports to the down-sized Standing Committee, putting him on a tighter leash and returning to a pattern the party kept to for much of the 1980s.
“Reducing the party’s Standing Committee from nine to seven members came as part of a once-in-a-decade leadership change announced last week, which saw Vice President Xi Jinping raised to head of the ruling Communist Party.”
“Zhou had been on the Standing Committee since 2007 while also heading the central Political and Legal Affairs Committee.
“That double status allowed Zhou to dominate a domestic security budget of $110 billion a year, exceeding the defense budget.”
“Since the 1990s, China’s efforts to stifle crime, unrest and dissent have allowed the domestic security apparatus — including police, armed militia and state security officers — to accumulate power.”
For details, please visit Reuters website at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/us-china-politics-reshuffle-idUSBRE8AI0CP20121119
Six Politburo Standing Committee members are not technocrats
Posted: November 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese politics, leaders’ educational ground, Li Keqiang, technocrat, Xi Jinping, Yu Zhengsheng Leave a comment »SCMP reports: “In a noticeable break from the past two decades of Communist Party leadership, dominated by technocrats, six of the seven members of the new Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s top decision-making body, trained in social sciences and the humanities.
“Analysts said the top leaders’ educational backgrounds would have a bearing on their outlook and leadership style, but were unlikely to see them stray from the party’s overriding focus on maintaining the status quo.
“Skill sets
“Li Keqiang, ranked No 2 in the Politburo Standing Committee, is the first senior party leader to hold a PhD in economics and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in law – all from Peking University.
“Li, 57, who will succeed Wen Jiabao as premier in March, will be the best-educated premier since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
“New party general secretary Xi Jinping, who studied chemical engineering at Beijing’s Tsinghua University from 1975 to 1979, received a PhD in law (Marxist theory) through part-time study at Tsinghua’s school of humanities and social sciences.
“Four of the other members of the Politburo Standing Committee studied the social sciences or the humanities, with the sole remaining technocrat being Yu Zhengsheng , who studied automated control systems for ballistic missiles.
“Seven of the nine members of the previous Politburo Standing Committee, of which Xi and Li were members, had degrees in the sciences or engineering.”
“Political analyst Chen Ziming said those who studied the social sciences would definitely be more aware of other political systems and civilisations.
“‘As a result, the new leadership will care more about human development,’ he said. ‘But they’re not necessarily more willing to embrace some of the universal values because they have their work cut out under the political system here.’”
For details, please visit SCMP website at:
Beijing begins the big political reshuffle
Posted: November 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese politics, core of party leadership, Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Li Yuanchao, Meng Jianzhu, power struggle, Zhao Leji, Zhou Yongkang Leave a comment »SCMP reports from Beijing: “New tsars named to oversee personnel matters and public security as political shake-up filters through the party and government ranks
“Beijing has announced new appointments to the top party posts overseeing personnel matters and public security, marking the start of a sweeping reshuffle of senior party and government officials after the unveiling of the party’s new leadership line-up last week.
“In the first top-level reshuffle since the Communist Party’s 18th national congress, which ushered in a new generation of party leaders, Shaanxi party chief Zhao Leji, 55, a rising star who was elevated to the Politburo last week, has replaced Li Yuanchao as head of the party’s powerful Organisation Department.
“Yesterday’s brief Xinhua dispatch did not identify Li’s new portfolio. Li, 62, a protégé of the soon-to-retire President Hu Jintao, lost his bid for a seat on the party’s Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power. But he has been widely tipped to instead become vice-president in March. In that post he is likely to oversee Hong Kong and Macau affairs.
“In another widely expected announcement, public security minister Meng Jianzhu, 65, became the country’s new security tsar, taking over from the former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang .
“Analysts said Zhou’s replacement by Meng, a newcomer to the 25-strong Politburo, effectively signalled the downgrading of the party’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which oversees the mainland’s judiciary, prosecutors and police, and had become extremely powerful under Zhou.”
For details, please visit SCMP website at:
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1086373/beijing-begins-big-political-reshuffle
China’s Xi May Unveil Plan for Change Late 2013, CICC Head Says
Posted: November 19, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese economy, economic liberalization, Hu Deping, Hu Yaobang, Li Jiange, Li Keqiang, Liang Wengen, market-oriented changes, Xi Jinping, Zhou Xiaochuan Leave a comment »Bloomberg reports: “China’s new leadership, headed by Xi Jinping, will probably unveil new market-oriented changes in late 2013, according to Li Jiange, head of the country’s biggest investment bank.
“Li, chairman of China International Capital Corp. and a vice chairman of state-owned Central Huijin Investment Co., which holds stakes in the nation’s biggest lenders, said the focus will probably be on reducing government intervention in the economy and breaking up state monopolies. Li spoke at Caixin Media’s annual conference in Beijing yesterday.
“China last week completed the most important phase of a once-a-decade power transition with Xi taking over as head of the ruling Communist Party and Li Keqiang, set to become premier in March, made No. 2 in the party hierarchy. They inherit an economy burdened by slower growth, an aging population, widening income disparity and environmental degradation that’s fueling social unrest.
“‘Expectations are high’ for the new leadership to make changes as government intervention, ranging from excessive regulation to rigid price controls, has become ‘unbearable’ over the last couple of years, said Li, who previously worked for the Development Research Center, an organization that advises the State Council, China’s cabinet.
“Unbalanced Country
“‘When inflation was high, many Chinese stores, merchants and even producers received phone calls from regulators telling them not to increase prices,’ Li said. ‘But how can a supermarket not change the price of pork if hog prices are rising,’ he said.
“At a separate conference in Beijing yesterday, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said it was ‘hard to reach consensus’ on detailed reforms as China is a big and unbalanced country.
“The new government will continue to value changes initiated at local level although it will also still attach great importance to overall planning, he said. China must allow trial reforms so that it can test what could go wrong, he said.”
“More Competition”
“Li Jiange added his voice to calls by economist Wu Jinglian, billionaire entrepreneur Liang Wengen and liberals including the son of late party chief Hu Yaobang for the government to allow a bigger role for market forces, roll back the dominance of state-owned enterprises and give equal treatment to private companies.”
For details, please visit Bloomberg website at:
China: The Real Beginning of a Little Inner-party Democracy?
Posted: November 17, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, Chen Deming, China, Chinese politics, Deng Liqun, Deng Xiaoping, inner-Party democracy, Zhao Ziyang Leave a comment »Reuters reports from Beijing: “China’s commerce minister was surprisingly blocked from a spot on the ruling Communist Party’s elite body during a conclave this week, sources said, a rare snub for an official that could raise questions about trade policies during his tenure.
“The failure of Chen Deming to secure a seat on the 25-member Politburo marks one of the few surprises to emerge from the party’s five-yearly congress that wrapped this week with the anointing of a new slate of top leaders who will run the world’s second largest economy.
“It is also the first time in more than two decades that an official designated for a Politburo spot has been voted out of the party’s 205-member Central Committee in elections. Central Committee membership is a prerequisite for a Politburo seat.
“‘Chen Deming was voted out during multi-candidate elections to the Central Committee,’ one source told Reuters. State news agency Xinhua said there were eight percent more candidates than seats in a preliminary vote before the formal election on Wednesday.”
“Until now, a politician designated to become a Politburo member has not been barred from the Central Committee since 1987, when Deng Liqun, an ultra-conservative and reviled Marxist ideologue, was voted out at the 13th congress in a deeply embarrassing fall from grace.”
However, according to Zhao Ziyang’s memoirs, Deng’s case was entirely different. Deng was then in charge of party propaganda. He led the conservatives to attack Zhao’s reform (which was in fact Deng Xiaoping’s reform) in party mouthpieces and forced Zhao to shut down the mouthpieces including the “Red Flag (Hongqi in Chinese)”, the authoritative party magazine then. Powerful conservative elders were so furious that they wanted to remove Zhao.
To appease the conservative elders, Zhao told Deng Xiaoping to let Deng Liqun be elected a Politburo member, but it turned out that Deng Liqun was not even elected as a Central Committee member and was thus not qualified to enter the Politburo.
However, at that time Zhao had no control at all while Deng Xiaoping had full control of the election results at the party congress.
I wonder whether Chen Deming’s failure to be elected meant that those who intended to have Chen elected into the Politburo lacked 100% control of the election results and allowed delegates to refuse to elect their candidate.
If so, delegates really had a little freedom to refuse to obey their instruction. That was really a little inner-party democracy in China. However little the democracy, it was a least a good beginning.
For details of Reuters report, please visit its website at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/16/us-china-congress-chen-idUSBRE8AF0L420121116
China: No Transition Problem as the Party Calls the Shot!
Posted: November 17, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 18th congress, China, Chinese politics, Hu Jintao, one-party autocracy, party leading group, party secretary, political commissar, Xi Jinping Leave a comment »SCMP says in its report today titled “With power shift half done, who’s in charge of China?”: “Analyst says it’s time gap between handover of party and state positions was narrowed to avoid confusion over who wields real clout
“Xi Jinping has been anointed China’s most powerful man, as head of the Communist Party and the military, but Hu Jintao is still the country’s president until March. So who is calling the shots until then?”
“Zhou Xiaochuan lost his party post this week and looks set to retire as governor of the People’s Bank of China, leaving fellow central bank governors unsure whether to talk to him or wait to find out who his successor is, and investors wondering if policy will change.
“The same goes for officials throughout the government. Who, for instance, has the final word for the next four months – outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao or premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang, newly installed as the Communist Party’s No 2.”
The analyst seems to regard China as a Western country.
Who calls the shots?
The party calls the shot!
China is a one-party autocracy!
In a government agency such as the State Council and a ministry, there is the head of the party leading group who calls the shot.
In a local government, there is the secretary of party committee who calls the shot,
In a state-owned enterprise such as a bank or corporation, the head of the party organization there calls the shot.
In a PLA unit, the political commissar appointed by the party calls the shot.
The party’ control is universal in China. As long as China remains a one-party autocracy, the leadership decided by the party has the authority to call the shot.
You may not like that, analyst, but you have to understand that reality.
For details of SCMP report, please visit its website at:
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1084376/wait-handover-state-positions-sows-doubt
Buy the Book from iUniverse
