“Under the Dome”: Chai Jing’s documentary on China’s environmental crisis

1. On February 28 2015, former CCTV anchor Chai Jing released a powerful, self-funded documentary about smog. The 104-minute video, “Under the Dome,” has swept the Chinese Internet, garnering over 100 million views on Chinese video hosting sites in the past weeks. The film is available also on YouTube with full translation.
2. China Digital Times gave a description of the documentary: // “Under the Dome” is presented in a style similar to a TED Talk, in which Chai addresses a live audience as a casual, engaging storyteller. […] Chai Jing mentioned that the project was inspired by the lung illness of her newborn daughter. The film was made after a year of investigation. It attempts to answer three simple questions: What is smog? 2. Where does it come from? 3. What should we do about it? Using a variety of pictures, video footage, scientific data, and interviews with researchers and government officials, the documentary identifies the wide usage of fossil fuels and the lack of government oversight as the primary reasons behind the heavy smog in China. It calls for government action in regulating polluters and improving air quality. “Under the Dome” is not Chai Jing’s first environmental project. Previously, her coverage of pollution caused by coal mining in Shanxi and “black lung disease” among coal miners helped her gain national recognition as an environmental advocate. […] // Source: China Digital Times
3. People’s Daily released the video along with an interview with Chai. The interview has been translated by China Digital Times: // “This year I have been visiting people as an individual, including some people at government agencies. Nobody declined to speak with me. When they answer questions, they are outspoken and straightforward. I think they all hope that we can publicly discuss the problems because there is only hope for resolution after these problems have been demonstrated. The depth of understanding determines the speed of resolution. […]When I visited an expert in the petroleum industry, I said “Please don’t take offense if my questions seem too sharp.” He said, “It’s ok. What you ask is of great concern to the media and the public, and the answers should be publically available.” He was very frank too. Every country needs to find an optimal balance point between environment and economy, and the ability for open discussion is a prerequisite. This time around I felt very deeply about this point. In China, many people hope to improve their environment and are striving hard to do so. Simply speaking, everyone wants clean air. What is a social consensus? No consensus is stronger than this one. In this I have faith.” // Source: People’s Daily, China Digital Times
4. However, after releasing the video and the interview with Chai, propaganda authorities quickly ordered strict regulation of online public opinion about the film. Two other directions have been issued to order news units to discontinue coverage of the film all video websites to remove the film. Keywords related to the film are now blocked from Weibo search results. Source: China Digital Times
5. During the annual session of the National People’s Congress, environmental issues appeared to be taking center stage: // Two days into the session of the National People’s Congress in a Beijing shrouded with smog, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged Friday to “punish, with an iron hand, any violators who destroy the ecology or environment, with no exceptions,” according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. At the meeting’s opening event on Thursday, Premier Li Keqiang swore the government would cut back on major pollutants and improve energy efficiency. At a news conference Saturday, the newly appointed environment minister, Chen Jining, promised the strictest enforcement of China’s environmental laws. […] Chinese officials at the meeting said they would cut coal consumption by 160 million tons over the next five years, while the vice mayor of Beijing said the capital would shut down 300 factories and take 200,000 heavily polluting vehicles off the roads this year. […] Still, measurements of the particulate matter PM2.5 in Beijing’s air Saturday were seven times the level considered safe by the World Health Organization. […] // Source: AP
6. While environmental minister Chen Jining initially praised Chai Jing’s contribution to the public discussion of pollution, Fairfax Media’s Phillip Wen reports that the top environmental regulator was conspicuously silent on the film during a press conference on Saturday: // Given the reach of the documentary, and the high-profile focus on tackling pollution and other environmental issues by the senior Chinese leadership, there was healthy international media interest. But in a heavily stage-managed press conference spanning ten questions and lasting over an hour, no foreign journalists from mainstream foreign media outlets were called upon, and no questions on Chai Jing’s documentary were put forward by China’s state-controlled media. // Source: Fairfax Media
7. Psychologist and frequent popular science writer Tang Yinghong explains the psychology behind the film’s virality, pointing it to the “liberating effect of conformity”: // In social psychology, this is also called the “Liberating Effect of Conformity.” Just 6 years ago, American athletes attending the Beijing Olympics wore masks because of the smog, and were scolded by official media for “humiliating China.” The athletes had to publicly apologize to the Chinese “people.” The efforts of the U.S. Embassy, the first to monitor and publish air quality information and PM2.5 data in Beijing, was also regarded by the government as a smear against China. Two years ago, when Beijing was experiencing incredibly severe smog, authorities continued to suppress criticism and control discussion, promoting instead so-called “positive energy.” The Beijing Marathon last year happened as planned amid severe smog and ignoring the health of the athletes. As for those environmental protection volunteers who are passionate about monitoring the environment and revealing pollution, their “start from myself” [tactic] often leads to imprisonment. Chai Jing’s film was published by official mouthpiece [People’s Daily Online] as smog has been getting more severe and as reflection, discussion, and criticism remains under strict control. All the suppressed feelings about smog were suddenly released. The audience experienced empathy through watching, forwarding, and discussing the video’s content. This is why a video that didn’t provide new information could gain nearly unanimous support. When people watched, forwarded, and discussed, it wasn’t about updating concepts, but rather about venting. Chai Jing’s film expressed personal feelings that people for years couldn’t express personally. This is the major social psychological basis for the wide dissemination of Chai Jing’s video. […]On top of that, Chai Jing’s speech [in her video] was very restrained. It didn’t touch on the deeper social and political reasons behind smog. So, as it was spreading, it provoked different feedback from different groups of people. Most common people found value in the ability to express personal feelings that were [previously] not allowed. Therefore, they actively “liked” it and took pleasure engaging in discussions about the topic (only touching upon economic and technological issues on the face of the issue). However, for another group of people who had already deeply reflected on the topic, Chai Jing’s speech was nothing but a cliche. To them, the wide dissemination “buried” more essential social and political factors, attributing smog to economic and technological factors. It is clearly dodging the inconvenient side of the story, and even carries the risk of misleading society. They would like to “reset the topic” beyond Chai Jing’s film and engage in a valuable investigation into the origin of smog and the deeper reasons behind it. This has created disagreement and conflict between the “thumbs-up” majority and the criticism of opinion leaders, which makes Chai Jing’s smog film a highly contentious public event and topic. // Source: Tang’s weibo, China Digital Times
8. Another essay circulated online offered an explanation of the official backlash against the documentary: // First of all, the attraction of Chai Jing’s “Under the Dome” was way too powerful. The film got at least 200 million hits across the Internet, not to mention its spread by reciprocal reposting and word of mouth. […] As for the Two Sessions, […], this is an unprecedented display of popular sentiment beforehand. According to the Propaganda Department’s thinking in years past, during the Two Sessions news is to focus entirely on the meetings themselves, and can absolutely not stray onto other issues. But now, because the foundation of the masses huddled “under the dome” have become too powerful, it’s no longer practical for them to just take something away. That’s why their only guarantee was to “chop” [Chai Jing], to whittle her down to size. Secondly, no matter what you think of Chai Jing’s “Under the Dome,” it’s full of love for humanity, and no matter what, it has something to say to each of us. When it’s all said and done, the issues that she brings up are so-called “negative problems.” If you let negative problems take over public opinion and continue to fester, it really doesn’t let the kind of mainstream stories that gently move China take center stage. […] But the final straw is this: if we really let this topic take us where it will, […] eventually people will wake up and take the focus off of her. Instead they will zero in on the entangled interests of energy reform and the two big groups [Sinopec and PetroChina]. When all of the discussion is directed at oil, at the bloat of the two big groups, at the government’s misconduct, things won’t be the way they are now. We will go from the current “people’s feast” to the “boiling over of the people’s grievances.” This isn’t something that our government looks forward to, nor is it something that the interest groups are looking forward to. The immediate pressure and pushback from interest groups is just business as usual, perfectly natural. // Source: 编委汇政委, China Digital Times
9. 練乙錚 – 借權鬥搞環保 靠專制事難成：// 大家知道，嚴格來說，習近平才是共產黨的第二代領導人，是打江山那一代高級領導人的兒子輩。胡溫的角色，等同老蔣和小蔣之間的那個總統嚴家淦；江澤民則是一根贅指，論革命功勞其實微不足道，當年搞學運絕對比不上今天香港「雙學」的周、黃出色，論年齡，卻比高級紅二代高半輩，上了位卻成為高級紅二代接班的障礙物；他的前度拍檔李鵬，更是不知所謂，沒有半點像樣的紅色基因。但偏偏就是江、李和他兩人的黨羽，在改革開放的三十年裏，搶先把幾乎所有重要而有私利可圖的位子都佔據了；這些「筍位」大量集中在大型國企，以其壟斷地位賺最多的錢兼得政府最多的補貼優惠，成為最好的貪腐溫床。於是，十八大以後才掌權的人當中，誰想把那些已被佔有的有利位置奪過來據為己有，就必須大洗牌，而最佳策略就是借反貪腐之名義向江、李控制的行業和國企開刀。於是，早就在十八屆三中全會時提出「經濟改革要繼續走市場化道路」的習近平，便很自然地夥拍「跟霧霾有一個私人恩怨」的民間人柴靜一起反污染了（大家留意到，最近打下來的江派大老虎中老虎，除了薄熙來，都不是高級紅二代，但薄是一場意外引爆出事的，政治野心也太大）。我們不必過分懷疑柴靜真有反污染的原動力，甚或可以把她的行徑理解為她在借黨內權鬥去搞環保。不過，在大陸的政治環境裏，公民意識本身從來不起作用，而任何進步自發性歸根到底都是危險的。到頭來民間人柴靜的《穹頂之下》很可能是就是三十年前魏京生「民主牆」的翻版，用完即遭棄，再堅持便有難。一億人一天之內聽你連續講一個半小時的道理也如癡如醉，連毛澤東在內哪一個共產黨領導人辦得到？對專制人而言這是不能容忍的。// Source: HKEJ
10. Environmental protesters have been detained for publicly calling on the government to take action to clean up the air: // Feng Honglian and Zhang Hui were taken into custody on Sunday, one day after China’s environment minister promised to “guarantee the public’s rights to supervise the fight against air pollution”. […] Photographs posted on the internet show the campaigners wearing face-masks and holding posters with slogans including: “Smog causes cancer and harms everyone”. […] Under the Dome appeared to have been the inspiration for Sunday’s protest outside government headquarters in Xi’an, said Luo Guangming, a resident who knows both Mr Zhang and Ms Feng. // Source: Telegraph

Influential China scholar David Shambaugh: “The Endgame of Communist Rule Has Begun”

1. Among the most cautious of scholars, Shambaugh predicts in a recent WSJ piece about the coming crack-up of the Communist Party. In his article, he points to “five telling indications of the regime’s vulnerability”: (1) an apparent lack of confidence among the country’s wealthy; (2) intensified political repression, betraying insecurity among the leadership itself; (3) a sense that “even many regime loyalists are just going through the motions”; (4) corruption too pervasive and deep-rooted for Xi’s ongoing crackdown to fully address; (5) and an economy “stuck in a series of systemic traps from which there is no easy exit.”
   The end game, he argues, is likely to be raucous: “[…] Communist rule in China is unlikely to end quietly. A single event is unlikely to trigger a peaceful implosion of the regime. Its demise is likely to be protracted, messy and violent. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Mr. Xi will be deposed in a power struggle or coup d’état. With his aggressive anticorruption campaign—a focus of this week’s National People’s Congress—he is overplaying a weak hand and deeply aggravating key party, state, military and commercial constituencies.” Source: WSJ
2. Shambaugh’s article created a splash in the China watching circle. While some critics didn’t find his analysis persuasive, most agree that it has a remarkable significance given Shambaugh’s reputation for being cautious.
3. In response to Shambaugh’s apocalyptic piece, Global Times wrote a reply, warning Shambaugh of a tragic ending to his academic career. “无论沈大伟是在做机会主义的新站队，还是这是他晚年对华认识变化的真实反映，这都将被证明是他学术研究的败笔。他对中国的研究缺少超越性的定力，他最终没能跳出西方价值观或政治规律对其研究的干扰，他变得像章家敦之流一样庸俗，靠给中国“占卜”来博西方舆论的眼球。如果美国的主流学者就是以这样过山车般的逻辑开展对华研究并引导美国舆论的话，那么将很令人失望。一段时间以来我们注意到，美国学者对中国情况的资料占有很丰富，但他们的研究结论有很明显立场先行的迹象，并且高度意识形态化。沈大伟应当意识到，他的个人经历和思想方法都有局限，他对非西方世界的认识始终隔着一层，这值得他本人高度警惕。如今全世界看好中国未来的人无疑在增多，第三世界相信中国道路的人尤其越来越普遍。即使在西方，愿意反思对中国认识的人也呈增加之势。他本人对中国的悲观在他周围的圈子里容易得到共鸣，但在世界上却是反常识的。[…] 沈大伟危言耸听的文章再给中国社会提了个醒：美国即使“温和的”学者都在盼着中国发生什么！那些保守的强硬派们就更不用说了。中国从根本上改变自己的国际舆论环境面临重重挑战，西方主流舆论的对华唱衰有可能增加中国发展的不确定性，我们对西方的防范既不可过头，但也决非是可有可无的。Source: Global Times

 China NPC 2015: The Reports

1. // Chinese President Xi Jinping may have gathered up nearly all the power for himself, but the country’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, still gets to be the center of attention in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the opening day of the National People’s Congress annual plenary session. The big event of the day is Mr. Li’s delivery of the annual government work report, which state media describe as China’s version of the U.S. State of the Union address. It’s a bit more wooden than that, though Mr. Li broke out an Obama-esque flourish on Thursday morning by dropping in a term that’s popular online – renxing (任性), roughly “doing whatever one wants.” Aside from the work report, Thursday saw the release of the Ministry of Finance’s budget report and the national planning agency’s draft plan for economic and social development. The reports make for turgid reading, but they contain important indications of how Beijing views the economy and its plans for the future. Online versions of the reports typically don’t show up on official websites until much later, so China Real Time has scanned and uploaded the files, in both English and Chinese, in text-searchable format. // Also find the Report on the Work of the Government, the National Development and Reform Commission Draft Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Ministry of Finance Budget Report in the following link. Source: WSJ

 The State Council has established a State Owned Enterprise reform leading group

1. // 国企改革实施方案年内面世；31省区市政府工作报告均涉“国企改革”；国资委相关人士称，不能因有阻力而不改革。在2015年两会期间，国务院总理李克强在政府工作报告中指出，深化国企国资改革，有序实施国有企业混合所有制改革，鼓励和规范投资项目引入非国有资本参股。3月7日，中央全面深化改革领导小组办公室常务副主任、国家发展和改革委员会副主任穆虹在两会上透露，国务院成立了国企改革领导小组，由国务院领导亲自挂帅。// Source: The Beijing News
2. Made in China: Beijing plans new wave of state firm consolidation. // China is poised to embark on a fresh round of industrial consolidation, as part of a sweeping plan to reinvigorate the country’s inefficient state-owned enterprises and raise the global competitiveness of domestic industry. The initiative, dubbed « Made in China 2025« , focuses on promoting key sectors, led by railways and nuclear power plant construction, in offshore markets, in Beijing’s latest move to create leading international giants. […] A restructuring plan, expected to be released before the end of March, will address issues ranging from the establishment of asset management companies to oversee state shareholding, to the introduction of non-state investment and performance-based compensation schemes at government-controlled firms, experts say. Improving the efficiency at state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which dominate crucial sectors of China’s economy, is critical as the country struggles to maintain the breakneck pace of growth it has delivered for two decades. Premier Li Keqiang outlined the « 2025 » strategy, which also includes promoting machinery and communications equipment, automobiles, aircraft and electronics, in his address to the annual gathering of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, which concludes later this week. The plan is part of a broader push by President Xi Jinping to raise the performance of China’s lumbering state sector. The government is seeking to strengthen its control of lifeline industries, including energy, transportation and national security enterprises, while relaxing grips on non-essential sectors through stake sales and stock market listings. « China wants to create more globally competitive businesses, » said Andrew Baston, research director of consultancy Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. « One way to do that is to force companies to become larger. » // Source: Reuters
3. Last month, China revealed possible merger among big state oil companies: // China’s leadership is exploring ways to consolidate the country’s oil industry, creating new national champions able to take on the likes of Exxon MobilCorp. and operate more efficiently as prices slide. One option being studied by a team of advisers involves combining China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, and its main domestic rival, China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec, according to officials with knowledge of the research. Other options include merging two other major energy companies, China National Offshore Oil Corp., or Cnooc, and Sinochem Group. No timetable has been set for a decision on whether or when to proceed with any merger, said the officials. Spokespersons for the four Chinese oil companies and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which oversees the largest state enterprises, declined to comment or didn’t respond to queries. // Source: WSJ

 China to roll out plans to raise retirement age within two years to cope with ageing population

1. // China will roll out a detailed plan by 2017 to raise the retirement age as it copes with the costs of its rapidly greying population. There will be an average of 1.3 people of working age for every retired person in China by 2050, human resources and social security minister Yin Weimin told a press conference at the National People’s Congress yesterday. There are currently just over three working-age people for each retired person. And by 2050, people aged over 60 will make up 39 per cent of the population compared with the current 15 per cent, Yin said. The ratio by 2050 would put huge pressure on the country’s pension system, he said, and it was inevitable that the retirement age would be raised. The current system, which was formulated in 1953, allows men to retire as early as 60 and women at 55. Yin said any adjustment would be « gradual », the retirement age raised by only a few months each year. But he did not say when the plan was likely to take effect. // Source: SCMP
2. But government think tank expert says raising retirement age in China ‘unwise’: // Tang Jun, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, warned the government could not be too careful when introducing the policy of raising the retirement age and forcefully pushing through the plans would lead to “worrying consequences”, the Huashang Daily newspaper reported. […] Tang told the newspaper the best plan was to encourage people to have more children to help with welfare costs and to boost the size of the workforce and the second best method was to accept immigrants to also increase the size of the country’s labour force. “The worst plan is to postpone retirement,” he was quoted as saying. Tang suggested employers and employees be allowed to negotiate the retirement age themselves, a system that Shanghai adopted in 2010 but which has so far only received a lukewarm response from the public. Other experts have previously called for a further loosening of the one-child policy to boost the future size of the workforce, while others have urged caution.// Source: SCMP

 China Detains Several Women’s Rights Activists

1. // China detained at least 10 women’s rights activists over the weekend to forestall a nationwide campaign against sexual harassment on public transportation that was to overlap with International Women’s Day, according to human rights advocates and associates of those detained. At least five of the detained were still being held on Sunday evening, while the others had been released after being interrogated. All were women. The women still in detention on Sunday evening live in the eastern metropolises of Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, and had timed the start of the antiharassment campaign to coincide with International Women’s Day on Sunday, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy group based outside China that had posted on Twitter about the detentions. // Source: New York Times
2. Sex Expert’s Secret Is Out, and China’s Open to It: // Li Yinhe, China’s leading advocate of freewheeling sexuality, has been shocking this outwardly prudish nation for three decades. An American-trained sociologist, she promotes one-night stands, sings the praises of sadomasochist sex and has called on the government to decriminalize pornography. She is also a hero to gay and lesbian Chinese, having for years pushed a same-sex marriage bill in China’s legislature despite little chance of passage. But in December, Professor Li, 63, who recently retired from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, reluctantly moved the nation to the threshold of a new frontier: transgender love. After a blogger accused her of being a closeted lesbian, Professor Li shot back with a blog post announcing that her partner of 17 years, although born a woman, is a transgender man. “I am a heterosexual woman who has fallen in love with a transsexual person,” wrote Professor Li, who was married to Wang Xiaobo, a well-known Chinese novelist, until his death in 1997. “I treat him as a man.” // Source: New York Times
3. China ready to slam door on foreign NGOs: // The Chinese government is drafting a new foreign NGO law that is widely expected to make work more difficult, if not impossible, for many of the 6,000 overseas non-profits that operate here in a broad range of fields from education and the environment to HIV-Aids and legal education. Under the new law, foreign non-profits would not be allowed to open more than one office, or to raise funds locally, or be allowed to fund projects deemed counter to what is being called “Chinese society’s moral customs, » according to excerpts seen by The Christian Science Monitor of the still unpublished bill. […] The bill was presented last December to the Standing Committee of the NPC by Yang Huanning, Vice Minister of Public Security. It came on the heels of a survey of foreign-funded NGOs ordered last summer by the National Security Commission, headed by President Xi Jinping. The Ministry of Civil Affairs, traditionally responsible for non-governmental organizations, appears to play no role in the drafting of the legal text, according to people familiar with the situation. The draft law puts the Ministry of Public Security in charge of registering foreign NGOs, which are obliged to find a government agency to sponsor them. They would also have to submit annual work plans, including all funding proposals, in advance to their sponsoring agency such as a ministry or local government authority. // Source: CS Monitor
4. China’s new anti-terrorism law will be legislated within 2015. Source: People’s net

 New York Times looks at Xi Jinping’s image-building campaign

1. // Some of his appeal stems from his war on corruption and from feel-good sloganeering like the “Chinese Dream,” his pitch for a rejuvenated, powerful nation. But the adoration has also been primed by relentless propaganda portraying Mr. Xi as an indomitable alloy of Superman and Everyman who holds up his own umbrella, kicks soccer balls and knows how to fire a rifle. […] A theater in the nation’s capital recently presented a musical inspired by Mr. Xi’s life and policies, and last month art applicants to the Beijing University of Technology were asked to draw a portrait of the president as part of their entrance exam. In its report on the testing session, The Beijing Evening News suggested that the young applicants were awe-struck by the subject. “I didn’t realize I would be so lucky to encounter this part of the exam,” one prospective student said.
   […] Despite the upheavals of those years, analysts say, Mr. Xi and other political figures of his generation still idealize certain elements of Mao’s rule, especially his appeal to national pride and the image he cultivated as a strongman who was incorruptible and self-sacrificial. “It is not surprising that these ‘red scions’ would betray the influence of their adolescent socialization as they consolidate political power,” Elizabeth J. Perry, a professor of government at Harvard University who has studied party propaganda under Mr. Xi, said in an email. “These are powerful themes which Xi Jinping is tapping into.” // Source: New York Times
2. China’s military and elite security shake-up
   • SCMP: Hu Jintao’s weak grip on China’s army inspired Xi Jinping’s military shake-up // President Xi Jinping grew determined to shake up the army after he saw first-hand how his predecessor Hu Jintao was treated as a mere figurehead by his deputies, sources told the South China Morning Post. Xi, who became the Central Military Commission’s third vice-chairman in 2010, witnessed how his fellow vice-chairmen Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong took over the army’s staff affairs right under Hu’s nose, a military source said. China watchers had long suspected Hu’s grip on the army was weak. He succeeded former president Jiang Zemin as CMC chair only in 2004, two years after he took over from Jiang as party secretary. Even then, Jiang remained influential, installing his trusted aides Xu and Guo as Hu’s deputies. « Xu and Guo are Jiang’s proxies. They left Hu isolated, » a retired senior colonel said. A source close to the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Sciences said: « Jiang continued to wield influence over military decisions through Xu and Guo. » // Source: SCMP
   • SCMP: Retired generals point to ‘horrible’ graft in PLA. // All People’s Liberation Army ranks have a price, getting a Communist Party membership has a price, and important military positions are reserved for cronies, senior officers children and in-laws, three retired PLA major generals told local TV this week, addressing the “horrible” corruption in the military. In the interview with mainland-tied Phoenix Television on Monday, the former senior officers called for reforms, from empowering the military anti-graft agency to improving defence spending transparency, to curbing rampant graft among troops. “Everybody in society knows that in the PLA … you need to pay to join the party. Promotions to become leaders at platoon, company, regiment and division levels all have their own price tags,” said retired PLA Major General Yang Chunchang, who is a former department deputy head of China’s Academy of Military Sciences. […]Yang attributed the military’s serious corruption to its system that allows the top commander to take advantage of the confidentiality that military relationships require. “Some people say that the corruption in the military is more serious than corruption at the local level. Why has such serious corruption occurred? It is because the army’s high level of centralisation and unification was being taken advantage of. “Its leadership system [requires] … the commander in chief has the final say. Some corrupt officials made use of this mechanism, which – in an objective sense – protected their wilful acts,” he said. Yang said the military was so corrupted that even when the graft-busters wanted to report a case, it would be blocked by someone who is more senior. // Source: SCMP
   • SCMP: Is Xi Jinping protecting himself from an internal threat? China president reshuffles elite security unit. // President Xi Jinping has reshuffled the Central Security Bureau that is in charge of his personal safety, three separate sources have told the South China Morning Post. Major General Wang Shaojun, the executive deputy commander of the bureau, has been promoted to lead it and also the Central Guard Regiment. The bureau’s incumbent commander, Lieutenant General Cao Qing, is being transferred to the Beijing Military Area Command as its deputy commander, the sources said. The powerful Central Security Bureau is responsible for the safety of top Chinese leaders and the Zhongnanhai compound in central Beijing, where many Communist Party leaders are based. It directly reports to the general office of Central Committee of the Communist Party. The security bureau wields considerable power and in the past has moved to stop possible coup attempts. The bureau and Marshal Ye Jianying played a central role in the arrest of the Gang of Fou in 1976. The Cultural Revolution leaders were accused of plotting to seize power after Mao Zedong’s death. Former presidential aide Ling Jihua, who is under investigation for corruption, used to oversee the bureau when he was director of the central office and sources believe Xi wanted to weed out his influence from the unit. // Source: SCMP

 China says Dalai Lama less and less influential – but must reincarnate

1. The 14th Dalai Lama said in an interview with a German newspaper that he intends to be the last spiritual leader of Tibet: // “We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama,” he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an interview published on Sunday. According to the interview, the 79-year-old said his spiritual role could expire with his death. “If a weak Dalai Lama comes along, then it will just disgrace the Dalai Lama,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview, which was conducted in English. […] Robert Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University said it was important to distinguish between the Dalai Lama’s political and religious roles. “It’s more likely that in this interview he was being categorical that there will be no return to the political role of the Dalai Lamas (“the institution”), while expressing conventional modesty and uncertainty about returning as a spiritual figure,” he wrote in an email. [… I]n 2011, he said only he and authorities of his lineage, but not Chinese authorities, could recognise his successor. At the time he said he hadn’t decided whether there should be one at all. // Source: SCMP
2. However, // [a] top Chinese official launched a scathing attack on the Dalai Lama on Wednesday, claiming that the Nobel laureate is losing influence and “betrayed” Buddhism and Tibet by suggesting he may not reincarnate. […]The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is these days being received by fewer and fewer foreign leaders, because of the anger it draws from China, the world’s second-largest economy. Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the ethnic and religious affairs committee of the top advisory body to China’s parliament, said such meetings would cause these people “who don’t know right from wrong” to “lose status” in the eyes of Chinese people. “At the same time, the international media is less and less interested in the Dalai Lama,” Mr Zhu, known for his hardline stance on Tibet, told reporters on the sidelines of parliament’s annual session. Even in Tibet, he is exerting less influence, as demonstrated by the decline in the number of people immolating themselves, Mr Zhu added. // Source: Telegraph
3. Xinhua: // A senior Chinese religious official on Wednesday urged the Dalai Lama to « forsake his evil ways and return to the good, » stressing that Tibet will not descend into chaos. « We hope the Dalai Lama can abandon his separatist stance and his deceptive ‘middle way’ approach, » said Zhu Weiqun, head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body. The core contents of the « middle way » approach, proposed by the political exile in the 1980s, are « Greater Tibet » and « high-level autonomy » of the southwestern Chinese autonomous region. Zhu, also a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, called on the Dalai Lama and his followers to stop inciting self-immolation among the Tibetan people and sincerely discuss with the central government about the future of himself. He reiterated that the central government will not talk about Tibet’s « high-level autonomy » or the « Greater Tibet » with him. // Source: Xinhua
4. // One senior political advisor said Wednesday the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama has to be endorsed by the Chinese government rather than himself, criticizing him for « dual betrayal » to both his motherland and his faith. « The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama has to be endorsed by the central government, not by any other sides including the Dalai Lama himself, » said Zhu Weiqun, head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the national political advisory body. // Source: Xinhua
5. Asked whether there are any changes to China’s policy towards ethnic minorities, Zhu said: // 新中国建立60多年来的实践证明，中国民族政策总体上是正确、成功的。它既满足了少数民族当家作主、发展经济、改善民生和保护民族文化特色的愿望，同时又体现和实现了国家统一和民族团结，须毫不动摇地坚持下去。朱维群坦言，现在民族工作大背景，同新中国成立初期和改革开放初期相比，发生了很大的变化。他认为应对变化和趋势，民族工作在侧重点上可能要有变化。朱维群强调，对过去好的传统应继续坚持，在今后民族工作中要更多地强调中华民族的共同性和一致性，强调各民族对伟大祖国、中华民族和中华文化的认同，并更加强调各民族的交往、交流、交融。// Source: Sina

China angered by Martin Lee’s speech in the Canadian Parliament

1. // Veteran Hong Kong democracy campaigner Martin Lee Chu-ming, testifying at a Canadian parliamentary committee over the objections of the Chinese government, appealed to Ottawa to stand with those struggling for democracy in Hong Kong. “I hope the Canadian government and the Canadian Parliament will speak up for us at this difficult stage,” Lee told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee on Tuesday. “If Hong Kong were to go down the slippery slope as now, Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city,” said Lee, a former legislator and one of the founders of Hong Kong’s main opposition Democratic Party. // Source: SCMP
2. Prior to his testimony, China’s Ambassador Luo Zhaohui had written committee chair Dean Allison, Speaker Andrew Scheer and other Canadian officials to express “deep concern” and “strong opposition” over Lee’s visit. // “Hong Kong’s political development falls entirely within China’s domestic affairs. The Chinese side resolutely opposes any foreign governments, institutions and individuals to interfere in Hong Kong affairs,” Luo wrote. “In consideration of the sensitive and complicated situation in Hong Kong, we hope that the Canadian side will not hold such a hearing, not intervene in Hong Kong’s internal affairs in any form, so as not to send wrong signals to the outside world and cause any disturbance to China-Canada relations.” // Source: SCMP

 Beijing official scraps Hong Kong trip after pan-democrats vow to veto reform proposal

1. // A much-anticipated visit by a mainland official to Hong Kong next month is now off the table after he learned that 27 pan-democrats had signed a joint statement vowing to vote down the government’s proposals for electoral reform. The trip by Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei was expected to provide an opportunity for talks on political reform with pan-democrats for the first time since the Occupy protests ended in December. A Hong Kong official said yesterday that Li had made the decision in the morning, a day after the pan-democrats issued their joint statement. « It’s hard to say at this stage if Li Fei or other mainland officials will visit Hong Kong later to meet pan-democrats, » said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. // Source: SCMP
2. HKU pollster Robert Chung proposed political reform referendum, but government official and pan-dem leaders had reservations: // The justice chief and a pro-establishment heavyweight yesterday poured cold water on an academic’s idea of holding a public vote on political reform, saying Hong Kong law has no provision for a referendum. The idea of a vote was put forward by University of Hong Kong pollster Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu to the government consultation on models for the 2017 chief executive election. He suggested pan-democrats could agree to drop their pledge to vote down the government’s reform package if 62/37 of voters backed it. But Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said: “There is no legal basis for us to have a referendum. A referendum has no place in Hong Kong.” // Source: SCMP

As the National People’s Congress annual session, Zhang Dejiang emphasized that the government may refocus attention on “patriotic education”:

1. // Zhang Dejiang, who heads China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), said last year’s “illegal acts” highlighted a need to focus on young people and possibly revive the idea of a patriotic curriculum, Hong Kong media said on Thursday. The comments echo remarks last month by the head of China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, who said Beijing aimed to tighten control of the global financial hub and warned that the central government could take a renewed interest in patriotic education, an issue that sparked mass protests in Hong Kong in 2012. Zhang also urged Hong Kong and China to seek “specific solutions” to recent protests against traders and visitors from the mainland, and warned against those with “ulterior motives”, according to reports of a closed-door session of the National People’s Congress held in Beijing on Wednesday. He urged political appointees from Hong Kong to “carry forward the honorable tradition of loving China, Hong Kong and Macau” and “contribute to safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, security and development, and maintaining its stability,” the official Xinhua news agency said. // Source: Reuters

 China Demolishes the Taiwan Consensus?

1. Michael Cole: // Given what has been achieved under the Consensus, it would be logical to assume that Beijing would seek its continuation. However, recent comments by Chinese President and CCP Chairman Xi Jinping, as well as articles appearing in official Chinese media, indicate that the Consensus no longer suffices. What Beijing seems to have in mind could have serious ramifications for cross-strait stability and is sure to cause a storm in Taiwan’s political scene, where the framework is already regarded as controversial and unpalatable to the DPP. Xi now insists that future exchanges will be contingent on the Taiwanese side acceding to the Consensus minus the part about “different interpretations.” In other words, the built-in flexibility that has made the Consensus a success is to be obviated, and the baseline has moved. Beijing’s new position is that there is only “one China,” of which Taiwan and “the Mainland” are indivisible components. By adhering to this new concept, Xi said, political parties in Taiwan should not have any problems dealing with the “Mainland.” (Significantly, many Chinese visitors to Taiwan in recent years have insisted on being called da lu ren—“people from the Mainland”—rather than zhong guo ren, or “Chinese people.”) This departure from a framework that has arguably served as a “foundation for peace across the Taiwan Strait” underscores Xi’s growing impatience with the slow pace of progress (in Beijing’s view) in resolving the Taiwan “question.” It is also part of a strategy of gradual escalation, one in which the norms, or baselines, are constantly shifting to reflect Beijing’s preferences. // Source: National Interest

Michael Meyer’s ‘In Manchuria’: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China

1. // In Chinese, the region that was once the cradle of the mighty Qing dynasty is today rather prosaically known as Dongbei, the Northeast. Home to 110 million people, it has smoggy cities and bitingly cold weather. It can seem drab or worse to a visitor. But Michael Meyer has a more refined sense of history and poetry, and with his new book, “In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China,” he seizes the opportunity to dig beneath the region’s gritty surfaces. Mr. Meyer’s motivation for writing his book is simple and straightforward. “Since 2000, a quarter of China’s villages had died out, victims of migration or the redrawing of municipal borders,” as the country urbanizes, he notes early on, adding: “Before it vanished I wanted to experience a life that tourists, foreign students, and journalists (I had been, in order, all three) only viewed in passing.” // Source: New York Times
2. The Journal of Asian Studies – Inside Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement: Twenty-Four Days in a Student-Occupied Parliament, and the Future of the Region “Say goodbye to Taiwan,” wrote political scientist John Mearsheimer in a widely read article in the March-April 2014 issue of The National Interest.1 Threatened by China’s rising economic might and abandoned by a weakening United States, one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies was facing, in his “realist” analysis, an almost inevitable annexation via economic if not military force. “Time,” he wrote, “is running out for the little island coveted by its gigantic, growing neighbor.” But only days after publication, on March 18, activists and armchair analysts alike said hello to a new reality. Source: JAS