Will China Close It's Labor Camps?

China's Communist Party chief Xi Jinping looks on during his meeting with U.N. General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (POOL, REUTERS / December 27, 2012)

China To Reform Controversial Forced Labor Camps -- Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will reform its controversial system of forced labor camps this year, state media reported on Monday, which would mark a first step toward legal reform promised by new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping.

China's "re-education through labor" system, in place since 1957, empowers police to sentence petty criminals to up to four years' confinement without going through the courts, a system that critics say undermines the rule of law and is used against political activists.

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My Comment: I was surprised when I heard about this development .... and I was not surprised when this announcement was quickly deleted. Is China changing .... yes. But before reforming the political system the legal system will need to change .... and this is where the debate is in China right now.

China Reins In Their Spy Chief

China Reins In New Security Boss's Clout -- Wall Street Journal

Bo Xilai Affair Led to Fears the Domestic Spy Chief Had Grown Too Powerful, Leading Party Elite to Downgrade Position.


BEIJING—In a sign of how the Bo Xilai affair has shaped the thinking of China's rulers, the incoming Communist Party leadership appointed a new domestic security chief but downgraded the position.

The move could strengthen the rule of law after a decade in which the security forces amassed vast new powers and resources, and party insiders say it is a direct consequence of the scandal surrounding Mr. Bo, the former party highflier whose wife was convicted in August of murdering a British businessman.

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My Comment: I would like to believe that China is curtailing it's "political police" apparatus .... but I have doubts when I read stories like this one. On a side note, the Wall Street Journal has an excellent interactive graph on China's leadership. That link is here.

China Holds It's First Straw Poll To Choose Top Leaders

China Held Landmark Straw Poll To Choose Top Leaders: Xinhua -- Reuters

(Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party has lifted the lid on the opaque backroom selection of the country's top leaders, revealing that it had held a straw poll for the first time in May to decide on the membership of its top decision-making body.

The party, which has held power since 1949, has flirted with what it calls intra-party democracy as it strives to maintain its legitimacy in the face of widespread corruption, growing social unrest and rising inequality, even as the world's second biggest economy bounds ahead.

The party held a meeting of leading cadres in Beijing in May and "democratically recommended" members of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee and the 25-seat Politburo, state news agency Xinhua said late on Thursday, hours after new line-ups for both councils were unveiled.

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My Comment: A straw poll only among China's elite. Not exactly democracy .... but it is a small baby-step in that direction.

China's 18th Congress Is Now Over

China Power Play Concludes -- Wall Street Journal

Party Elder Jiang Had Heavy Hand In the Selection

BEIJING—In the chess game of Chinese politics, the new Communist Party leadership unveiled on Thursday may have been the last gambit of a grand master: the 86-year-old former president and party general secretary, Jiang Zemin.

Mr. Jiang was thought to be on his death bed last year, but shook off his illness and a potentially damaging scandal to ensure that the new seven-man Politburo Standing Committee—the top governing body—is once again dominated by his protégés and allies.

That means that Xi Jinping—the new party chief who has close ties to Mr. Jiang—should have a freer hand to tackle vested economic and bureaucratic interests than his predecessor, Hu Jintao, did over the last decade, according to party insiders and analysts.

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My Comment: For more news and info on Jiang Zemin, go here and here. As for more info on the 7 men who will now rule China, go here.

China Presents To The World It's New Leaders

Meet The Men Who Will Rule China -- Time

The new Politburo Standing Committee was unveiled at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Thursday. A look at the men who made the cut, and those who were passed over.

In The Wizard of Oz, the ruler behind the curtain in the Emerald City turns out to be not an imposing mystical force but a mere mortal—and a rather unprepossessing one at that. On Nov. 15 in the heart of Beijing, just a short walk from the Forbidden City, a line of seven men—all with neatly coiffed, dyed black hair—emerged from behind a giant screen adorned with red-crowned cranes. Thus at shortly before noon was the world introduced to a powerful clique, headed by Xi Jinping, that will rule China. The new Politburo Standing Committee, as the clutch of seven is called, was unveiled at the Communist-era Great Hall of the People, nearly an hour later than was initially expected. First to stride the crimson-carpeted stage was Xi, the new General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and longtime presumed heir of outgoing leader Hu Jintao. But even if Xi walked out first, he is only the first among equals in a country that has traded the personality cult of the Chairman Mao days for a collective-leadership style. In China, there is not just one wizard, but seven.

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More News On China Presenting To The World Their New Leaders

China confirms leadership change: Live -- BBC
Chinese Communist Party leadership: Live Report -- AFP

China unveils new leaders -- L.A. Times
Xi Jinping Replaces Hu Jintao as China Party Chief -- Bloomberg Businessweek
China Unveils New Leaders, With Xi at Head -- Voice of America
China's Communist Party anoints Xi Jinping as the nation's new leader -- Sydney Morning Herald
Xi Jinping takes over as China's leader -- The Guardian
Ending Congress, China Presents New Leadership Headed by Xi Jinping -- New York Times
China Unveils New Leadership -- Wall Street journal
China's new leadership led by Xi Jinping -- Al Jazeera
China's new party chief Xi gets strong mandate for action -- Reuters
Xi Jinping Takes Helm of China amid Reform Calls -- Time/AP

The New Members of China’s Ruling Body -- New York Times
Profiles: Who are Xi Jinping and China's six other new leaders? -- The Telegraph
Profiles Of China's New leaders -- BBC
China’s new leaders -- L.A. Times

Analysts View: Chinese Communist Party unveils new leadership -- Reuters
Don't expect dramatic change from China's new leaders -- Reuters
New Leadership in China -- New York Times editorial
China Stands Still at the Crossroads -- Qian Gang
China chooses conservative new leaders -- Kathrin Hille and Jamil Anderlini in Beijing, Financial Times

China's Next First Lady

Photo: Peng Liyuan

China's Next First Lady: A Folk Singer Who Threatens To Shake Up Political Life -- The Independent

Peng Liyuan, wife of Xi Jinping, has a higher profile than previous presidential spouses.

One prominent figure missing from the crucial 18th Communist Party congress, which continues this week, is China's first lady-in-waiting.

Known to hundreds of millions of Chinese for her career as a singer of stirring folk tunes, Peng Liyuan's fame has long eclipsed that of her husband, China's next president, Xi Jinping – which may be one reason the pop star has been keeping a low profile.

Ms Peng, 49, a civilian member of the army's musical troupe and charity worker, is not China's typical first lady, as anyone who has seen her sing during the annual Chinese New Year special on state television can attest. This is one of the world's most-watched TV programmes.

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My Comment: A little competition for this other First Lady?

A Look At China's Next Leader

Xi Jinping, China's vice-president, is expected to be the country's next leader. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

China's New Boss -- Wall Street Journal

Xi Jinping has charisma, a common touch and a beloved pop-star wife. But can he reform a Communist elite accustomed to the fruits of corruption?

Where is a new leader of China to turn for advice? Xi Jinping, who takes the country's top post on Thursday, knows better than to look to Mao, the revered founder of the Communist regime who vowed never to take "the capitalist road." Tell that to the hundreds of millions of Chinese who, in the past three decades, have risen from poverty thanks to market-oriented reforms.

Mr. Xi might instead dig deeper into Chinese history, to the austere ancient wisdom of Mencius, the Confucian scholar who advocated the "mandate of heaven" principle that an unjust Emperor could be overthrown. "Why talk of profit?" Mencius asks a ruler in his most famous work. If a king seeks profit over humanity and duty, so will his lords and common people, he says. "Then everyone high and low will be scrambling for profit, and the nation will be in danger."

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My Comment: What's my take on China's new leader .... it will be more of the same.

China Will Reveal New Leaders On Thursday

China To Reveal New Leaders On Thursday -- The Australian

CHINA'S Communist Party will on Thursday unveil the new set of top leaders who will take over the reins of the country for the next decade, one day after their week-long congress ends, the party says.

The widely expected timing was confirmed by staff organising press coverage of the Communist Party congress under way in Beijing, which is held every five years to shuffle the top leadership of the party.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who has been in power 10 years, is widely expected to hand over the reins of the ruling party to his vice-president, Xi Jinping, a tradition that takes place a day after the close of the congress.

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More News On China's 18th Party Congress

China's leaders begin battle for power -- Irish Times
At China party congress, allegiance trumps reform -- Reuters
At China party congress, praise of leaders is the order of the day -- L.A. Times
China Delegates Swoon at Their Proximity to Power -- ABC News/AP
China’s leadership transition edges ahead with the forwarding of a list of names to delegates -- Washington Post/AP
China media: Choosing the central committee -- BBC
China to appoint first lawyer as chief judge -- The Australian
Cautious enforcer to be China's next premier -- AP
Chinese lessons: A simplified guide to China’s 18th Congress -- CTV News
Communist Party's Congress grinds on amid widespread indifference in China -- NBC
China Discusses Leadership Transition Online -- Voice of America
In Communist China, More Power To The People -- Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes
China Stands Still at the Crossroads -- Qian Gang, Wall Street Journal

The Communist Party's 18th National Congress -- News Updates November 8, 2012

Chinese Communist Party Congress Enters Second Day -- CNN

Beijing (CNN) -- The Communist Party's 18th National Congress enters its second session Friday, a day after President Hu Jintao warned that a failure to deal with corruption could bring down the party and the state it controls.

Hu spoke at a key meeting of top officials who will usher in a new set of leaders of the world's most populous nation. After a decade in power, Hu is expected to hand over the party's top job to Vice President Xi Jinping.

"If we fail to handle this issue well, it could prove fatal to the party and even cause the collapse of the party and the fall of the state," Hu said of corruption during his speech at the start of the congress in the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.

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More News On The Communist Party's 18th National Congress

Code Red: China’s Leadership Transition Begins Amid Pomp and Security -- Time
China begins leadership transition as congress opens -- L.A. Times
Highlights: Excerpts of Hu Jintao's speech to China Party congress -- Reuters
China Congress: Hu Jintao Opens Party Meeting On leadership Change -- BBC
China's Hu Jintao in corruption warning at leadership summit -- BBC
Departing Chinese Leader Tries to Cement Legacy Opposing Reform -- New York Times
Chinese President Urges Communists to Address Party Woes -- Voice of America
China’s Hu Jintao warns corruption could prove fatal to Communist Party -- Miami Herald/McClacthy News
China Leader Nods to Concerns Over Corruption -- Wall Street Journal
Chinese President Hu Jintao: A parting shot from the world’s most powerful man -- The Independent

Hu Jintao's legacy: A strong but strained China -- Bloomberg Businessweek/AP
Profile: Hu Jintao -- BBC
Xi Jinping: From 'sent-down youth' to China's top -- CNN
China heir apparent Xi raised by elite, steeled by turmoil -- Reuters
China's Premier-In-Waiting Schooled in Free Thought -- New York Times/Reuters
Former Chinese Leader’s Influence Holds Sway as Transition Begins -- ABC News
Short profiles of five likely standing committee members -- The Times of India
China Opens Power Transfer by Keeping It off-Stage -- AP
China's congress reveals 'an elite from another planet' -- Tania Branigan, The Guardian
China struggles to impress its young with "red" TV propaganda -- Reuters
China's transitional show of unity belies mounting tide of activism -- CBS
How selection of China's new leadership works -- AP
China wants no surprises at Communist Party congress -- Barbara Demick and Julie Makinen, Los Angeles Times
China’s Xi Won’t Be Able to Take On the World -- Odd Arne Westad, Bloomberg
China’s Communist leadership set for change -- William Wan, Washington Post
China’s Leaders Fear a Ping-Pong Counterrevolution -- Adam Minter, Bloomberg
China Changes Leaders: Reform and Open Up -- Stephen S. Roach, New York Times
China's Transparency Reform: Is It for Real? -- David Caragliano, The Atlantic

The Influence Of Mao Will Still Linger In China

Shadow Of Mao Still Lingers Over China -- CNN

Beijing (CNN) -- To many people in China, Mao Zedong is the country's eternal father -- "No Mao, no China," is the mantra often repeated by his supporters. His giant portrait hangs over the gate of Beijing's ancient Forbidden City like that of an emperor. Across the city, thousands flock every day to gaze at his body lying preserved in a mausoleum in Tiananmen Square. His picture holds pride of place in many houses in villages across China. To these people he remains a symbol of strength, a man born a peasant -- albeit a somewhat comfortable one -- who rose to lead the people's army of the Communist Party and unite a warring country.  

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 Update: As China enters new era, how much of Mao will stay? -- Reuters  

My Comment: The image of Mao will be around for the next few generations .... but with time there will be a historical revision, and I predict that this revision will not be kind.

China's Communist Party To Probe Wen Family Wealth

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Petar Kujundzic/Reuters

China Communist Party To Probe Wen Family Wealth: SCMP -- Reuters

(Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party has launched an internal inquiry into allegations made by The New York Times that the family of Premier Wen Jiabao accumulated at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches", the South China Morning Post said on Monday.


Wen himself asked for the inquiry in a letter to the Politburo Standing Committee - the party's top decision-making body of which he is also a member - in an apparent move to clear his name, the Hong Kong daily said, citing unnamed sources.

Lawyers for the Wen family have rejected The New York Times' October 26 report, which says corporate and regulatory records show Wen's mother, siblings and children amassed most of their wealth since Wen became Vice Premier in 1998.

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My Comment: The New York Times article that exposed this scandal is here. While I would like to believe that China is evolving into a society that is governed by laws and accountability .... when it comes to the personal fortunes of the men who rule China .... that accountability is still far in the future.

Update: The ‘New York Times’ Takedown of Wen Jiabao and What It Means -- Elizabeth C. Economy, Council On Foreign Relations

Bo Xilai Expelled From The Chinese Communist Party

China's former Chongqing Municipality Communist Party Secretary Bo Xilai has seen his career crumble after his wife Gu Kailai was accused, and found guilty of, the murder of Neil Heywood. Daily Mail

Ousted From Party In China, Bo Xilai Faces Prosecution -- New York Times

BEIJING — Chinese leaders announced on Friday that Bo Xilai, a disgraced Communist Party aristocrat, had been expelled from the party and would be prosecuted on criminal charges, a move that effectively ends his remarkable political career.

Mr. Bo is accused, among other things, of playing some role in the murder of a British businessman by Mr. Bo’s wife and of taking “massive bribes” directly and through his family, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.

The Xinhua report also said the 18th Party Congress, an event climaxing China’s once-a-decade leadership transition, is scheduled to start on Nov. 8, a week after the start of a party planning session and two days after the American presidential election.

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More News On Bo Xilai Being Expelled From The Chinese Communist Party

China's Bo Xilai expelled and accused of corruption -- BBC
Bo Xilai expelled from China’s Communist Party -- Washington Post
Former Chinese Politburo Member Expelled From Party -- RIA Novosti
China's Bo Xilai Expelled From Communist Party -- Wall Street Journal
China Communists Set Nov. 8 Date for Congress Amid Upheaval -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Bo Xilai timeline: from Communist powerbroker to corruption charges -- The Guardian
Bo Xilai expelled from Communist Party... but will he now be prosecuted over British businessman Neil Heywood's death? -- Daily Mail

China's Bo Xilai's Wife Given Suspended Death Sentence For Murder Of Neil Heywood

Bo Xilai's Wife Receives Suspended Death Sentence For British Businessman's Murder -- Christian Science Monitor

More than likely, Gu Kailai will face life in prison for her role in the death last year of Neil Haywood.

China sentenced the wife of fallen Politburo member Bo Xilai to death on Monday but suspended her execution, setting the stage for a possible final purge of Bo himself in a scandal that has shaken Beijing ahead of a leadership transition.

The sentence means Gu Kailai is likely to face life in jail for murdering British businessman Neil Heywood last year.

It also brings a curtain down on China's most sensational trial in three decades, yet opens a new and more politically dangerous act for the ruling Communist Party -- how to deal with Bo, an ambitious and well-connected provincial leader whose downfall exposed rifts in the party.

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More News On The Sentencing Of Bo Xilai's Wife For Murder

Wife of disgraced Chinese politician sentenced -- Bloomberg Businessweek/AP
Suspended death sentence for Gu Kailai -- Reuters
China's Gu Given Suspended Death Sentence for Murder -- Voice of America
Gu Kailai gets suspended death sentence in China -- L.A. Times
Gu Kailai given suspended death sentence over 'despicable' murder -- The Guardian
Gu Kailai sentenced for Neil Heywood murder -- The Telegraph
Gu Kailai given suspended death sentence for murder of Neil Heywood -- The Telegraph
Why was Gu Kailai spared? -- Madison Park, CNN
Bo Xilai scandal: Netizens criticise Gu Kailai's sentence -- BBC
Who's who in China's Bo Xilai political scandal - AP

My Comment: She got off lucky .... correction .... very lucky.

Sensational Chinese Trial Ends That Will Determine The Fate Of Bo Xilai

Sensational China Trial Ends In Seven Hours, Verdict Later -- Reuters

* Bo Xilai's wife does not contest murder charge
* Focus shifts to what will happen to Bo
* Closed-door trial lasted just seven hours

HEFEI, China, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The woman at the centre of China's most politically explosive trial in three decades did not contest charges of murder on Thursday in a hearing that lasted just seven hours and could determine the fate of former Politburo member Bo Xilai.

A formal verdict will be delivered at a later date, a court official said, recounting details of the closed-door hearing.

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More News On The Murder Trial Of Gu Kailai, Wife Of Fallen China Politician Bo Xilai

Murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of fallen China politician Bo Xilai, ends after just 1 day -- CBS/AP
Bo Xilai's wife stands in trial that lasts just seven hours -- The Telegraph
Gu Kailai trial ends with murder charges 'uncontested' -- The Guardian
Murder Trial of Chinese Official’s Wife Begins and Concludes -- New York Times
China politician's wife doesn't deny killing Brit -- USA Today/AP
Scandal in China: Bo Xilai's wife does not contest murder charge -- Christian Science Monitor
Murder Trial Puts Spotlight on China’s Political System -- Austin Ramzy, Time
Bo Xilai Gu Kailai scandal: who's who -- The Telegraph
The Gu Kailai Murder Trial: A Shut and Shut Case -- Evan Osnos, The New Yorker
Q&A: Why the Gu Kailai trial is important -- CNN

My Comment: In China .... this is a sensational trial and one that will reverberate for years. As for what is my prediction on the fate of Bo Xilai and his wife .... it would not surprise me if his wife goes to jail for a long time, and he will be disgraced and banned from any political activity.