Chinese General news resource thread

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Blackstone

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The Free World may be missing the forest for the trees by focusing too much on “OC” HK demonstrations and missing more significant discussions/debates in Mainland over the direction of constitutional reforms, or lack of it. It’s not disputable the 18th Communist Party Congress will produce political changes, but where and how they affect China need more balanced coverage and nuanced analysis than the international media has given.

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A series of articles published since May 21 by the Chinese Communist Party's bi-weekly magazine Red Flag arguing against the establishment of constitutional government in China have triggered widespread media speculation and intensive academic discussions.

Three schools of thought have arisen as a result of the ongoing debate: "anti-constitutionalists" who oppose any form of constitutional government in China, those who support the establishment of socialist constitutional government, and those who believe socialism and constitutionalism are incompatible, as represented by Peking University Law School Professor He Weifang and East China University of Political Science and Law Professor Zhang Xuezhong. The latter faction argues in favor of drawing up a new constitution.

The core differences between the three viewpoints reflect diverging opinions about China's future political reform path.

If the Chinese government refutes the possibility of the coexistence of socialism and constitutional government, then the future political reform path will go one of two ways: adhering to the old system while resolutely rejecting constitutionalism and adjusting specific mechanisms; or completely overthrowing the old regime and drawing up an entirely new constitution.

If concepts of socialist constitutional government are established, it is possible for China to march towards a path of modern democratic liberal politics by relying on the existing constitution to protect fundamental rights and ensure the independence of the judiciary and the implementation of judicial review.

Throughout China's 30 years of reform and opening up, the Chinese government has conducted a number of constitution-oriented reform experiments, both in terms of its economy and political system. The market economy in China, once considered to be the core content of capitalism, gradually emerged and achieved incredible results; at the same time, private property and the private economy, which were once looked upon with great suspicion, developed rapidly to become pillars of China's economic growth. However, in his article A Comparative Study of Constitutional Government and People's Democratic System for Red Flag Magazine, Beijing law scholar Yang Xiaoqing wrote that a market economy based on private ownership is considered to be one of the key elements of constitutionalism.

Chinese political reform started in the 1980s. Various reform measures such as Deng Xiaoping's reform of the Party and state leadership system aimed to resolve a number of issues, including "usurpation of government by the Party" and "over-concentration of power."

At the 13th National Party Congress in October 1987, with the "separation of the functions of the Party and the government" as the core, it was proposed that "the Party lead the people in the development of the Constitution and laws." Moreover, according to the directive, the Party "should operate within the scope of the Constitution and laws." This directive happened to coincide with the spirit of modern rule of law and the constitutional government's requirement to restrict power.

From that time on, reports from the National Representative Congress have frequently featured the issue of political reform. The 18th National Party Congress report set aside an entire article for political reform, giving the topic an unprecedented degree of attention.

During a congress marking the 30th anniversary of the Constitution's implementation on Dec. 4, 2012, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission (CMC), said the value and authority of the Constitution depend on implementation.

This is what is advocated by scholars who propose the concept of socialist constitutional government. According to them, constitutionalism means the enforcement of the Constitution.
 

Blitzo

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A pretty significant shift, if true.
Big question is if the position is held.

I like how this is being portrayed as a concession rather than a meaningful first step to de escalate.


Japan Caves to China on Senkaku Island Dispute
To secure a meeting with Xi, Japanese PM Abe caved to China’s long-standing demand on the East China Sea dispute.

By Zachary Keck | October 18, 2014

In order to secure a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe agreed to a significant concession in Tokyo’s ongoing dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands, according to Japanese media outlets.

As Shannon noted earlier today on China Power, Japanese officials now expect there to be a brief meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe during next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Beijing. The meeting would be the first between the two heads of state since they took their current positions. It comes after a prolonged Japanese charm offensive towards China, which resulted in extensive behind-the-scenes negotiations aimed at securing a heads of state meeting at APEC.

The meeting, which Japanese officials acknowledged would be more symbolic than substantive, did not come cheaply for Japan. Indeed, if Japanese media reports are accurate, Tokyo appears to have caved on the major issue that prevented a heads-of-state meeting to date.

On Thursday, Mainichi reported that Japan made a three-prong proposal to China in order to secure the meeting between the two heads of states next month. According to the report, which cited “Japanese government sources,” Japan proposed that during his meeting with Xi, Abe would first reassert that the Senkaku Islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory, but then “acknowledge that China has a case as well” to the islands. He would then propose that China and Japan seek to settle the issue through mutual dialogue over time. None of this would be included in a joint statement or any other documents officially released after the summit meeting.

Still, if the report is accurate, Abe’s acknowledgement that a territorial dispute exists and proposal to settle the issue through mutual dialogue represent huge concessions to long-standing Chinese demands.

The Japanese government has always refused to acknowledge that a territorial dispute even exists with China over the Senkaku Islands, which Beijing refers to as the Diaoyu Islands. “There exists no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved concerning the Senkaku Islands,” Japan has said on numerous occasions.

China’s main precondition for agreeing to a heads of state meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Abe has long been Japan’s acknowledgement that the territorial dispute exists. As Kyodo reported in June 2013, “Even after the change of government last December with the inauguration of the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, China has continued to call for Japan to acknowledge that a territorial dispute exists as a precondition for holding a summit.” That same report noted that Japan had refused to do this, and thus that a leadership summit appeared unlikely for the foreseeable future.

The two sides also publicly fought over the issue during the UN General Assembly meeting in September of last year. First, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a think tank speech before the UNGA opened that China was willing to reopen dialogue with Japan, but first “Japan needs to recognize that there is such a dispute. The whole world knows that there is a dispute.”

Prime Minister Abe appeared to respond to Wang in a press conference following his appearance at the UN summit. “Senkaku is an inherent part of the territory of Japan in light of historical facts and based upon international law, and the islands are under the valid control of Japan,” Abe said at the press conference. While Tokyo would not escalate the situation and wanted to open dialogue with China to avoid an armed conflict, Abe insisted that “Japan would not make a concession on our territorial sovereignty.”

Some in China are already taking the concession as a sign of Japanese weakness. Specifically, the Global Times quoted Yang Bojiang, director of Japanese studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, as saying: “Abe is under economic pressure to resume talks with China and advance the bilateral relationship, so he has to show the world his willingness to talk.”

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broadsword

Brigadier
Japan Caves to China on Senkaku Island Dispute
To secure a meeting with Xi, Japanese PM Abe caved to China’s long-standing demand on the East China Sea dispute.

By Zachary Keck | October 18, 2014

I call it bollocks!!! There is no way Abe would capitulate. Not after building up so much nationalism and support from its allies. The media are at its mischief again.
 

jobjed

Captain
The Diplomat[/url]

As a quick OT, The Diplomat is completely undependable when it comes to Chinese news. Their propensity to distort representations make desert mirages seem crystal clear by comparison. To refer to The Diplomat when it comes to issues relating to China is tantamount to asking an Indian for evaluations of Pakistan, which is a pretty apt analogy considering The Diplomat is headquartered in Tokyo.
 

Blitzo

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As a quick OT, The Diplomat is completely undependable when it comes to Chinese news. Their propensity to distort representations make desert mirages seem crystal clear by comparison. To refer to The Diplomat when it comes to issues relating to China is tantamount to asking an Indian for evaluations of Pakistan, which is a pretty apt analogy considering The Diplomat is headquartered in Tokyo.

They've come out with a few good (or at least not horribly biased) articles lately, I think it all depends on the writer
 

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
Everything is converging over APEC and also a I think the G20 meeting is around that time and region too. So you're going to hear a lot of movement or talk of movement. Abe likes to play games so who knows. I'm sure a lot of Japanese companies are feeling the hurt with trade severely affected. I don't know if Japanese politics operates the same way, but in the US the White House throws feelers out to the media to report to gauge public opinion and that determines if they go in that direction.
 

delft

Brigadier
As a quick OT, The Diplomat is completely undependable when it comes to Chinese news. Their propensity to distort representations make desert mirages seem crystal clear by comparison. To refer to The Diplomat when it comes to issues relating to China is tantamount to asking an Indian for evaluations of Pakistan, which is a pretty apt analogy considering The Diplomat is headquartered in Tokyo.
Then it is very odd that they don't know the Emperor is the Head of State in Japan.
 
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