Yuan Huizhong. (Weibo)

The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.

State Internet Information Office: Immediately delete contents which calls into question the appointment of the children of cadres to positions in local government, members of the so-called “governing second generation,” “governing third generation,” “red second generation, etc. (including news, blogs, forum posts, images, and video). Report on the progress of your work. (May 14, 2013)

网信办：立即清理质疑一些干部子女出任地方领导职务所谓“官二代”“官三代”“红二代”等信息（含新闻，博文，贴文，图片，视频等），并将简要工作情况上报。

This directive could be in response to a netizen backlash after the “rocket promotion” (火箭升迁) of Yuan Huizhong to the Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province chapter of the Communist Youth League. According to China Daily, Yuan only has three years of experience, but her father has a top appointment in the city. The directive seems preemptive of future controversies, however, as Yuan’s case is still visible on Weibo [zh]. Earlier this month, Deng Xiaoping’s grandson became a “sensitive” word on Weibo after becoming county head of Pingguo County, Guangxi Province.

The keywords “governing second generation” (官二代), “governing third generation” (官三代), and “red second generation” (红二代) are all searchable on Weibo.

CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

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Post tags: censorship, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Internet censorship, Jiangsu, Ministry of Truth, official corruption, propaganda, second-generation officials, Yangzhou
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Yang Kun, former vice president of the Agricultural Bank of China, was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and removed from public office, a statement said Monday.

Yang has been investigated for serious discipline violations by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said a statement from CCDI.

The investigation shows that he exploited his position to seek benefits for other people in return for huge bribes, the statement said.

[Source]

Yang’s party career is the latest to come to an end under president Xi Jinping’s ongoing campaign against official corruption. The New York Times’ coverage of Yang’s indictment mentions the likelihood of his conviction, and other recent developments in the anti-corruption campaign:

In China, senior officials accused of wrongdoing usually first face the party discipline commission, which decides whether to authorize a legal inquiry that can bring a criminal indictment. With that inquiry now under way, Mr. Yang is likely to face trial and conviction; China’s party-run courts rarely find defendants innocent.

[...]Since coming to power in November, China’s top party leader, Xi Jinping, has repeatedly vowed to end official corruption and extravagance, a major source of public disenchantment with the government. Last week, Wang Qishan, the party leader in charge of investigating official misconduct, said teams of inspectors would be sent across the country to help “stanch the spread of corruption.”

This month, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said it was investigating Liu Tienan, a senior economic policy maker, whom a Chinese journalist last year accused of engaging in tainted business dealings and threatening to kill a mistress who exposed those dealings.

[Source]

As arrests continually reiterate Xi’s goal to eradicate official corruption in all levels of the party, his administration is engaged in a contradictory crackdown on anti-corruption activists.

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Post tags: Agricultural Bank of China, anti-corruption, anti-graft, corrupt officials, corruption, official corruption, party discipline, Xi Jinping
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Police from Xinyu, in the southern province of Jiangxi, detained Liu for “inciting subversion of state power”, her lawyer, Zheng Jianwei, told Reuters, by telephone. The charge is often leveled against critics of the party.

Police could not be reached for comment.

Liu, who has also advocated on women’s rights issues, last year started demanding that officials disclose their assets, Zheng said. She took her campaign to the internet and to fellow Chinese.

Zheng said he did not know the exact reason for Liu’s detention, but added that he had warned her “to be aware of her actions” six months ago.

A fellow activist told Patrick Boehler of the South China Morning Post that Liu was one of eight people who were apprehended by unidentified men on April 27 as they prepared to travel to Suzhou to commemorate Peking University student who was executed during the Cultural Revolution for criticizing the Communist Party:

Two of the people detained along with Liu have been released, Jiang said. One of them, Li Xizhen, shared on her microblog photos of bruises from beatings she said she had sustained in police custody. Li could not be reached on the phone.

Liu’s daughter, Liao Minyue, who on her microblog has documented several unsuccessful requests for information on her mother’s fate, declined to comment for fear of harming her mother’s case.

“Because the law doesn’t require relatives to be notified for such charges, we actually don’t know how many people have been arrested and charged,” said Hangzhou-based lawyer Wang Cheng, who has previously helped Liu in legal matters.

He said he could so far only confirm that five people including Liu were still detained, but only the charges against Liu had been made known, he said.

Police in Beijing detained four activists in early April for holding up banners in a public square demanding that top government officials publicly declare their assets, and four more were detained later in the month for participating in the street campaign. The issue of financial disclosure has simmered since last year, when some officials at the 18th Party Congress told foreign reporters that they would be open to the idea as a way to curb corruption. It also became a popular Weibo topic after Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin addressed financial disclosure on his own microblog.

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Post tags: assets, detention, financial disclosure, Jiangxi, official corruption, sina weibo, Xi Jinping
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Maotai liquor flows freely at official banquets, and is often traded for social currency. Caixin reported early last year that “the brand value of Maotai is not supported by real market demand but speculation and government spending.” Before leaving office, former prime minister Wen Jiabao announced a ban on using public funding for Maotai, which sent the prize plummeting last summer. Now, to skirt Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption efforts, officials are decanting Maotai into water bottles.

Chinese officials often claim whistleblowers have “ulterior motives.”

Despite what should be meager salaries, public servants have been spotted driving Audis and sporting Rolex watches. A Shaanxi official lost his job last summer after he was photographed grinning at the scene of a traffic accident. Netizens found images of Yang Dacai wearing at least 11 different luxury watches, earning him the nickname “Watch Brother.” After last month’s earthquake, a Sichuanese Party secretary tried perhaps too hard to avoid Yang’s fate–his watch tan gave him away.

Officials have been caught red-handed with multiples of all these items; the hukou, or household registration, is perhaps the most egregious. The hukou system marks people as rural or urban residents. Rural migrants live illegally in China’s cities, surviving without any social services. So netizens were livid this January when the “house sisters” were found owning multiple properties–under multiple hukou.

Last November, a 12-second sex tape of Chongqing official Lei Zhengfu surfaced online, leading to jokes about the man’s stamina, as well as his removal from office. Zhao Hongxia secretly taped herself having sex with Lei and other officials as blackmail. She could now face up to 15 years in prison.

Upon learning of industrial pollution of a river in his hometown of Rui’an, businessman Jin Zengmin challenged local Environmental Protection Bureau Chief Bao Zhenming to swim in the river for 20 minutes. Jin offered 200,000 yuan (about US$32,414) if Bao took on the dare [zh]. But Bao insisted that the garbage in the river came from residents, not factories.

This February, investigative journalist and social activist Deng Fei asked his Weibo followers to take pictures of the waterways in their hometowns as they returned for the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival). This lead him to the case of Weifang, Shandong Province, where industry has allegedly polluted the groundwater as far as a meter down. Just days later, the Weifang government stated that it had investigated 715 local businesses and found no water contamination at all [zh].

Although Xi Jinping has vowed to fight corruption among both “tigers and flies,” private citizens calling for government officials to make their assets public knowledge have met with arbitrary arrest.

In February, some locales announced new restrictions on information about properties sold [zh], ostensibly to protect the customer’s privacy and trade secrets.

“Naked officials” move their families–and their funds–out of the country, not just for better quality of life, but also as a backup should their political fortunes change.

 
Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong.

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Post tags: Drawing the News, financial disclosure, household registration, hukou, official corruption, political cartoons, political humor
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Luxury watchmakers expect sales growth to slow this year as a recovery in the United States and buoyant Middle East demand fail to offset a China slump more deep-rooted than a temporary blip caused by anti-corruption moves.

[...]Luxury watch makers have expanded at breakneck speed in recent years in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as the mainland – and enjoyed double-digit sales growth rates there until last summer.

But their latest comments reinforce the view that the region, to which luxury group Richemont (CFR.VX) is the most exposed, is being hit by more than the government’s crackdown on gifts for favours, which often involve watches, and is feeling the draught from a wider slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

Watchmakers and retailers questioned about their China strategy noted that some companies went overboard with their retail presence in China, and that affluent Chinese consumers – who now account for 25 percent of global luxury good purchases – can still be reached abroad. From the New York Times

“People simply went overboard about China, thinking that there could be no issue with suddenly opening 40 or 50 stores,” said John Simonian, a watch distributor and owner of Westime, a watch retailer based in Los Angeles. “The stores in China are now full of inventories, with no guarantee that they can all get sold.”

[...]Affluent and travel-hungry Chinese are increasingly buying overseas. About half of Chinese spending on luxury goods occurs outside the mainland, according to a study released in December by the consulting firm McKinsey.

As a result, “50 square meters in Paris could be much more meaningful now than having those same 50 square meters in China,” said Mr. Bennahmias of Audemars Piguet.

Executives from Swiss luxury brand Piaget SA have long-term optimism on China, also noting the importance of cashing in on overseas purchasing habits of wealthy Chinese tourists:

Executives at Cie. Financière Richemont SA’s Piaget watch and jewelry brand remain upbeat on China’s luxury sector, despite recent blunted demand amid a crackdown on gift-giving in the country.

Piaget’s watch sales from China are still strong and are likely to be robust in the long term, though there has been increased pressure in the short term, said Philippe Leopold-Metzger, Piaget’s global chief executive, on the sidelines of a luxury conference in Shanghai. He declined to disclose financial details of the Geneva-based company.

“We talk a lot about slowdown and many people say that stores in China are empty, but if you look at stores all over the world, they are full of Chinese who are buying,” said Mr. Leopold-Metzger. Companies looking at profit and sales alone coming from within China don’t have a good understanding of the buying patterns, he said.

Luxury watches, widely worn by officials whose salaries alone shouldn’t allow, have become a symbol of corruption in China’s bureaucracy. In August, well-fed Shaanxi provincial work safety minister Yang Dacai was photographed with a grin and an expensive watch at the scene of a deadly traffic accident. After China’s human flesh search engine exposed Yang’s larger collection of pricey watches, netizens dubbed the official “Watch Brother“.  Yang was removed from his post in September and investigated for graft.

After the 2013 Sichuan earthquake, photographs of a quake-zone official’s watch-tanned wrist led netizens to speculate that the watch was removed in the wake of high profile corruption cases like Yang’s.

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Post tags: anti-corruption, Chinese tourists, global recession, luxury goods, official corruption, retail sales, watches
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The men arrested last week include Zhao Changqing, a democracy advocate who has been jailed several times in the past; Ding Jiaxi, a human rights lawyer; and two activists, Sun Hanhui and Wang Yonghong. All four are being held at Beijing No. 3 Detention Center, lawyers for the men said.

According to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a nongovernmental organization based in Washington, the whereabouts of two other activists, Qi Yueying and Li Wei, were unknown on Friday.

Liang Xiaojun, a lawyer who represents several of those detained, said prison officials would allow him to see only one of the detainees, claiming that the others were still being interrogated by the police. “I doubt this case will go through normal procedures,” he said. “Can you imagine a trial for a group of activists who demanded that government officials disclose their assets? I don’t see that trial happening.”

Analysts say the crackdown on dissent, coupled with newly announced media restrictions and the absence of any new anticorruption initiatives, are gnawing away at any hopes that Mr. Xi will embrace the rule of law and clean government.

The issue of financial disclosure has simmered since last year, when some officials at the 18th Party Congress told foreign reporters that they would be open to the idea as a way to curb corruption. It also became a popular Weibo topic after Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin addressed financial disclosure on his own microblog.

One rights lawyer told Voice of America that the family of one of the activists, prominent human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, received official notice last Thursday that he had been detained the previous evening:

Li says the activists have been charged because of their participation in a street campaign calling on officials to disclose their assets.

“It’s hard to say what is going to happen. Administrative detention can be expanded up to 37 days,” he said. “Then there will be an investigation and then a trial. How long this all will take depends on how important they consider the case to be.”

Xu Zhiyong, another prominent rights lawyer in China, is founder of the New Citizens Movement – a group that seeks to promote social justice, political and legal reforms. He is being held under what he called “illegal house arrest” and spoke to VOA by phone Friday.

“Up until yesterday, eight people who advocate asset disclosure by officials have been detained,” he said. “They have been accused of illegal gathering, but we believe this is illegal, because citizens have the right to assemble and demonstrate freely.”

The latest round of detentions came just before Xi Jinping addressed a group of Politburo members last Friday about the country’s anti-corruption efforts, according to Xinhua News. In a South China Morning Post opinion piece published Monday, Chinese writer and journalist Xiao Shu claimed that Xi’s administration “is sending very contradictory signals about its commitment to the rule of law and the fight against corruption.”

What is the long-term interest of the Communist Party? I would argue that it is in leading China, by means of peaceful transformation, into democracy and national reconciliation. Look no further than Chiang Ching-kuo and Lee Teng-hui, the last two non-democratically elected presidents of Taiwan, who did exactly that for the island. Any other path would be not only self-destructive for the party, but also catastrophic for the whole nation. To transform themselves and transform China, the Communist rulers must open the door to civil movements that will usher in a civil society.

In this sense, activists like Xu Zhiyong, Wang Gongquan and Ding Jiaxi are not only heroes of civil movements, but also champions of public interest and allies of the Communist Party. In his push for the rule of law and war on corruption, Xi is coming up against the powerful special interest groups within his party, and has no chance of winning without soliciting the help of a strong civil society.

The persecution against these activists thus can be seen as an effort by the special-interest groups to sabotage Xi’s reforms. They were successful in the past 10 years, during the rule of Hu and Wen – the security apparatus launched a series of stifling blows against the burgeoning civil movements. In doing so, they also tamed and manipulated then top leaders including Hu and Wen, turning their “golden decade” into one of the biggest political jokes in modern Chinese history. Whether they will succeed again in Xi‘s time remains to be seen.

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Post tags: Beijing, detention, financial disclosure, official corruption, sina weibo, Xi Jinping
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Ma Gangquan, one of the lawyers, said the activists were dumbfounded by their treatment.

“Our leaders are the ones who came up with the ‘China Dream’ slogan, vowing to rule by law and to fight corruption,” said Mr. Ma, who represents Ma Xinli, 47, an employee in the logistics department of a Beijing bus company. “Their goal was simply to make his cause their own.”

Another lawyer, Ding Xikui, complained that the police bloodied the face of his client, Hou Xin, as they dragged her away.

Although it is unlikely that Mr. Xi and other top leaders were aware of the protest, rights advocates say the detentions, coupled with the recent harassment of other people fighting corruption, are a worrying sign that the leadership is determined to constrain any populist campaigning on an issue central to the president’s agenda.

A number of political activists have signed a petition in favor of the so-called “sunshine law,” according to Radio Free Asia, which spoke to the wife of one of the detained demonstrators:

“[The leadership], including Xi Jinping, is always talking about having officials declare their assets, but they’re all talk and no action,” Zhu said.

“And now that we citizens have taken this action, the police crack down on us,” she said. “We didn’t do anything destructive or violent; we just wanted to speak out.”

Online transparency campaigner Sun Hanhui said a number of rights lawyers have offered to defend the activists.

“Some lawyers have already agreed to represent and defend the case this morning,” Sun, who works in a law firm, said on Tuesday. “They are putting together a legal team, and eventually they will announce it.”

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Post tags: assets, Beijing, detention, financial disclosure, official corruption, sina weibo, Xi Jinping
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Liang said his client, Yuan Dong, was taken into police custody along with three other activists for criminal investigation after they held banners in the Xidan Culture Square in Beijing’s Xicheng district on Sunday afternoon calling for greater disclosure of officials’ assets to improve the transparency of governance and combat official corruption.

Yuan, 45, was being held in the Beijing No3 Detention Centre along with two other activists, Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli, Liang said, but the whereabouts of the fourth activist, Hou Xin, was unknown.

Beijing police did not respond to an inquiry about the detentions yesterday.

The activists’ street campaign is part of a broader civil campaign launched in December calling for top government officials to declare their assets publicly to help fight rampant official corruption.

The issue has simmered since last year, when some officials at the 18th Party Congress told foreign reporters that they would be open to the idea as a way to curb corruption. It also became a popular Weibo topic after Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin addressed financial disclosure on his own microblog.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch urged the government to release the activists, calling the detentions “the harshest action yet against activists involved in a grass-roots campaign to press the government to honor its promise to fight corruption:”

“The detention of four anti-corruption activists calls into question President Xi Jinping’s commitment to get tough on graft,” said Sophie Richardson, China director, “The government’s treatment of these activists is a litmus test about whether Xi’s campaign to end China’s corruption epidemic is more than mere rhetoric and a few show cases.”

Police in Beijing arrested the activists – Hou Xin, Yuan Dong, Zhang Baocheng and Ma Xinli – on March 31, 2013. The four were displaying large banners with slogans such as “require officials to publicly disclose assets” and “unless we put an end to corrupt officials, the China Dream can only be daydreams.” The activists also gave a speech about the need to address corruption in Xidan Cultural Plaza in Beijing’s Xicheng District.

Police arrested them for “illegal assembly,” which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Yuan, Zhang, and Ma are being held in Beijing’s No. 3 Detention Center, while Hou is in No. 1 Detention Center. Under Chinese law, anyone accused of a crime is entitled to a lawyer within 48 hours of being taken into police custody. The police may detain a person for 37 days before they are required to obtain permission from the prosecutor’s office for a formal arrest.

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Post tags: assets, Beijing, detention, financial disclosure, human rights watch, official corruption, sina weibo, Xi Jinping
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When something disappears from the Internet in China, netizens joke that it has been “river-crabbed,” a play on “harmonized.” The River Crab Archive is a collection of blog post titles,

The following deleted Weibo posts were selected by CDT between February 21 and 22 from FreeWeibo.

@dapeng777: This news has been blocked. Please repost, but do not comment~

@大鹏看天下： 这条新闻，已全部打不开了。请转发，勿评论~

Blocked search: “Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has allocated 75 million yuan to equipping its subordinate departments with government automobiles.”

February 22, 2013 at 3:16 p.m. (via WeiboScope (censored weibos))

2013年02月22日 15:16 (来自 WeiboScope (被审查的微博))

@AngrySillyBroLaughstoTears: In reality, Chief Xi has inherited an “unfinished project”: circling enemies, proliferating traitors, economic bubble, empty national coffers, depraved morality, and prevalent corruption. This bowl of rotten “reform and opening up half-cooked rice” is set in front of Chief Xi. How to act? How to eat it? It will take not only wisdom and competence, but, more importantly, the charisma to make resolute decisions. Though it’s a tangled web, the two most urgent things to tackle are reversing wronged cases and rooting out traitors! These two actions will have an immediate impact of twice the work it takes to accomplish them! The general public is expecting results!

February 22, 2013 at 5:38 p.m. (via WeiboScope (censored weibos))

@傻哥气得笑哭了： 其实，习总接手的是一个“烂尾工程”：外敌环伺，汉奸盛行，泡沫经济，国库空虚，道德沦丧，贪腐成风。。这碗已发馊的“改开夹生饭”摆在习总面前，如何做 如何吃？需要的不仅是智慧和能力，更需要当机立断的魄力！虽千头万绪但最迫切的是平反博公和肃奸两件事！可起到立竿见影事半功倍之效！万众期待！

2013年02月22日 17:38 (来自 WeiboScope (被审查的微博))

@miqijiadexingfu: The Common Characteristics of Authoritarian Nations!

@讽刺批判语录： 専制国家共同特点！

Military: Brazenly declaring its service to the political group.
Congress: Going through the motions to simulate the election leaders.
Justice: A special tool to violently defend its allies and suppress its opponents.
Media: Touting Potemkin peace and covering up discord.
Literature: Praising the prosperity of the nation and the brilliance of the leadership.
Education: Brainwashing.
Foreign Affairs: Paving the way with money and simulating unity.
History: Glossing over the inconvenient truth.

February 21, 2013 at 6:11 p.m. (via WeiboScope (censored weibos))

2013年02月21日 18:11 (来自 WeiboScope (被审查的微博))

@lscfda: Mao is said to have had six dancing partners who were the most beautiful: Wu Lili, He Liliang, Liu Suyuan, Meng Jingyun, Zuo Dafen, and Chen Huimin. At that time, the PLA Air Force Political Department Ensemble internally called dancing in Zhongnanhai a “number one duty.” Before she was allowed to enter Zhongnanhai, each person’s family background and typical behavior were scrutinized. Peng Dehuai ridiculed the event as “selecting imperial concubines.” Before the dance, several GMs would be sent out to pick up the actresses from the Ensemble. The dances were usually held at Chun’ouzhai and Huairentang.

February 21, 2013 at 10:47 p.m. (via WeiboScope (censored weibos))

@历史尘封档案： 毛一生传闻有六个舞伴最漂亮:吴莉莉,何理良,刘素媛,孟锦云,左大玢,陈惠敏.当时空政文工团内部把进中南海伴舞称为”一号任务”,进中南海的人员都要 被严格审查家庭成员历史背景和现实表现.彭德怀听说此事后斥为”选妃子”.举行舞会时便派出几辆”吉姆”去文工团接女演员,地点主要在中南海的春藕斋,怀 仁堂等

2013年02月21日 22:47 (来自 WeiboScope (被审查的微博))

@Coastline229:  Published a blog post: The final battle is coming. Salute the warriors! http://t.cn/zYCMmdh

@海岸线229： 发表了一篇转载博文 《[转载]决战时刻即将来临，向勇士们致敬！》 -http://t.cn/zYCMmdh

“Up with Bo, Down with Wen. Volunteers!!!”

February 22, 2013 at 12:12 a.m. (via WeiboScope (censored weibos))

2013年02月22日 00:12 (来自 WeiboScope (被审查的微博))

@OilfieldXuGuanghui: People’s Daily Online, Beijing, February 21: Wang Yukai, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, says that in order to change the imperfect national system of financial disclosure, reporting must start with top officials. At present, there are no technical issues with the system. The main problem is the lack of determination to start from the top and firmly implement the policies within certain parameters. Only when it starts from the top will reforms truly follow.

@油田徐广慧： 人民网北京2月21日电 国家行政学院教授汪玉凯表示，要改变我国财产公开制度不完善这种现状，官员财产申报制必须从最高层开始，目前我国的官员财产申报公开制不是技术问题，最大的问题是要有决心，从高层开 始，把它限制在一定的范围之内并严格执行实施。只有从高层开始，才能够真正带动其他方面的改革

Read more selections from CDT Chinese.

Translation by Junebug.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Internet censorship, Ministry of Truth, official corruption, River Crab Archive, weibo
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Guangdong Propaganda Department: The relevant departments are in the process of investigating recent online reports of suspected corruption on the part of Gaoming District, Foshan NPC Standing Committee Deputy Director Lu Zhiran. The media is to cease covering and commenting on this incident until the results of the investigation have been officially released. (March 1, 2013)

广东省委宣传部：近日网络举报佛山高明区人大常委会常务副主任陆帜然涉嫌贪污一事有关部门正在调查，在调查结果正式公布前各媒体暂不再自行报道、评论。

Lu and his family allegedly own multiple properties worth over 100 million yuan, including a six-story mansion [zh].

Guangdong Propaganda Department: The media are to cease voluntary investigation and coverage of the violation of protocol at the Zhongying Street certificate office of the Sixth Detachment of the Guangdong Frontier Armed Police. When necessary, report in accordance with official statements issued by the detachment and play down the issue. (March 1, 2013)

广东省委宣传部：对广东边防武警六支队中英街办证中心人员涉嫌违规办证问题，各媒体不再自行采访报道，必要时按该支队发布的通稿刊播，并淡化处理。

Guangdong Propaganda Department: Strictly follow news wire copy released by the Huizhou Discipline Inspection Committee in reporting the case of Huizhou Chengguan Department Director Zhong Zhaoyang’s luxury villa and other issues of violation of protocol. Do not make the story prominent or lure readers to it. Do not produce other reports or commentaries. (March 1, 2013)

广东省委宣传部：关于网络举报惠州城管局局长钟朝阳拥有豪华别墅及其它违规问题调查结果的报道，严格按惠州纪委新闻通稿刊播，不上头版和导读，不作其它报道评论。

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

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The December article narrates the adventures of Qi Hong, an ex-wire-tapping detective who was so busy debugging the offices of various Chinese officials, he once dismantled 40 hidden wires and cameras in a single week.

The piece is no longer available from Southern People Weekly online.

CDT’s Mengyu Dong has translated the entire article:

Wire-tapping with Chinese Characteristics

Qi Hong grabbed a handrail on a crowded Beijing subway, exposing a deep scar. Others on the train took notice and immediately moved away. The scar was from 23 years ago. Although he had became used to people’s stares after all these years, it nonetheless evoked in him a sense of utter helplessness. He can’t explain what happened to other people. Just like countless other life experiences, this story started with ideals but ended with absurdity.

Qi Hong, about 185 centimeters tall, always appears very stern and alert when not speaking. But when he does speak, one can feel the intensity of his thoughts. I knew about him through a news report published on the front page of Southern Weekly. In the report, he revealed that Daocheng Company (which claimed to be “the third party between the doctor and patient”) bullied their patients, deceived the public, and allegedly committed other illegal acts.

“It’s not ‘revealing’–it’s simply telling the truth,” Qi Hong corrected me. I spent a few days chatting with Qi Hong in a city in Shandong Province. Much of the content of our conversations cannot be told to you at this time. Right now, I just want to tell you that he dismantled more than 300 pieces of wiretapping and video equipment from the cars, offices and bedrooms of over 100 government officials. This happened in 2011.

Wiretapping as Common Practice

The man’s legs went soft and he collapsed to the floor, speechless for a long time–Qi Hong clearly remembers the reaction of the government official when he dismantled a piece of eavesdropping equipment for the first time. He didn’t expect such a reaction. Even more unexpectedly, he started to gain a name for himself among officialdom.

Personal connections are like passing permits. One after another, officials approached him, through acquaintances, to have him look for and dismantle eavesdropping equipment and hidden cameras. They found Qi Hong either because they wanted to be on the safe side, or because they had already sensed something unusual–for example, their wives became aware of their secret whereabouts, or their leaders had given away some “hints” in their speeches. During his busiest week, Qi Hong dismantled over 40 eavesdropping wires.

This whole amazing experience started at a dinner party, during which an official from Shanxi divulged that “wire-tapping was a common practice among officials.” Officials commonly used spying equipment to eavesdrop on each other and gain the upper hand on their rivals in order to ascend from #2 to #1 at the office.

“Nowadays, we hug each other when we meet, taking the opportunity to feel around for spying equipment. Important conversations take place in bath houses,” the Shanxi official said. This astounded everyone at the dinner party. In the areas around Shandong, this was unheard of. People could just not be trusted, they emphatically sighed.

Qi Hong contemplated further. “What consequences will it bring if public servants collect secret info on their colleagues?” He told his friends, “I want to check your security. Let me figure out how to do it. You just wait.” A few days later, he found a set of detective equipment.

Starting out, he conducted his detective work within his circle of friends. “Focal point” persons were his priority, like this one, a mid-level, high profile cadre that had authority over examination and licensing.

“What if my private life is discovered, and my wife doesn’t let me back in the house?” this mid-level cadre joked when Qi Hong proposed helping him look for eavesdropping equipment. But he wasn’t laughing shortly afterwards, when two wires and one pinhole camera were discovered hidden in the air conditioner in his office.

“He gazed straight at the ceiling, and his face immediately turned deathly pale.” Two or three hours later, he regained consciousness and told Qi Hong that the apparatuses couldn’t have been set up by family. But the mistress was “quite adept at scheming.”

After calming down, he set about dealing with the situation. Over the course of the following week, he frequently visited and sent gifts to his superiors. Finally, he got the “suggestion” he sought–a certain deputy head was deemed exceedingly competent and was therefore transferred to a more challenging post. He name was suddenly cleared as he ordered his deputy head to leave.

Very Worried

The spying equipment Qi Hong discovered for his friends was installed by wives, lovers, colleagues, and political rivals. After finding the first 20 or 30 wires and secret cameras, Qi Hong couldn’t help but think: When friends get together, they speak their opinions, comment on politics, and express their shared disgust towards corruption. But what is their image like back in their offices? How do they become one of the “corrupted”?

Initially, he was curious to understand officialdom in China and pry into a different side of human nature. But as he gradually delved deeper into their private worlds, things became unexpectedly awkward.

He mentioned a friend, a bureau-level official, who had always been a decent, eloquent, and insightful man–as he put it, “like a state leader.” During one particular chat, this person said, in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, “Why don’t you check me out and see if I am a good cadre?”

Subsequently, there came a series of turning points. As it turned out, Qi Hong really did find plug-in-style wires in his car. He then saw an extremely distorted face. “Suddenly, it looked like his skin became wrinkled, as if he was radiated by a sudden nuclear explosion.” 20 days later, the friend came to Qi Hong and said, sternly, “I admit, I have two mistresses. I will call off the relationships immediately!”

But why did he specifically confess to Qi Hong? I think Qi Hong also had this embarrassing question in mind. On other occasions, people exclaimed to him, “Damn it! I didn’t take graft!” Others pretended to be calm. But Qi Hong isn’t stupid. He immediately thought, “Why are you reacting so slowly, and why is your expression suddenly so dazed?”

As for that “decent” friend, Qi Hong only remembers feeling embarrassed as he replied, “This is your personal life. If the mistresses make you feel wonderful or full of passion, you can still continue. You can even forget that you ever had a friend like me.” Qi Hong sighed, adding, “That is his freedom,” and continued to tell the story of another bureau chief.

Unlike the former one, this bureau chief swiftly accepted the result,  asserting that the mistress set up the wire. Afterwards, he decisively called off the relationship with her.

“Repulsive.” Bringing up this incident once again, the bureau chief still gnashed his teeth. Having heard so much about how many other officials fell due to their affairs, he even started to be suspicious of his mistress’s background. “Could she be have been planted at my side by someone? Was anyone using her?” Depression and uneasiness haunted him for a long time.

Since the incident with that bureau chief, Qi Hong has witnessed much, much more. Some officials cursed and called people dirty, back-stabbing dogs. Others had heart attacks, worrying day and night… Qi Hong would rush to the hospital and see them laying there, looking pathetic. But Qi Hong couldn’t ask questions of his own accord. Neither could he persuade them to act a certain way. Nobody wanted to broach the problem.

What about those lucky officials who ended up not being wire-tapped? Were they relieved? No! They were very much worried as well, suspicious day and night–could it be that the equipment used to inspect their offices was not advanced enough?

“Should I tell him?” Qi Hong gradually struggled more and more with his conscience as he continued to detect wires and hidden cameras. “If I don’t tell them, what paths will they go down in the future? I don’t want to see miserable things happen. If I do tell them, seeing so many terrible expressions, people becoming sick or just staying silent, I need to comfort them. But I can’t say anything comforting. I can’t just say: What did you do? Confess. Donate your assets.”

Some even eye Qi Hong with suspicion. You offer to test our offices for us… Could you have some ulterior motives yourself? Eh?

No Control of One’s Destiny

Inevitably, “miserable things” happened. A week after Qi Hong discovered one wire, a friend of his (a director at a state-owned capital management office) was detained and interrogated for alleged bribe-taking.

According to Qi Hong’s description, this director was very principled. He treated others with kindness and hated owing money or favors to people. He was the kind of person who would rush to pay the bill after a meal. Qi Hong proposed to help him inspect his office because “it would have been difficult for him to be in cahoots with evil forces, and he presided over a crucial position. Many forces, including his superiors, found it hard to gain interest through him.”

At the time, Qi Hong told him, “You have a great tendency to be viewed as a dangerous dissident, a stumbling block for interest groups.” With regards to the warning, the director merely restated the importance of “principles.”

However, in spite of this reaction, when he saw the wire dismantled by Qi Hong from behind the table lamp in his office, he fell silent.

“Not rage, but silence,” Qi Hong said with an air of thorough understanding of this world–lost, yet indifferent. He thought a great deal about the deeper meaning behind the director’s reaction– until he met him again.

By then, the director was already in jail. “I only took money once, and got into trouble!” He asserted with anger and resentment that the wire-tapping was a scheme and the bribery a trap. The purpose was to get rid of him!

Everything is irreversible. During that meeting at the jail, Qi Hong found out the director was sacked just one week after Qi Hong dismantled the wire. The reason why the director took the bribe, Qi Hong said, was because he could not handle the pressure caused by being in constant discord with his bureau chief. Both those above and below him could “work” smoothly only if he was more in lockstep with the chief. Because of this, the director was regretful–not for taking bribes, but because “it would have been better if I went corrupt much earlier, together with them. In this way, it’s hard to say if I would be sacked or not, because everyone would cover for each other,” the director said.

For a long time, Qi Hong was greatly affected by this. But later, he discovered that this director’s situation was no isolated incident. Another upright man in his eyes–the principal of a university–was also wire-tapped. Out of all of these miserable cases, the principal was the only one who kept calm (but Qi Hong suspected that he might just be a good actor). The principal merely chuckled and said, “Who would have done this to me? Is the Party testing me? Or are my colleagues observing me?”

“Who was using this stuff on him? What was the purpose? If a man like him is sacked and another group of people ascended to power, what would become of the work unit? If such tactics become commonplace in the professional lives of officials, how will it affect their mentality? Will this restrain them and make them perform better, or just make them slier? If this dark force were to come from officialdom, what consequences will it bring?”

Qi Hong didn’t get answers to these questions before he found out that wire-tapping and secret filming were not necessarily from rivals or “dark forces.” Even if a given group of officials were proverbially all in the same boat, they still had to test each other to ensure the security and stability of their collective interests.

“After an apparatus is discovered, the official will immediately check to see if it was installed by the Committee of Discipline Inspection and inform their partners to seek collective security and protection,” Qi Hong said. The next official he mentioned reacted in a similar way to most. After the spying equipment for him was discovered, he tried his best to keep calm and analyze the different chains of interest with which he was involved, consulting with all kinds of channels to determine the origin of the threat.

“Just like a kid who committed some wrongdoings and is afraid of the consequences, he had to ingratiate himself. He immediately turned modest.” After a series of discussions and meticulous investigation, the official involved with this case determined the wire came from colleagues who were taking “preventative measures.” This ultimately strengthened their “sense of loyalty” between them and solidified their alliance.

“No worries–it was from our own side,” the official said when he met again with Qi Hong. By that time, the official’s life was back to normal. Qi Hong saw him and his colleagues having a meal together happily.

Officials, no matter what, would argue in defense of themselves. Most of them lament that they do not control their own destinies. Qi Hong gave the following rough narrative as an example:

“People like me undoubtedly have no serious problems at work. But you know, how could it be possible to not have some minor issues? Nowadays, how could someone be so strict at the workplace? People give you some gifts, then give you a little money for your birthday. Under these circumstances, how could you say ‘no’ to someone like Comrade Jiao Yulu did? It’s impossible. If you do so, it will probably affect your work. All I can say is that it is a kind of necessary socialization, a type of communication. Under the current situation, if you don’t conduct yourself in this way, how can you still be able to work?”

Responses

Most often, officials actively looked for ways to solve their problems. Through witnessing their responses, Qi Hong saw multiple aspects of human nature. Some people ended their underground lives and became more honest in their work; some people became more careful and strengthened their information security; some people requested to install spying equipment as a counterattack on their adversaries; some people realized the importance of forming alliances and sought protection; some people thought to “separate power” in order to strengthen their own troops; some people thought it might be better to find themselves an “agent”…

During one meal, Qi Hong heard a bureau chief say, “People are so jealous nowadays, installing wires and secret cameras. Perhaps there are people following me on my way to and from work. When I lay on my bed, perhaps someone is watching over me. How about I just relinquish my power? But you know, I am a bureau chief. It would be impractical for me to resign. It would affect the interest of the group and arrangements made from above. Things aren’t that simple. So what should we do? In order to reduce jealousy and attacks from others, I’ll divide my power so that nobody hates me anymore.”

“That would simply be self-disguise,” Qi Hong said. Everyone at the table sensed anger in his words. “Without power, how could you still be corrupt?”

As he dove deeper into detective work, Qi Hong started to become used to all of this. He established new standards to decide between right and wrong in order to differentiate the good people from the bad. He said, for those “obvious jerks,” he would resolutely refuse to help them check for wires. However, he’s made mistakes.

He once helped an official dismantle a wire inside a car. The person was unwilling to accept the fact he had been eavesdropped. “I’m an excellent member of the Communist Party. There’s no way this was set on me, because I never say anything that contradicts Party discipline,” he argued.

“Are you sure? Don’t be so conceited. I bet I can make you stop talking like this.” Qi Hong contended.

“Are you going to use a wire?” he asked in reply.

“I wouldn’t use such an elementary measure. I’ll record what you say in some private meeting and play it back to you someday. But you must not sue me. Let’s sign a deal. Do you dare?”

Seeing him roll his eyes and fall into silence, Qi Hong continued. “There are lots of things you don’t know. When it comes to this stuff, I know more than you do. It’s just like how you know more than I about intra-Party affairs, but you know less than me about other things.” Having heard this, the “excellent” official burst into laughter and said he was just joking.

Another bureau chief, after seeing a dismantled wire, stated lightheartedly, “That was set by my wife.” Qi Hong explained, “He thought he was so popular within his work unit that nobody would spy on him, because he was the one who convinced the whole work unit to become corrupt, and every member of his staff had already gained a lot from it.”

Qi Hong reminded him that the there were still laws in this country.

“In our work unit, I have the final say! What I say is the rule!”

In times like this, Qi Hong always feels a quickly-growing sense of utter disgust. Gradually, he totally lost interest in such issues. He once tried so hard for his friends to understand why they were being wire-tapped and secretly filmed. He also hoped to warn officials about this phenomenon before it was too late. But he could wait for those positive results no longer. When someone suggested he should turn this into a career, he chose to step down and gave away all of his detection equipment.

“This is such ridiculous phenomenon. I will do this ridiculous work no more. But I’m glad that I’ve seen all kinds of miserable and terrified reactions from these officials. There’s no need to examine them in-depth. Their facial expressions already tell it all,” Qi Hong said.

Via Southern People Weekly. Translation by Mengyu Dong.

© Little Bluegill for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: official corruption, Southern People Weekly, Southern Weekly, surveillance
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(Da Su Lao Zhang @大俗老张)
There isn’t much love this week for Shen Jilan, the National People’s Congress’s longest-serving delegate. Shen, who claims the key to her success is voting “yes” on every measure, was sharply criticized this week on the official Weibo account of the Shanxi Committee of the Communist Youth League of China. The post was deleted and an apology reiterated six times, but netizens hadn’t lost the scent. In Da Su Lao Zhang’s cartoon, Shen is as unpleasant as she is predictable. “Loyalty: If she visits once a month, she’s Auntie Flow; if she visits once a year, she’s Auntie Shen!”

(Lao Xiao @老肖漫画_rmd)“From Nanjing to Beijing, buying can’t beat selling. It’s like this in the political market, too.” An official’s cap, marked with a UPC code, is available for purchase. The market for government positions, literally the “buying and selling” of posts (买官卖官), is an ongoing problem.

(Sinking Stone @漫画沉石)Last week, Xi Jinping vowed that the Party “must uphold the fighting of tigers and flies at the same time,” that corruption should be investigated among officials both high and low. This tiger, who has the mark of the “king” (王) on his forehead, thinks he can make off with a fortune. Distracted by the fly swatter, he doesn’t see what’s about to hit him. In a corruption crackdown, lower-level officials may find themselves out of work; but the big players, like Bo Xilai, have far more to lose.

“Striking the Tigers with the Flies” (Artist: Thomas Y.C. Wong @thomasycwong)Another take on Xi’s anti-corruption campaign: he may catch the fly, but is it worth it to face the tiger’s wrath? Top-level officials certainly don’t like when the foreign press exposes their graft. Will the Party really scrutinize its core?

(Dashix @大尸凶的漫画) If Xi is serious about fighting corruption, he has a long way to go. Zhao Hongxia, the woman who taped her sex session with Lei Zhengfu to blackmail him, slept with five other Chongqing officials, identifying herself with her real name and two other fake identities. (The stopwatch indicates Lei’s “stamina” in the video.) Read more about how she hit her target from the International Business Times [zh].

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chongqing, Drawing the News, lei zhengfu, official corruption, political cartoons, political humor, sex scandals, Shen Jilan, Xi Jinping, Zhao Hongxia
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Central Propaganda Department: The Chongqing municipal Party committee is conducting a thorough investigation of several cases in which officials breached discipline, and will soon issue a statement on the status of this investigation. If covering this story, all media are asked to report according to information issued by authoritative departments of the Chongqing government. Do not sensationalize or exaggerate the situation, and certainly do not produce one-sided reports based on individual sources. (January 31, 2013)

中宣部：重庆市委正对多名官员违纪问题进行深入调查，将及时发布调查处理情况，各媒体如作报道，请按重庆权威部门发布的信息刊播，不炒作渲染，不自行采访报道评论，更不得依据个别发布的信息片面报道。

Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: censorship, Chongqing, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Truth, official corruption, propaganda
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Central Propaganda Department: Follow Xinhua wire copy in covering the “Older House Sister case.” Do not sensationalize the story. Cease production of independent reports and commentary. (January 29, 2013)

中宣部：对“房姐事件”按新华社通稿刊播，不炒作，不再自行作其它报道评论。

Gong Aiai, former vice president of Shenmu Rural Commercial Bank in Shaanxi Province, has used at least four household registration (hukou) identifications to purchase multiple properties in Beijing, Xi’an, and Shaanxi worth over one billion yuan (US$160 million). She is not to be confused with “Younger House Sister,” the daughter of former Zhengzhou Housing Administration Director Zhai Zhenfeng, who used two hukou to purchase 11 homes.

Central Propaganda Department: No media or websites are to recommend, discuss, or republish coverage of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. (January 29, 2013)

中宣部：各媒体和网站对《邓小平时代》一书不推荐，不评论、不转载。

Ezra Vogel, professor emeritus of Harvard University, published a sweeping biography of Deng Xiaoping in 2011. Feng Keli’s translation has just been published.

Central Propaganda Department: Strictly adhere to Xinhua wire copy in covering the Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun incidents and related issues. No media or website is to independently produce any other form of report or comment, or to link to other material. (January 29, 2013)

中宣部：关于薄熙来，王立军事件及相关问题的报道严格按新华社通稿刊播，各媒体及网站不自行作其他任何形式的报道、打分，也不作链接回放。

Central Propaganda Department: The trial for the July 28 Qidong case will begin soon. If covering the story, all media are without exception to use wire copy provided by Xinhua or the Jiangsu provincial government. Do not send reporters to the scene of the incident or to the court. (January 29, 2013)

中宣部：江苏南通启东728案件近日将开庭审理，各媒体如作报道一律采取新华社通稿或江苏省提供的通稿，不派记者到事发地或庭审地采访。

CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bo Xilai, censorship, Deng Xiaoping, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Ezra Vogel, Gong Aiai, household registration, hukou, Internet censorship, media censorship, Ministry of Truth, official corruption, Older House Sister, propaganda, Qidong, Wang Lijun, Younger House Sister, Zhai Zhenfeng
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Hu Xijin as a loyal dog. “Don’t go! My master is about to undress! Just give him ten more years!” (Rebel Pepper)

Official corruption is front and center on Weibo. As netizens expose greedy politicians online, Xi Jinping is vowing to crack down. Among the issues citizens want addressed is the lack of public disclosure of officials’ financial assets.

On December 19, Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin addressed the issue of financial disclosure on Weibo, bringing on a barrage of angry comments. His post was gone the next morning:

@HuXijin: I think it is unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets. If we push the process, we will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve. But financial disclosure is the way of the future. The clear road map and timetable for supporting financial disclosure nationally involves, first, implementation among reserve and newly appointed officials. Those who do not disclose will not be hired. From there, we can transition all officials to the system of disclosure. If we can complete this process in ten years’ time, China will be quite fortunate.

Gone, too, was a lively exchange between Caijing Magazine and Hu:

@Caijing: [Middle of the Night] Why is it unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets? Could you specify which new problems it will create? If it’s that the prison system won’t be able to handle the influx, why not just build more prisons? You’d stimulate demand and create jobs in one fell swoop.

@HuXijin: Heh heh, how old are you? Could you post this under your name instead of Caijing’s?

Netizens took Hu to task:

@ProudBreeze: If the reform fails, then the revolution will undoubtedly come. If we have to wait ten years for minor progress like disclosing government officials’ financial assets, then how long must we wait for other reforms? One more question: do you think the party-state could afford to wait ten years? If there is no substantial action, people will lose faith in you within five years.

@傲气尘风：改革不成，则革命必来！一个小小的公示都要等上十年，其它的改革又要多久？再问一句，你觉得党国等得起十年吗?若无实质的动作，不出五年，民众就会失去对你们的信心。

@hu_jia: Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin says before going to work this morning, he will delete the Weibo post which says we need ten years to disclose officials’ assets. This post has 3,000 fantastic comments. One of the newest: “Ten years from now the officials will be hung on the street lamps, and their assets will be disclosed naturally.” For Communist Party officials, the outcome of financial disclosure will be terrible, but will it be better if they don’t disclose? Financial disclosure has to happen immediately. There are no technical or legal barriers. Refusing to disclose financial assets is proof of the corruption of the Chinese Communist Party.

@hu_jia：环球时报主编胡锡进说今早上班之前会删掉他关于官员财产公开要十年的微博。此条微博三千条评论很精彩，最新一条是：“十年后官员们都被挂路灯上了，财产自然就会公开了。”对共产党的官员而言，公开财产结局很坏，不公开财产的结局就会好吗。财产公开必须马上实施，不存在技术和法律障碍。拒绝公开财产，就是中共贪腐的证据。

@MaGuanqingHibernate: It’s not realistic for you to disclose financial assets, yet it is realistic for you to spend with extravagance while citizens drift hopelessly?

@马观晴已冬眠：官员财产公开制度不现实，你们奢侈挥霍，国家公民颠沛流离就现实？！

Hu aids in the Wolf Vegetarian Plan. “Just wait a moment, Brother, and we’ll be all done!” (Rebel Pepper)

@Elselooker: For the disclosure of officials’ personal assets, Hu Xijin wildly suggests that we “first implement [it] among reserve and newly appointed officials. Those who do not disclose will not be hired. From there, we can transition all officials to the system of disclosure. If we can complete this process in ten years’ time…” An excuse like this shows that the well-fed cannot know how the starving suffer. It’s obvious he’s dodging the issue. If the people’s resistance doesn’t continue to grow in scale and brutality, to the point that the official system can’t control them, we won’t achieve financial disclosure in 10,000 years!

@监政铲腐：公布个财产，胡锡进 竟然规划，“先从新后备和新提拔的官员开始财产公开，不公开的不予提拔。然后逐步向全体官员过渡。如果这个进程能10年内完成”，这真是饱汉不知饿汉饥的说辞，推脱之意非常明显，如果没有人民群众越来越大面积的高效强力的抗争，直到让公器也无法控制，恐怕一万年也难！

@Poetjustice: Hu Xijin thinks “it is unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets. If we push the process, we will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve.”–I would like to ask Chief Hu: Why is it unrealistic? Which new problems will it create? How could Sweden implement financial disclosure more than 200 years ago? How could most countries in the world implement it? How could Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan implement it? Is it true that the superiority of socialism lies in the infeasibility of officials’ financial disclosure?

@徐昕：胡锡进认为：立即实行所有官员财产公开制度不现实。如果强推它，新制造的问题必将多于它要解决的问题——请教胡总：为什么不现实？会制造哪些新问题？为什么瑞典200多年前就可实行？为什么世界大多数国家可实行？为什么港澳台可实行？难道社会主义优越性就在于不能实行官员财产公开制度吗？

@GuoGuangdong: “Heh heh, how old are you?”–This’ll go viral.

@郭光东：“呵呵，你几岁？”——胡总编这句估计要火。

@Cinderana: Why is it unrealistic to disclose financial assets right now? 90% of the countries in the world have disclosed officials’ assets. Can’t we display the superiority of socialism here? If we wait for another ten years, the corrupt officials will all be retired. Mr. Hu even goes on to ask how old the other person is. Doesn’t he just say the darndest things? Mr. Hu, when you comment on historical figures, would you please ask yourself how old you are first?

@迷仰：为什么马上公开财产不现实？世界90%的国家都公开了，社会主义的优越性不能在这儿体现一下吗？再等个10年，贪官们也退休了吧。还问别人几岁，真是态度可掬。胡编您下次评价历史人物的时候也先问问自己几岁好吗！

@Weiwenjinhechu: Ten years is still too fast. We should design a hundred-year plan, no, a thousand-year plan!

@为问今何处：十年还是太快了，应该设计个百年大计，不，千年大计。

@Northwind: Hu Xijin says the disclosure of officials’ assets  “will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve.” He has essentially made it clear that the bulk of officials are corrupt. He directly proves that China’s anti-corruption effort is a complete failure. (Of course, everybody knows this, but it’s rare for Frisbee Hu to say so. Don’t pretend that you are confident in the ideology, the system, and the path.)

@北风：胡锡进说，（财产公开）“新制造的问题必将大于它要解决的问题”，这句话其实已经挑明了中国官员的腐败占了大多数，也直接说明中国的反腐败是彻底失败的。（当然这是人尽皆知的事，但飞盘胡能说出来，也难得。就别装什么理论自信制度自信道路自信了。）

@Xushaolin: This weibo from Hu Xijin last night was deleted. Don’t know if it was deleted by him because he felt it was inappropriate, or deleted by Sina. I think this Hu guy sometimes fights fire with fire. Intentionally or not, he often reveals the real thoughts of government officials. Judging from netizens’ comments, his idea is a gross violation of the popular will. The disclosure of officials’ personal assets is the right way to go, and we must proceed. We can be careful and thoughtful in the process, but this cannot be used as an excuse to stall.

@老徐时评：胡锡进昨晚的这条微博被删了，不知是他自己感觉不妥删的还是新浪给删的。感觉胡这个人有时真是个高级黑，经常有意无意地将官员们内心真实想法泄露出 来。从当时网友的评论看，他的想法是多么的有违民意。官员财产公示是大势所趋必须往前走。程序上可以谨慎周到，但绝不能成为无所作为拖延时间的借口。

Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong.

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: financial disclosure, Global Times, Hu xijin, Netizen Voices, netizens, official corruption, sina weibo, weibo
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