CiCM 22nd February 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

CCP announces revisions on internal rules and regulations on ‘discipline inspection work’: China’s political leaders, the Chinese Communist Party, have announced revised regulations on ‘discipline inspection work’, ensuring stricter implementation and stronger agreement within the party. Inspection work refers to the political supervision of the party organs in a top-down approach, as defined in a recently added clause. The revisions have emphasised on the “fundamental task” of inspection work being to ensure the “core status” of Premier Xi Jinping’s authority and leadership. The revised regulations have also mandated the inspection team to strictly check the implementation of major decisions, ideals and arrangements of the Central Committee of the CCP, as well as the speeches, instructions and decisions from the Premier Xi Jinping[Oo1] . These revisions, circulated among senior party members just a few weeks back, also included an additional chapter on inspection rectification, providing inspectors with more punitive and investigative powers. Experts believe that these revisions are important to the implementation of the Jinping’s grand plan for the Chinese economy. They note that the inspection work policy has proved to be quite a powerful tool within the CCP to ensure control as well as combat corruption.
‘Super Optical Disc’ developed in Shanghai with exponentially larger storage: Ruan Hao, a researcher from the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, presented his sustainable and innovative ‘Super Optical Disk’ with a storage capacity of 1 Petabyte (PB), which is around 1 million gigabytes (GB). The disk is touted to be green, long-lasting and a cheaper method for storing massive amounts of data. This invention has used the world’s first dual-beam controlled super-resolution optical storage technology. Gu Min, one of the co-authors of the paper, has said that the disk has the ability to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of large data storing companies. Although the disk production process is a long way from industrialisation, the team is sure that their research would lead to subsequent industrialisation in a few years.
Chinese authorities tackle widespread rain, snow and freezing weather: 59 counties in 12 cities and prefectures are facing widespread freezing rain, snow and freezing weather, with 11 national and provincial trunk roads blocked due to the heavy snowing. Affected areas include Xiangxi Prefecture, Changde, Yueyang, Hunan Province and Hubei. Runways of national airports were also affected, including Wuhan Tianhe and Ezhou Huahu Airport, which had to be shut down for the time being. Chinese authorities organised massive de-icing operations, as all local departments aid the people and economic activities under their purview. A cold wave which hit areas such as Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and other places has led to a sudden drop in temperature, to which the local municipal departments have responded by adjusting heating parameters in a timely manner and raising the supply of water at room temperature. The Office of the National Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief Commission and the Ministry of Emergency Management jointly discussed with the China Meteorological Administration, requiring relevant provinces to make every effort to ensure smooth traffic and prevent secondary disasters such as geological disasters and collapse of long-span buildings.
Intellectual Property Tribunal reports tremendous success in the five years of its establishment: In a press conference organised by State Council Information Office, Tao Kaiyuan, Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court, gave a quantitative report of the performance of the Intellectual Property Tribunal while also introducing the operation of the appeal hearing mechanism for intellectual property cases at the national level. Kaiyuan noted that the average trial period of intellectual property cases has been substantially reduced since the reform. He went on to explain that cases filed at the tribunal are important aspects of thepolicy cycle to expand innovative industries and drive more innovations in the country. He also noted that 30% of cases filed and resolved at the tribunal involved strategic emerging industries. These claims are corroborated by the trial statistics reported by the Tribunal. As of December 31, 2023, the court had accepted a total of 18,924 cases in the past five years, including 18,721 technology intellectual property cases and 203 monopoly cases, with a total of 15,710 cases concluded.
“Key Points for Improving Digital Literacy” released as a collaborative effort: A national policy on improving digital literacy in the country, termed as “Key Points for Improving Digital Literacy and Skills for All in 2024”, was released after the successful collaboration of four key departments and ministries. The departments in question are the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The policy denotes seventeen key tasks in six different aspects of digital literacy and skill-building activities, with a core goal of improving digital efficiency in leading cadres and civil servants while also improving digital literacy and skill of teachers and students across the country. It also mentions developing ‘digital talents’ of naturally skilled individuals with an affinity for digital work by providing access to digital literacy programs. The policy aims to create a safe and orderly digital environment in the country while also actively participating in international exchanges and cooperation.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Taiwanese singer’s comments on child birth go viral on Chinese social media, begins conversation on family planning: Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao expressed his aversion to having a child with his agent-turned-wife Summer Lin in an interview with Southern People Weekly, which went viral on Weibo. His supportive comments, especially his words on how childbirth is extremely painful and that “he couldn’t bear the thought of his beloved wife suffering the pain of childbirth”, has attracted almost 270 million views and thousands of supportive and thought-provoking comments on Weibo. Hsiao also expressed concern about his potential children being forced into the limelight due to his fame, which also received a positive response from Weibo users. Users have commented calling him a model person, a “great man” who “understands women”, and have begun a conversation on the struggle of childbirth through their comments on the posts. Weibo users also picked up on Hsiao’s last comments, in which he showed support towards the process of adoption, claiming that he might consider adopting a child in the future. This also began a largely-supportive series of comments on adoption.

INDIA WATCH

Although the multi-party federal democratic system adopted and practiced in India has proven to be successful in reaching the core goal of representation, there have been instances of internal corruption within leading national and regional-level parties. Party defection has also become a major issue for India’s political system, even after the 52^nd Amendment Act of 1985. The Lokpal Bill of 2013 is an important measure in the context of managing corruption. The policy sets up two powerful executive positions, the Lokpal and the Lokayuktas. Lokpal is a body of ombudsmen serving in public interest as an anti-corruption authority at the Central level. The body has the authority to investigate claims of corruption against Central level authorities. Lokayuktas have similar powers at state level.Through such policies, as well as improved civil society involvement and greater discourse on the question of political corruption, corruption has substantially decreased as the disincentives increase. Whistle-blowers, once marginalized, now operate with legitimacy and legal protection, resulting in a heightened number of disclosed cases. This increased vigilance has yielded noteworthy successes in the recovery of ill-gotten gains through asset confiscation and fines, thereby establishing a tangible deterrent against potential offenders.

Prepared By

Parth Prasad

Parth Prasad is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing International Relations and Public Policy. His interests lie in international economics, diplomacy studies as well as Indian foreign policy analysis. His interests and area of research often brings him on Indo-Sino relations, thus igniting his interest in understanding Chinese polity.