| 【Today's Focus】 Leighton Stuart's Burial in Hangzhou Tests Sino-US Relations |
Zan Aizong |
| The PRC has been established for 60 years now, and Mao Zedong has been dead for 32 years. Sino-US relations have improved, and the American President-elect, Barack Obama, has already talked on the telephone with Hu Jintao. But the interment of former US Ambassador Leighton Stuart's ashes in Hangzhou is likely to leave him in a lonely position. This banishment against history and humanity is one of the strangest of "Chinese characteristics." |
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| 【Special Report and Commentary】 The Cover-Up in the South China Tiger Case |
Liu Shui |
| The case against "Tiger Zhou" was full of holes. The most suspicious aspect was that the faking of the photographs was beyond Zhou Zhenglong's capabilities. In court, Zhou admitted to forgery, all on his own, but could not recall the details of how he did it. He protected the actual instigators and was rewarded with a suspended sentence. So another Shaanxi official plot prevailed. The disgracing of the government and officials without fear of punishment is the deadly cancer of authoritarian government. |
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| 【Special Report and Commentary】 The Great Famine and Mao Zedong's Responsibility |
Chen Kuide |
| Killing more than 30 million Chinese through his own fantasy is already an inexcusable crime. But in order to gloss over this crime, Mao Zedong consolidated his power, and deliberately prolonged his criminal policy, thereby extending the famine, in the process deliberately killing even more Chinese people. He then proceeded to murder other people who knew the truth and intended to demand accountability. This heinous murder of witnesses, this tyrannical behavior that did not hesitate at the sacrifice of tens of millions of lives, is doubly cruel and brutal. |
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| 【Special Report and Commentary】 A Year of Violent Opposition |
Wuyue Sanren |
| In a normal society, even if many people are dissatisfied, they have many conduits for expressing their anger, and it is uncommon for people to gather for an uprising. But in a society that lacks the normal conduits for venting feelings, the dissatisfaction gradually builds and transforms; the decent citizens walking in the street is in fact simply a powderkeg that hasn't yet been touched by a flame. When a society's streets are filled with powderkegs, any place where sparks are constantly raised is at risk of an enormous explosion. |
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| 【Today's Focus】 How Has Baidu Hurt the Public? |
Ran Yunfei |
In a system of news censorship, Baidu put up no resistance against conspiring with sycophants and unlawful businesses for profit. The Web site's problem was not in its passive reaction, but rather in its taking the initiative to pander and mislead -- and not only to mislead, but to join in entrapping and duping the public. The Internet is a forum for information. To arrange information for pay while claiming to be cleaning up garbage is simply confusing the issue. |
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| 【History & Fact】 Freedom of Association in the Song Dynasty |
Li Kaizhou |
Upon reaching the Shangxin Pavilion, Xin Qiji composed his "Suilong Chant," in which he writes of "gazing at his hook-shaped knife." According to our "Public Order Management and Penalty Regulations," this knife would be a "controlled weapon," would it not? Yet Xin Qiji was able to carry this knife to a public gathering of his subordinates, an act that would subject him to arrest in this day and age. |
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| 【Human Rights】 Constitution of the Taxi Drivers Rights Defense Union |
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| The Taxi Drivers Rights Defense Union was organized and established voluntarily by the taxi drivers of XX City. Its purpose is to serve as a bridge and bond between taxi drivers and the government. It represents the interests of taxi drivers, and is independently launching its work in accordance with the "Trade Union Law of the PRC" and the "Chinese Trade Union Law." |
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| 【Special Report and Commentary】 We Should Be Grateful to Lin Jiaxiang |
Yan Jiawei |
| The honorable Mr. Lin has through his words and actions opened the eyes of the public, providing us with much valuable information that has never been made available from official documents or reports or mouthpieces such as CCTV. In the respect, Lin Jiaxiang has provided us with a vivid and interesting lesson in governance. |
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| 【Special Report and Commentary】 Peasants Save China a Sixth Time |
Wu Xiaobo |
| Apart from China's macro-economic depression and the effect of the global financial crisis, hundreds of thousands of factories in the southeastern coastal region have fallen into difficulties, with large numbers of layoffs. Beginning in October, a million rural residents have been forced to return to their villages earlier than expected. They are bearing the greatest cost of this economic shift, and are probably the group that will suffer the worst hardship. |
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| 【History & Fact】 Religious Leaders and the Regime |
Ran Yunfei |
| I've previously written about Buddhist monks writing self-criticisms and become the government's puppets by criticizing rightists. In fact, it wasn't only Buddhists -- Catholics also expressed their allegiance to the Party. When religious leaders cast their lots with secular powers and political parties, what kind of religion is produced? I'm not religious myself, but I myself feel the shame this can produce. |
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| 【Book Series】 Singing the Wrong Tune |
Wenche He'en |
| I tidied up the arguments of the intellectuals, while privately preparing a wooden stick. Anyone who fought or beat me would get a broken nose in return. In the coming months, I retaliated against quite a few people before I began to feel calmer again. I was no longer a victim of others' beating, but could deliver my own beatings, and it was a very satisfying feeling. In that environment, even kind-hearted people could become callous, the warm-hearted become cold-hearted, and the most humane become the cruelest and most ruthless of beasts. |
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| 【Today's Focus】 The Judiciary is the Lifeline of Rights |
Shao Jian |
| I very much sympathize with the situation of these three villagers. If the courts can accept a case involving a dispute between government and citizens on a land issue, they should be able to go to the court and not be required to petition outside a government building. As to why the court won't accept the case, that's not only the crux of the issue, but also the main reason for mass incidents in society in recent years. |
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| 【Theoretical exploration】 The Evolution of Chinese Constitutional Government |
Zhang Yaojie |
| This essay starts out with the interaction between system and culture to discuss the evolutionary process of China's constitutional government in terms of democracy, rule of law, human rights and separation of powers. The past 100 years have shown that if constitutional government is to make progress in China, it must surmount debate based on the erroneous concepts of "national conditions" and "localism," and must open itself to the experience and lessons learned by other countries. |
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| 【Special Report and Commentary】 Conspiracy: Analyzing the Yang Jia Case |
Wang Rongfen |
| The conviction of Yang Jia in the intentional killing of six individuals was the unique result of a conspiracy between public security, procuratorate and judicial officials in a judicial system controlled by the Communist Party. No instruments were used in assessing mental illness, no fingerprint evidence taken from the murder weapon, and no DNA or other forensic evidence was collected at the scene. A bloodbath carried out within five minutes and resulting in six deaths at the hands of one ordinary man seems more preposterous than a novel. |
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