April 21:
China's Central Propaganda Department and the Central Commission of Political Science and Law have instructed all media outlets and new media platforms in all localities to avoid the rise of "personal worship" and "stop referring to President Xi Jinping as 'Uncle Xi' [Xi Da Da]." Ming Pao reports that in November 2015 the official People's Daily and Xinhua stopped using the term in their microblog postings. Cadres at all levels must also refrain from using the term ‘core' [hexin] when referring to Xi Jinping. Some provincial leaders including Wang Dongming, Wang Xuejun, Peng Qinghua, etc. have pledged their allegiance to Xi as the "core" of the party leadership. Cadres are also required to "comprehensively and accurately" relay official statements and not alter them.
April 23:
Police in Guizhou have arrested 62 suspects including ten Taiwanese in connection with a fraud ring led from Uganda. The scammers, who pretended to be bankers and public security agents, pocketed an estimated $18 million from Chinese victims, Taiwan News reports. Police said the mastermind, who led the ring from Uganda, was also Taiwanese, though they did not identify him or his location. Authorities said the group was highly-organized and used a corporate structure with separate departments managing different aspects of the fraud. Cash was deposited in more than 9,000 different accounts and withdrawn in Taiwan using ATM cards. The case was the largest of its kind in terms of its geographical reach, number of people, and amount of money involved. Meanwhile, officials from Taiwan 's Ministry of Justice have returned from China after talking with the 45 Taiwanese suspects who had been deported from Kenya to China earlier this month for similar online and telephone scams. Officials said the suspects would not by extradited to Taiwan, but the MOJ can help them safeguard their rights.
[Editor's Note: Beijing criticized Taipei for releasing 20 suspects allegedly involved in telephone fraud in China. Taiwanese officials said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the suspects, who were part of a group arrested in Malaysia and deported to Taiwan.]
April 25:
We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement," President Xi Jinping said at a Beijing conference on religion attended by all but one member of the Politburo Standing Committee. He said religious groups must submit to the leadership of the ruling Communist Party and stressed: "In no way should religions interfere with government administration, judiciary and education." Xi's comments follow a tightening of religious space over the past two years including the removal of church crosses and other symbols of Christianity. The rapid growth of Chinese churches and their expanded contacts with overseas supporters have unnerved the Communist Party and prompted calls to guard against nefarious religious influences from abroad, the Catholic Herald reports. The CPC sees religion as another avenue for social control, said Zhang Lifan in comments carried by the Globe and Mail." They are trying to change religion from a threat against the Communist Party into a tool for its use."
April 27:
Since February an illegal trade in human blood has revived due to a shortage in donated blood in hospitals in many major cities across China, the official Shandong TV reports. Hospitals are reserving donated blood for emergencies and as a result patients needing long-term blood transfusions are turning to the "blood hawkers." For a fee, hawkers will tell the hospital they are the patient's friends so they can give blood. The illegal practice is punishable by fines up to $15,400, but local authorities have taken little action. Authorities must crack down on such trade, but there remains a need to increase blood donation in China, the official Beijing Times reports. "When patients no longer have the need to 'look for their own blood', the 'blood hawkers' will naturally run out of business."
April 30:
China has denied a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Stennis, and its accompanying vessels port access in Hong Kong, the Voice of America reports. Although Beijing did not give a reason, the port access denial comes after U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was on the Stennis earlier this month when it sailed through contested areas in the South China Sea. This was the first time since 2014 that U.S. Naval ships have not been allowed to dock in Hong Kong. The USS Blue Ridge, a Navy ship, is currently docked in Hong Kong. A Pentagon spokesman said: "We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, including the current visit of the USS Blue Ridge, and we expect that will continue."
