China Reform Monitor: No. 795

November 18:

Russia’s Gazeta has published a scathing critique of China’s political system and military. “China is becoming stronger than Russia, and it covets our resources [and] every Chinese knows that all of southern Siberia and Russia's Far East constitute ‘primordial Chinese territory. China is preparing for war with Russia.” The Chinese military’s most recent maneuvers combined units of land forces and have been staged close to Russian borders, the article notes. “China's military-technical cooperation with Russia is being wound down at a very rapid pace, and Beijing's technological dependence on Russia's defense industries is already almost a thing of the past.” The article also recalls China’s provision of nuclear technologies and highly enriched uranium to Pakistan and claims that “Russia and the United States are seeking agreement on the demilitarization and denuclearization of space while Beijing is pursuing the opposite policy.”

November 27:

Liaowang, or Outlook, a state-run magazine, has run an expose detailing a secret network of 73 detention centers, bounty hunters and holding pens run by regional governments to prevent citizens from lodging complaints against officials. The network is used to detain petitioners who flock to Beijing seeking redress for their grievances against corrupt officials. Abductees have their phones and identification taken before being locked away for weeks, poorly fed, and sometimes beaten before being shipped home. Local officials pay thousands of retrievers to locate petitioners and keep them from filing complaints. The article might signal a shift away from official tolerance for the centers, which have existed since 2005. The system “damages the legitimate rights of petitioners and seriously damages the government’s image,” the article said.

[Editor’s Note: The Outlook article comes after Human Rights Watch issued a report documenting China’s network of secret jails – which the Foreign Ministry denied. “There are no black jails in China,” the spokesman said in comments carried by the New York Times. “If citizens have complaints and suggestions about government work, they can convey them to the relevant authorities through legitimate and normal channels.”]

Shenzhen has implemented several groundbreaking anticorruption laws in the wake of a series of high profile cases which have included the mayor. Shenzhen cadres will not be promoted to department head or above and cannot take charge of audit, finance, legal, and human resource operations if their spouses and children live abroad, the Southern Metropolis News and South China Morning Post report. Furthermore, such officials would not be allowed to make the first comments at important meetings to stop them deterring other officials from airing contrary views. Shenzhen will also require officials, their spouses and children to declare all income, investment and properties, although the information will not be made public. Cadres often conduct corrupt business through wives and children and having family overseas makes it easier for them to flee the country and the recovery of funds harder.

November 28:

"The increasing nexus between China and Pakistan in military sphere remains an area of serious concern. We have to carry out continuous appraisals of Chinese military capabilities and shape our responses accordingly," said Indian Defence minister A K Antony. He said India wanted to have good ties with its neighbors, including China, but pointed out that India could not "ignore the security calculus in the region" and had to be "vigilant." China and Pakistan have been increasing cooperation in the military sphere and signed another military cooperation pact last year. Islamabad and Beijing have also stepped up cooperation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, The Indian Express reports.

China’s surprising announcement to cut carbon emission 40-45% by 2020 and linking it to the growth of its gross domestic product has pushed India to declare its target. "The world was expecting a cut of somewhere close to 30% in China," said Jairam Ramesh, India’s minister of state for environment in Beijing, the Times of India reports. China's emission level is 2.85 tons per thousand dollars of GDP as compared to India's level of 1.8 tons per thousand dollars of GDP. Government sources said New Delhi will opt for a 20-25% target cut.