China Reform Monitor: No. 802

December 28:

As the leadership in Beijing has expanded its campaign against corruption, state media has been given new latitude to monitor party cadres. This year Xinhua compiled its top 10 most infamous official quotes and the top three were telling. The winning quote came when a reporter pressed an urban planning official in Zhengzhou, Henan province on why a developer could build luxury homes for officials on land earmarked for affordable housing for the poor. “Are you going to speak for the party or the masses?" he asked the reporter. Earlier this month state media captured an old peasant threatening to throw himself off a building if a township party secretary from Chengde, Hebei did not intervene in a dispute about his compensation from a property developer. The official reportedly told the farmer: "Don't go to the first or second floor. If you want to do it, go up to the fifth floor." And at a press conference announcing Liangfang, Hebei’s campaign to attract property investment city mayor Wang Aimin said: "Real estate is good investment. When developers come to invest, they can keep all the profits they make. If they lose, we will bear the losses." Such quotes confirm citizens’ worst fears of the rampant collusion between officials and developers to jack up property prices, reports the South China Morning Post.

December 31:

Chinese newspapers are filled with stories of battles involving so-called “nail houses;” properties whose owners refuse to give way to state redevelopment. As an unceasing real-estate boom has swept the nation, much of it orchestrated by the local governments that benefit from soaring land values, property owners often protest unfair compensation. Sometimes the clashes end tragically, as they did for five people who set themselves on fire rather than yield to demolition crews. One woman, a 47-year-old business owner in Chengdu died last month, after pouring gasoline over her head and igniting it. The episode provoked widespread anger over policies that the central government has acknowledged are flawed. After the self-immolations, the State Council said it will consider changing the nation’s property compensation laws, a reform that would address one of the biggest sources of social strife, the New York Times reports.

Former Caijing editor Hu Shuli has teamed up with the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development to develop a new magazine called Century Weekly. Hu, the publication’s editor-in-chief, is the former Caijing editorial editor and Yang Daming remains as her deputy. Hu, the outspoken editor that repeatedly came up against Beijing’s censors before being forced out, is now working in a Beijing office surrounded by Caijing’s former investigative reporting staff. Hu also took up the post as dean of Sun Yat-sen University's School of Communication and Design earlier this month and was given a "transition period" to start the new magazine. Although Hu has refused to divulge the magazine's ownership structure or financial backers, the South China Morning Post reports that Zhejiang Daily Press Group is its major benefactor. The magazine’s success will likely hinge on whether the publisher can maintain Hu’s editorial independence.

January 1:

As part of Beijing’s push to have a "Chinese voice," roughly 45 billion yuan will go to expanding the state media, with the official Xinhua News Agency getting the lion's share. Xinhua will launch an international television network, the China Xinhua News Network Corporation (CNC). "We'll provide overseas viewers with international news from a Chinese perspective and domestic news from an international point of view," said Li Congjun, the head of ministerial-level Xinhua. "The efforts could eventually help us build an international news TV network with Chinese characteristics, credibility and influence." The 24-hour satellite news network will be beamed to Southeast Asia and Europe. China Central Television (CCTV) has also launched three foreign-language channels in less than five years, a 24-hour English channel, and a Chinese-language channel for overseas Chinese. CNC will be more news-focused than CCTV, whose propaganda goes largely unnoticed by global audiences, the South China Morning Post reports.

January 4:

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry has launched a string of diplomatic attacks against China’s plan for to develop tourist projects in the Paracel Islands as well as a new island protection law approved by the Chinese State Council late last month. According to the law, Beijing claims three million square km of the South China Sea including more than 16,900 islands. Hanoi has demanded China immediately end development of the Paracels as part of the Hainan island international tourist site. Last week, in response to the law a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Hanoi viewed all foreign activities near the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos as "illegal," according to the official Vietnam News Agency.