China Reform Monitor: No 854

September 24:

As he appeals his conviction for corruption, Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian will now face another indictment for leaking national secrets: the existence and locations of two secret presidential evacuation tunnels. Chen made the revelations on October 8, 2009, during a High Court trial in an attempt to suggest that if he had been planning to flee authorities, he could have done so while serving as president by escaping through the tunnels. One passage links the former President Chiang Kai-shek’s Shihlin Residence with Heng Shan Military Command Center, an emergency command center similar to Cheyenne Mountain in the U.S. The other connects the Presidential Office to the Ministry of National Defense. Taiwan’s president can use the two channels to escape to helipads, Chen said in comments carried by the China Post.

September 28:

In response to increasing cases of graft within the ranks of the secretive People’s Liberation Army (PLA), fresh guidelines aimed at weeding out corrupt senior military officers have been announced. This is the first time in history the Central Military Commission (CMC), which controls China's military forces, has issued such regulations. They specify those principles, responsibilities, organizations and work procedures that the army’s discipline inspection committees should employ during their crack down on corruption, the official PLA Daily reported. In May 2009, the CMC, which is chaired by President Hu Jintao, issued a notice warning senior military officers not to pursue a luxurious lifestyle, be diligent, and remain loyal to the Party, the Press Trust of India reports.

[Editor’s Note: The PLA is corrupt to the core. In April, the Hong Kong- based Wen Wei Po reported that many enlistment officers solicit bribes from army recruits and that buying presents for senior officers and building luxurious PLA facilities and homes with public funds is common. The most astonishing corruption case was that of Wang Shouye, the former PLA Navy deputy commander who was accused of accepting more than 160 million yuan ($24 million) in bribes and embezzlement. Due to limited access China’s public knows little about corruption cases in the military, the state-run Global Times said.]

At a conference in Tonghua, Jilin, representatives from 13 cities in northeast China including Dalian and Dantong and 10 other smaller cities released a proposal to build a Yalu River Economic Cooperation Zone along the border to promote economic activity with North Korea. An official at the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin said Pyongyang has expressed a strong desire to expand cooperation in various fields including trade and tourism. Specific details of the Yalu River Economic Cooperation Zone have yet to be revealed, the official Zhongguo Xinwen She reports.

September 29:

Vice Agriculture Minister Liu Dun said in Fuzhou, Fujian that “China will increase patrols to protect the rights and interests of Chinese fishermen in the seas off the Diaoyu Islands. The patrol timetable for fishery administration ships has been set,” the Beijing-leaning Ta Kung Pao reports. China’s fisheries patrol ships are decommissioned navy ships administered by the Agriculture Ministry. They are already operating around the Diaoyu Dao aka Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both China and Japan. In April, two fisheries patrol ships also began regular operations in the South China Sea "to protect" the country's fishing boats and control the "illegal operation" of foreign fishing vessels, the Yomiuri Shimbun reports.

[Editor’s Note: The PRC Foreign Ministry's annual white paper on China's foreign policy includes a new chapter on border and maritime issues that concern the country's “sovereignty, security and development interests.” It reiterates that China “maintains its rights to submit claims over its continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical miles,” the Kyodo News Agency reports.]