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China's domestic security scandals expose unchecked local power by ferujkll sdff
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China's domestic security scandals expose unchecked local power |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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After the daring escape of a blind Chinese dissident from housearrest and a string of corruption allegations in Chongqing, someare questioning whether Beijing has given local officials too muchautonomy over public security. Away from the watchful eye of thecentral government and contrary to nascent reform efforts, aculture of impunity appears to have flourished. James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studiesin Washington says reports that former Chongqing Communist Partyleader Bo Xilai wiretapped President Hu Jintao are plausiblebecause Beijing has relinquished control of its surveillance andinformation technology to regional leaders. "Whether it s wireless or a landline or Internet, you need tocontrol those companies in some way," he said.
"And that s wherethe ownership and control of local networks, the security services,turns out to be the determining factor." Bo, the charismatic son of one of the Communist Party's foundingfathers, forged powerful alliances with key telecommunications andsecurity officials. Among the purported allies, according to the New York Times , was Fang Binxing, the dean of Beijing University of Posts andTelecommunications, and the so-called father of China's "GreatFirewall." Domestic Security The security apparatus in China is enormous. The country hasdedicated about $110 billion to its domestic security budget thisyear, an even bigger pot than its defense spending. Keeping a closeeye on the people has soared in importance as China s citizensbecome more connected online, and more vocal offline aboutperceived injustice. Bo led the charge, receiving funding from the central government toturn Chongqing into a testing ground for China s most advancedsurveillance technology.
He embarked on a heavy-handed crackdown onorganized crime, while reviving Mao-era Communist songs in acampaign he called "sing red, smash black." Bo's police chief, WangLijun, oversaw the anti-crime activites that human rights groupssay involved torture and the detention of thousands of wronglyaccused suspects. The same wiretapping and surveillance equipment used in thatcampaign was used to monitor the activities of local officials and,according to the New York Times , President Hu in a phone call last August to an anti-corruptionofficial visiting Chongqing. Culture of Impunity Using covert means to compile information to bring down politicalrivals is as old a practice as politics itself - in China and justabout every other country, including the United States. But rarely do you see such a high-level leader, like President Hu,under siege from such a mid-level, albeit influential, figure, likeBo. "You have a sense of impunity, particularly at the top of the partyleadership and for those who are descended from revolutionarygods, said Lewis.
You put the two together and you see thingslike this Bo story. That impunity came to an end in March, when the government strippedBo of key party posts and accused him of serious disciplinaryviolations." His wife, Gu Kailing, faces murder allegations in thedeath of British businessman Neil Heywood. Loss of Confidence Cheng Li, a China analyst with the Washington-based research groupthe Brookings Institute, says most Chinese do not feel likethey re living in a police state, but Bo's case and the story ofblind dissident Chen Guangcheng, have rattled the public sconfidence in the system. The system is now known for its police brutality and torture.
Itfailed because it does not provide any security for the Chinesepublic in terms of the terrible violation of law. So that certainlyis a wakeup call for the Chinese government, he said. Bo couldn t be any more different from Chen, the activist lawyerwhose recent breakout from house arrest was the first news to pushBo from the headlines in weeks. But both knew intimately howChinese officials can and will operate outside the rule of law.
After Chen served four years in prison for damaging property anddisrupting traffic, the lawyer and his family were then trapped intheir own home. Local Shandong province officials blocked the roadto his house, put bars on his windows and installed securitycameras. An informal army of plainclothes thugs chased away visitors and,according to Chen's wife, severely beat and tortured both her andher husband. Human rights groups say local officials were punishingChen for his work exposing forced abortions. He is now believed tobe under the protection of U.S.
diplomats in China. Legal Loopholes Beijing has not commented on Chen's case, nor has it acknowledgedthe reports of Bo's alleged wiretapping. But it has plastered statemedia reports of Bo's alleged corruption with pledges thattransparency and the rule of law will be upheld. Which laws are being enforced is not as transparent, however. Chinahas two legal systems: One of party discipline and the other ofstate law.
Bo is being held under shuanggui, informal detention enforcedby Communist Party disciplinary bodies outside the courts. His wifeand Wang likely will face charges under the newly revised criminalprocedure law. Chen was subject to house arrest that had no basisin Chinese law. Jacques deLisle, the director of the Center for East Asian Studiesat the University of Pennsylvania, says the cases reveal theweaknesses in China s legal system.
In fact, it works quite badly in highly politically chargedcases, which includes both people who are characterized asdissidents or activists, such as Chen Guangcheng, who takes onmisbehavior or human rights violations by state actors, andsomebody like Bo Xilai, who is so far up in the chain that he facesessentially politically-driven sanctions, he said. China at a Crossroads DeLisle says the central government, concerned about socialstability during a leadership transition, is at a crossroads. So they re facing a choice of restarting and resuming what hadbeen stalled reform or doubling down on trying to keep things undercontrol and keep tumult within the party and within society incheck, he said. President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao will be transferring power to anew generation of leaders next year, after slow but steady effortsto clean up corruption and improve governance in the party ranks.The demise of Bo, who was expected to join the country's topleadership body, signals Beijing wants to steer away from theMaoist-style personality cult he propagated in Chongqing.
Reconsidering Chen's fate, and holding Bo, his wife and his policechief accountable for alleged corruption, murder and abuse of powersend a positive signal, says Cheng Li. This potentially could be a landmark event for China s civilrights movement, he said, adding that the Communist Party has anopportunity to promote an independent legal system, and make itsmembers answerable to the constitution. But the likelihood of massive reform during a political transitionis unlikely, according to deLisle, who says it will take a coupleyears for China s new leaders to reveal their policies. I don t think anybody thinks they re going to start out of thegate being radical reformers, unless a crisis really forces thatupon them," he said. "And so far, I don t think we re facing acrisis of that magnitude.". I am an expert from Bag & Luggage Agents, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as desktop pcmcia adapter , cisco 2801 price.
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