2016年11月1日 星期二

Ming Pao Editorial : Xi hexin and new democracy [Editorial]  Editorial : Xi hexin and new democracy 習核心推新權威新民主 反腐辣招還靠輿論監督

Editorial : Xi hexin and new democracy [Editorial]  Editorial : Xi hexin and new democracy
習核心推新權威新民主 反腐辣招還靠輿論監督

Publishing Date: 2016/11/1

【明報專訊】AT the 6th plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which closed last week, Xi Jinping was established as the hexin (core) of the whole Party, and Certain Criteria Regarding Intra-Party Political Life in the New Situation and Rules of Intra-Party Supervision of the Communist Party of China (two sets of regulations applicable to Party members) were adopted. Xi Jinping will go to any length to beef up the authority he has as a leader. In the making of the two sets of regulations, he increased intra-Party democracy. This is the new "basic point" of what the "Xi hexin regime" will do in running the Party and the country.

 audio 1

中共十八屆六中全會上周結束,確立習近平為中共全黨的核心,並通過了《關於新形勢下黨內政治生活的若干準則》和《中國共產黨黨內監督條例》兩個黨內法規。習近平確立為中共新的核心,將極大強化他個人的領導權威。而他在兩個法規的制訂中,亦強化黨內民主。高層大權集中,基層保障民主,這將成為「習核心」新體制治黨治國的新基點。

The CPC Central Committee stressed at its 6th plenum, "Intra-Party democracy is the Party's life. No body or member of the Party should suppress or disrupt intra-Party democracy. Any member of the Party is entitled to disclose or report responsibly to the Party any illegality or irregularity on the part of any body or any other member of the Party. Those who do so are encouraged to give real names." It can thus be seen that the Xi hexin's "new authority" includes "new democracy". In other words, he puts greater emphasis than any of his predecessors on protecting the democratic rights Party bodies at all levels enjoy and especially those rank-and-file Party members enjoy. At the same time, he wants to ensure by means of this sort of democratic intra-Party supervision that "decrees will go out of Zhongnanhai" — that the Xi hexin regime's general and specific policies will be carried out.

 audio 2

六中全會強調:「黨內民主是黨的生命。任何黨組織和個人都不得壓制黨內民主、破壞黨內民主。黨員有權向黨負責地揭發、檢舉黨的任何組織和任何黨員違紀違法的事實,提倡實名舉報。」可以見到,習核心「新權威」,也包含「新民主」,即較前任更強調保障各級黨組織尤其是基層黨員的民主權利。同時,透過這種黨內民主的監督作用保障「政令可出中南海」,習核心體制的大政方針得以貫徹落實。

The Rules have yet to be made public in full. However, they presumably include at least what has to do with political lines and policies and with the war against corruption. Since shibada (the 18th National Congress of the CPC) ended, many high-ranking officials have been toppled. The situation is disastrous. This shows "princes" and "high officers on the frontier" have been severely afflicted. It once was a problem "who should supervise one who heads a province or a municipality". Therefore, the central authorities have set up a group of inspectors who are like "imperial commissioners" as times require. If intra-Party supervision amounts to much in the wake of the 6th plenum, it will presumably be an efficacious cure for the malady of "always managing to find ways to counter superior authorities' measures" (which is prevalent among province and municipality heads) and the vice of "taking the lead in being corrupt" and that of "collective corruption".

 audio 3

《黨內監督條例》目前還未見公布全文,但是相信至少包括兩個內容,一是政治上的路線政策;二是反貪腐。十八大以來落馬高官成災的狀况顯示,各地諸侯、封疆大臣是重災區,「誰來監督省市第一把手」一度成為大問題,中央欽差式的的巡視組因此應運而生。六中之後,黨內民主監督若然能夠形成氣候,相信對於「省市一把手」上有政策下有對策的常見病,以至帶頭腐敗、集團腐敗之惡習,能夠形成有力的遏制作用。

However, that is inadequate. Since shibada ended, many an official who heads a province or a municipality has committed crimes in spite of and contrary to admonitions. Such an official may restrain himself when the central authorities' inspectors are on his turf, but he will be as corrupt as he has been once they leave. Such a high-ranking official is often caught when those inspectors give him a "back thrust". One may say never over the past four years has the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) or the central authorities' group of inspectors been soft or merciful to any corrupt officials. However, because there is now a high degree of "power-market integration" on the mainland, demons called greed often manage to induce frail souls to break flimsy rules. Things are not yet actually such that no officials dare to be corrupt, and efforts have yet to be directed at making it "impossible" or "undesirable" to be corrupt. Therefore intra-Party supervision is inadequate. It is necessary to use two anti-corruption means that have proved effective in other places — public supervision and the policy of leaving everything in the sun. The authorities should allow the public to supervise them so that officials can hardly "shield one another". We believe that, with the people's help, high-ranking officials can exorcise demons called greed from their souls. If they manage to do so, the CCDI will have much less to do.

 audio 4

不過,這還是不夠的。十八大以來,不聽勸告頂風犯案的高官還是不時出現,不少省市在中央巡視組到來時暫時收斂,巡視組一走便照貪不誤,往往被巡視組殺「回馬槍」時逮住。4年來,中紀委和中央巡視組可謂「鐵腕反腐」,毫不手軟,毫不留情,但是在當下內地「權力和市場高度結合」的現况下,貪婪的魔鬼往往能夠引誘脆弱的靈魂去突破薄弱的制度,「不敢腐」尚未真正做到,「不能腐、不想腐」還只是努力方向。故此,黨內監督還是不夠,還要借鑑國際反腐的成功辣招:陽光政策和輿論監督。放開輿論監督,除去「官官相衛」的保護罩,相信有廣大人民群眾幫助,高官去除遏抑心靈中貪婪的魔鬼,中紀委便省事多了。

明報社評2016.10.31

■Glossary

beef up

make something bigger, better, more interesting, etc

turf

the place where somebody lives and/or works, especially when they think of it as their own

exorcise

remove something that is bad or painful from your mind

glossary

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Gender equality in China would bring huge economic benefits

China's population

Gender equality in China would bring huge economic benefits

One estimate suggests the nation could see a US$2.5 trillion increase in gross domestic product by 2020 if it closed the gender gap in education and opportunity

SCMP EDITORIAL

PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 October, 2016, 11:10pm

UPDATED : Monday, 31 October, 2016, 11:31pm

At a time when China is looking for new domestic drivers of growth, advancing gender equality could pay off handsomely. Photo: Xinhua

China’s relaxation of the one-child policy and adoption of a two-child rule promises eventually to counter the ageing of the population and shrinking of the workforce. There were also hopes that it would lead to the birth of more girls, despite the cultural preference for boys, and reduce a very serious gender imbalance. It is early days yet to expect to see any evidence of this. But it would be more welcome than ever, going by the latest report from the World Economic Forum.

The global gender gap report says China continues to record the world’s most imbalanced sex ratio at birth for the second consecutive year, a worry compounded by an ageing population. It has also slipped from 91 last year to 99 out of 144 countries in rankings for overall gender equality, based on relative gaps between men and women in health, education, economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment.

China has world’s most skewed sex ratio at birth – again

The boy-girl birth ratio rose from 108.5 to 100 in 1982 – not too far above the international norm – to 115 in 1994 and a peak of 121.2 in 2004, before levelling off and declining. A sample survey by the National Bureau of Statistics found the ratio stood at 113.5 last year, which may reflect urbanisation and greater prosperity. That is not only still far too high but the cultural preference remains. The two-child policy may be seen as positive for better gender balance. Perversely, however, some fear the opposite may be true if parents elect not to have a second child after having a boy, or if they elect not to go ahead with a second female pregnancy after having a girl. After all, sex-selective abortion at least partly accounts for the current gender imbalance at birth.

Boys to vastly outnumber girls in China for years: population official

This may be only speculation at this stage but continued prejudice against girls would exacerbate a population issue which, within a decade, could result in a surplus of single men that impacts seriously on social stability and cohesion. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to a positive perception of women as economic pillars of a family is to be found in educational opportunity. According to the global gender gap report, Chinese females rank 119th in secondary school attainment, and 74th in political empowerment, but are more prominently represented in the workplace and in company ownership.

At a time when China is looking for new domestic drivers of growth, advancing gender equality could pay off handsomely. According to the report, one estimate suggests the nation could see a US$2.5 trillion increase in gross domestic product by 2020 if it closed the gender gap in education and opportunity.

There’s a long way to go before we can truly say that Hong Kong offers quality of life

There’s a long way to go before we can truly say that Hong Kong offers quality of life
Tiny homes, a huge wealth imbalance and rising poverty are signs we should look beyond economic success alone
SCMP EDITORIAL
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 30 October, 2016, 1:03am
UPDATED : Sunday, 30 October, 2016, 1:03am
The latest report by the Poverty Commission showed that despite some improvement in previous years, the number of people living below the official poverty line has surged to a six-year high at 1.34 million. Photo: Bruce Yan
The concept of quality of life varies from person to person. It could be a nice meal or an overseas vacation; clean air and green environment; affordable housing and job opportunities; a good health care system and education; freedoms and a fair and just society. While there appears to be a bit of everything of these in Hong Kong, the city does not stand out as one with good quality of life.
This has been reflected repeatedly in international and local studies. The latest one is done by a local policy think tank. According to a well-being indicator compiled by the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, our quality of life index only rose 0.4 per cent between 2000 and 2015. The index collated scores in 11 areas, including income, housing, jobs, health, safety, education, recreation, and environment and governance, and covered factors like property prices, public housing waiting times, transport costs as well as vehicle density.
That our quality of life has remained almost stagnant for more than a decade should not be a surprise. There is, indeed, no shortage of evidence of a decline in various aspects. The mushrooming of cubicle-like subdivided flats and the trend for developers to build shoebox residential apartments are the latest examples. While their emergence is arguably just a response to market needs, the phenomenon is nonetheless shameful in the context of our economy. Based on the methodology used by the research centre, the index measuring the city’s GDP growth rose by almost 60 per cent, compared with the 0.4 per cent rise in quality of life index during the same period. The contrast does nothing for our image as Asia’s world city.
Academics attributed the gap to our skewed economy and imbalanced growth. The dominance of finance and real estate means not everyone can benefit from the boom. This is not helped when government efforts to promote wealth redistribution still have gaps. The latest report by the Poverty Commission showed that despite some improvement in previous years, the number of people living below the official poverty line has surged to a six-year high at 1.34 million.
With one in seven living in poverty, the city can hardly boast about its quality of life. Economic success and individual well-being are not necessarily correlated. As we pursue development and growth, it is important to look beyond numbers and trends. Only when people enjoy real improvement in different aspects of life can Hong Kong become a city with a true quality of life.