Prisoners in the Chinese megacity of Chongqing could see their sentences cut if they take part in “red” cultural activities, as part of an ongoing drive to promote communist revolutionary ideals.
Authorities in Chongqing have ordered that re-education of prisoners be carried out with the help of singing and reading activities based on “red” culture, the state Chongqing Daily said on Friday.
“The situation where prisoners attend red cultural activities must become an important basis for encouragement, a reduced sentence or parole,” Liu Guanglei (劉光磊), a top official at the municipal committee, was quoted as saying.
Liu pointed to the “educational” qualities of “red” culture — songs to the glory of Communism or revolutionary poetry — to help detainees become law-abiding people who would be “useful to society,” the report said.
The initiative is the latest “red” move in Chongqing, a huge and fast-growing municipality of more than 30 million people run by party chief Bo Xilai (薄熙來), who has pledged to reinvigorate the city with the ideals of Mao Zedong (毛澤東).
City authorities have ordered state radio and television to promote the mass study of “red songs” that sing the praises of the Chinese Communist Party.
The state-run Chongqing Satellite Television also set aside popular television shows in January in favor of programs extolling communist ideals, in a bid to restore “fading red morals.”
The party chief’s “red” push comes after Chongqing’s image was sullied in 2009 by a police crackdown that exposed a thriving criminal underworld acting with impunity.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability