Keywords: Candid profiles of top CPC leadership mark media first, New regulations to nix lavish military banquets, New cyber-crime law could out anonymous tipsters

Candid profiles of top CPC leadership mark media first

Family photos and profiles revealing details of China's Communist Party's new top leaders Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang were published by the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday, an unprecedented move that Chinese media is calling a sign of the new leadership's "transparent work and life styles."

The profile not only outlined Xi's early career, but touched upon how he got along with his wife Peng Liyuan, while mentioning the name of their daughter Xi Mingze and Xi's expectations of her "living an honest life and being a useful person to the society."

While profiles of Vice Premier Li Keqiang focused on his toughness in advancing complex reforms, it also mentioned his family members.

Xinhua's "Top CPC Leadership" online coverage includes photos and profiles of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau.

The Hong Kong-based Ming Pao commented on Monday that releasing the name of Xi's daughter is an extremely rare move, as information about the families of China's top leaders are rarely revealed in official media reports.

At the same time, the paper reminded this is a "warm-up phase" for the new CPC leadership who know the importance of good public relations.

"Only time will tell whether they can stick to such publicity," opined the article.

Similarly, Hong Kong papers the Sing Tao Daily and Economic Times, as well as the United Daily News in Taiwan all pointed out how Xinhua's coverage of China's top leaders and their families conveyed the Party' intention to promote a "transparent working style."

"Xi changed how official media reported on top leaders and showed the public a more vivid image of him as a "common man", said the Sing Tao Daily.

New regulations to nix lavish military banquets

A slew of new regulations restricting lavish banquets and receptions were released by central authorities on December 21, revealing a tougher stance on inter-party discipline from the top leadership, Xinhua reported.

According to the 10 new regulations drafted by the Central Military Commission of the CPC, receptions for high-ranking military officers will no longer include liquor or luxury banquets.

Receptions are also to be free of welcome banners, red carpets, floral arrangements, honor guards, performances and gifts, Xinhua reported.

Following suit, the recently-convened Central Rural Work Conference cancelled their awards ceremony and released the list of winners instead to dissuade recipients from traveling to Beijing to accept the award in person, according to People's Daily.

Similarly, no welcome banners were seen at the Beijing Guoyi Hotel at the opening of this year's National Conference on Commerce and Industry on December 20. A large number of deputies took shuttle buses to the meeting instead of their cars, said People's Daily.

The 10 regulations are practical, easy to follow and could help set good examples for subordinates if high-level officials manage to carry them out, People's Liberation Army Daily commented in an opinion piece on Monday.

The article urged Party leaders at all levels to be aware of their conduct during official receptions and improve their work style in accordance with the requirements.  

Global Times ran a report on Monday saying that not only the military, but many local government and department leaders have also taken advantage of their official privileges and use military cars for their personal use.

"These strict regulations are seen as a first step. When leaders lead by example, it's much easier for others to follow," Li Jie, a researcher at the Chinese Naval Research Institute, told the paper.

Peng Guangqian, a military expert at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences explained in the article that "such regulations should have been implemented a long time ago."

"We'll see whether government organs meet the requirements of the central government by year's end, when there are usually lots of meetings," the People's Daily commented on Monday.

The paper held that while some official departments have made their meetings less extravagant; they still need to double their efforts in the future.

New cyber-crime law could out anonymous tipsters

China's top legislature on Monday began deliberating a draft law to protect net users' personal information online amid a spike in cases of identity theft and other online crimes. 

However, the bill sparked concerns in Chinese media that citizen informants, who have proven to be crucial to the new leadership's anti-graft campaign, would be dissuaded to post sensitive information if required to relinquish their anonymity and provide personal information.

Global Times held in its front page story on Monday that it is necessary to enact a law to regulate Internet companies who have access to people's personal information, like Tencent Technology Co and Taobao, and hold them accountable if personal information is leaked.

However, Lü Benfu, an expert on Internet security with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the paper the new law might cast a shadow on an anti-corruption campaign that is growing more intensive online, through which at least five officials have been removed from their posts in the last three months.

"Weibo sometimes does become a dumping ground for people's negative emotions," said Lü, adding that he would support the law as long as it focuses on stopping the abuse of information and protects people, instead of taking away their freedom of expression.

People's Daily commented Sunday that "openness does not mean acting recklessly, freedom of expression does not mean cursing anywhere and information-sharing does not mean irresponsibly breaking the privacy of others and spreading rumors."

Except for worries over the possible reduction of online tip-offs, how to protect online personal information ourselves and the implementation of the law also raised media concern.

The Beijing-based Economic Daily carried an opinion piece on Sunday saying that as the Internet has become as indispensable for families and businesses as electricity and water, cases of libel and online fraud will increase if relative laws are not put in place.

According to the paper, although there are quite a number of relative laws and regulations on the books, they are dispersed and not effective. As a result, the punishment of online criminals is usually lenient.

The opinion piece urged the government to formulate a high-level law to better monitor and curb illicit online conduct.

Similarly, columnist Wu Qiao with the Beijing Times also called upon net users to be wary of where they enter their bank account and password information in case of identity-stealing malware.

The Beijing-based Procuratorate Daily called on legislative organs to establish a department to define and clarify exactly who should be responsible for implementing the laws.

"It seems that public security, telecommunications, commercial and industrial organs all have the authority to crack down on online crimes but each seems unable to fully protect net users," read the article.

The paper further encouraged Internet watchdogs to popularize anti-hacking technology in order to better protect users' personal information.