Police Detain Li Wei Over Tax Issues
In October 2006, Li Wei was taken into police custody on suspicion of evading tax payments; she was reportedly close to Chen Tonghai, then chairman of Sinopec.
In October 2006, Li Wei was taken into police custody on suspicion of evading tax payments; she was reportedly close to Chen Tonghai, then chairman of Sinopec.
On September 24, 2006, the CCP Central Committee decided to remove Chen Liangyu from his posts as Secretary of the CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee and others, and to place him under investigation, on suspicion of misappropriating Shanghai social security fund investments.
Overseas investigators, calling on behalf of an embassy, questioned Bo Xilai by telephone about the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners during his tenure in Liaoning, and Bo Xilai implicated Jiang Zemin in the conversation.
In May 2006, Li Wei, through Huang Songyou, Yang Xiancai and others, signed a contract in the name of Sinopec with a company under Guo Cheng, buying the North Tower of Zhongcheng Plaza in Guangzhou for more than 1.3 billion yuan; the building was sealed up over debt disputes after its completion in 1996.
On January 26, 2006 (January 25 US time), Google launched the Chinese version of its search engine Google.cn, filtering search results in accordance with the rules of the Chinese authorities, and noted in the footer that some results were not displayed.
On January 24, 2006, Ice Point Weekly of China Youth Daily was ordered to suspend publication by the Publicity Department of the Communist Youth League Central Committee because it had published an article by Yuan Weishi questioning history textbooks; editor-in-chief Li Datong and deputy editor-in-chief Lu Yuegang were dismissed, and neither of them returned when the publication resumed on March 1.
During Hu Jintao's term, the agricultural tax, which had lasted for over two thousand years, was successively abolished, and the Compulsory Education Law was amended.
Starting in 2006, rural western China was the first to waive tuition and fees; in 2007 this was extended to all rural areas, and in 2008 free education was achieved in both urban and rural areas. The Two Exemptions and One Subsidy policy covered 150 million rural students, bringing to an end the system of paying fees during the compulsory education stage.
On December 29, 2005, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress voted to repeal the Agricultural Tax Regulations. Hu Jintao signed Presidential Order No. 46 on the same day. From January 1, 2006, Chinese farmers no longer paid agricultural tax, reducing the burden on farmers nationwide by 133.5 billion yuan per year, an average of 140 yuan per person.
In December 2005, a large-scale clash between police and civilians broke out in Dongzhou Village, Shanwei, Guangdong, leaving 14 dead and 50 injured; the first three pages of Yahoo China's search results contained no content related to the crackdown, while the international version of Yahoo returned 370,000 related results.
On March 16, 2005, the Tsinghua Network Center blocked access from off-campus, and the Shuimu Tsinghua BBS was converted into an on-campus-only system, leaving 82.3% of its former off-campus users unable to log in; on April 14 the servers were taken over by the university, and on April 19 the station affairs committee resigned en masse.
Yuanwei Industrial, controlled by Qi Qiaoqiao and Deng Jiagui, and Shenzhen Metro Group jointly established Shenzhen Metro Yuanwei Commercial Development Co., Ltd., getting involved in Shenzhen Metro's above-ground property development.
According to Lang Xianping's own account in October 2006, while hosting a television program at the end of 2005 he received an anonymous email reporting the misappropriation of Shanghai's social security fund and drawing attention to businessman Zhang Rongkun; the central authorities began investigating the case in early 2006.
Kung Fu Hustle, directed by and starring Stephen Chow, was released in China on December 23, 2004. Set in Pig Cage Alley in 1940s Shanghai, elements such as the Axe Gang and the Buddha's Palm made it one of his representative works.
Seventy-eight-year-old Jiang Zemin wrote a letter to the CCP Central Committee requesting to resign from his position as Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and subsequently the power transition was announced in the People’s Daily.
On August 31, 2004, Du Shicheng presided over a special meeting of the Qingdao Municipal Party Committee to study land for housing for Sinopec experts and employees; through the coordination of Vice Mayor Luo Yongming, a total of 1000 mu of land was secured across the Qingdao Economic Development Zone, Huangdao District, and Jiaonan City.
On July 29, 2004, Qingdao Golden Coast Hotel acquired the 75% equity stake in Taishan Real Estate held by Capital Qingdao for 325 million yuan, and Li Wei netted more than 200 million yuan.
After being released on July 19, 2004, Jiang Yanyong remained under long-term surveillance and in a state of house arrest; on March 22, 2005 he regained freedom of movement, but was told he was barred from accepting interviews and given other restrictions, and approval to go abroad was not granted.
In July 2004, Sinopec's Beijing branch and Beijing Shouchuang Petroleum Investment Co., Ltd. jointly established a joint venture with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan; the former invested 700 million yuan in the physical assets of 123 gas stations, while the latter contributed 300 million yuan and planned to build 60 new gas stations.
On June 14, 2004, Taishan Oil transferred the 75% stake it held in Taishan Real Estate to Capital Investment (Qingdao) for 123 million yuan, and the remaining 25% stake was transferred to NC International free of charge.
A group of China's top entrepreneurs established the Alxa SEE Ecological Association in Alxa. During the founding conference, they engaged in fierce discussions over organizational bylaws, election methods, and other issues, ultimately tearing up the pre-arranged list and establishing a rule-based operating model.
On June 1, 2004, Jiang Yanyong and his wife Hua Zhongwei were taken away by the authorities while on their way to the hospital; Hua Zhongwei was released two weeks later, Jiang Yanyong was released on July 19, and the authorities denied the incident.
In June 2004, the feasibility report for the Qingdao mega refinery project was approved by the State Council. The project was the first refinery in China approved with a single-phase construction capacity of 10 million tons; Li Wei used this to develop related real estate business in Qingdao.
On March 19, 2004, Guangdong courts sentenced Southern Metropolis Daily general manager Yu Huafeng to 12 years and Li Minying to 11 years in first instance for embezzlement, bribery and other crimes; editor-in-chief Cheng Yizhong was arrested the same day and released without charge about 4 months later, and the sentences of Yu and Li were later substantially reduced.
In March 2004, Chen Tonghai, then General Manager of Sinopec Group, convened a meeting of Taishan Petroleum executives to discuss the restructuring of Taishan Real Estate. Taishan Petroleum insiders claimed that the withdrawal was actually manipulated by Chen Tonghai.
On February 24, 2004, Jiang Yanyong wrote to the National People's Congress, the CPPCC, the leaders of the CCP Politburo and the State Council, calling for a reevaluation of June Fourth, 1989, and recounting what he witnessed at the 301 Hospital in treating the casualties.
From December 5 to 7, 2003, the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work was held in Beijing. In his speech, Hu Jintao called for staying close to reality, close to life, and close to the masses, and stated that the Party's control over propaganda and the Party's control over ideology must never waver at any time.
After the Sun Zhigang case, on June 20, 2003, the State Council promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Assistance for Vagrants and Beggars with No Means of Support in Urban Areas, and the Measures for Custody and Repatriation were abolished as of August 1.
On April 20, 2003, the CCP Central Committee decided to remove Zhang Wenkang, Party Secretary of the Ministry of Health, and Meng Xuenong, Deputy Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, from their posts. On the same day, Beijing's case figures were revised upward from 37 to 339 and changed to daily releases; Meng Xuenong subsequently resigned as mayor, and Zhang Wenkang was removed as Minister of Health on April 26.
On April 4, 2003, military doctor Jiang Yanyong learned that Health Minister Zhang Wenkang had claimed there were only 12 SARS cases in Beijing. He then told the real case numbers from military hospitals to CCTV and Phoenix TV, and the information was relayed out by foreign journalists.
On April 3, 2003, Health Minister Zhang Wenkang told a press conference in Beijing that Beijing had only 12 SARS cases and 3 deaths, and said it was safe whether or not you wore a mask; the next day, Jiang Yanyong disclosed higher figures from military hospitals.
Hubei youth Sun Zhigang was sent to a custody station in Guangzhou for not carrying a temporary residence permit and was beaten to death. The incident spread rapidly across the internet and eventually led the State Council to abolish the custody and repatriation system.
In January 2003, Cisco sued Huawei in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging that it illegally copied Cisco's IOS software and source code, technical documentation, and other copyrighted materials, and infringed multiple patents.
In 2003, Li Wei obtained the development rights to 61,800 square meters of land at Taipingjiao in Qingdao. The project was nominally applied for under Capital Group, but in fact fell under Yichuang Real Estate, which was held in her name, and she later earned 84 million yuan from the transfer.
Li Jiating was investigated in 2001, and two years later was finally sentenced to death with a reprieve for accepting bribes of more than 18.1 million yuan; his son Li Bo and his mistress Xu Fuying were also successively sentenced.
Chen Jin's team ground off the markings on purchased Motorola chips and reprinted them as "Hanxin No. 1", announced it in February 2003, defrauding about 110 million yuan in research funding (over 60 million yuan received), and was exposed in early 2006.
McConnell was elected Senate Republican whip, becoming the second-highest-ranking Republican in the Senate.
In November 2002, the Chinese Communist Party held its 16th National Congress, and Hu Jintao became General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee, but the Standing Committee was expanded from 7 to 9 members, most of whom were from Jiang Zemin's faction, greatly weakening Hu Jintao's political power.
At the CCP's 16th National Congress in 2002, Jiang Zemin did not step down as chairman of the Central Military Commission; his remaining in office created an emperor-emeritus dynamic. Although Hu Jintao became General Secretary, military power remained in Jiang Zemin's hands.
In October 2002, Xi Jinping was transferred to serve as Deputy Party Secretary and Acting Governor of Zhejiang Province; in November, he was elected as a member of the CCP Central Committee for the first time at the 16th National Congress, and was promoted to Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province at the end of the month.
In 2002, Liu Xiaoqing was taken into custody for allegedly evading tens of millions in taxes, where she was detained for 422 days.
In March 2002, tens of thousands of laid-off and still-employed workers at the Daqing Oilfield took to the streets over unfair compensation for buyouts of their years of service and cuts to their medical and pension benefits. The demonstrations lasted nearly three weeks, with the crowd at one point reaching 40,000 to 50,000 people, setting a record for the scale of collective worker protests since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
Du Shicheng instructed that the land transfer of the two cultural heritage villas be changed to administrative allocation; Li Wei ultimately obtained the properties for 7.5 million yuan and obtained the property certificates.
In 2002, Du Shicheng supported converting a green space at Taiping Jiao in the Badaguan protected area into a real estate project, and criticized the opposition voiced by the Qingdao Municipal People's Congress.
Under the insistence and promotion of Jiang Zemin and others, China finally successfully joined the World Trade Organization.
On December 11, 2001, China officially became a member of the World Trade Organization after an agreement was reached at the ministerial conference in Doha.
On the night of October 26, 2001, Hu Wenhai, a villager of Dayukou Village in Jinzhong, Shanxi, shot and killed 14 people in a row after having reported village officials to the authorities for a long time without result; he was executed by shooting on January 25, 2002.
In October 2001, Jiang Zemin met with George W. Bush in Shanghai, and the United States adjusted its positioning of China from a "strategic competitor" to a "constructive cooperative relationship."
On September 11, 2001, Jiang Zemin was the first to telephone US President Bush to express his condolences, becoming one of the first leaders of major powers to make a statement.
19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners as weapons for suicide attacks on September 11, 2001, causing nearly 3,000 deaths, including the attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the crash of Flight 93.