GENERAL FALLS FROM GRACE.docVIP

GENERAL FALLS FROM GRACE 　　Guo Boxiong， a former military leader， was expelled from the Communist Party of China （CPC） for taking bribes on July 30. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee also decided to transfer his case to military prosecutors. 　　Guo， 73， served as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission （CMC） from 2002 to 2012. 　　Investigations， which were launched in April， found that Guo took advantage of his post to seek promotions and benefits for others and accepted bribes personally or through his family. 　　Guo’s downfall came a year after that of Xu Caihou， another former CMC vice chairman， who died of cancer in March before facing charges. 　　“No matter what power one holds or how high one’s position is， if a person violates Party rules and the law， he or she should be hunted down without compromise and without mercy，” said a Political Bureau statement. 　　 Tightening Control Over Land Supply 　　Oriental Outlook July 27 　　Since the 1980s， the abundant supply of land in China has been the foundation for the country’s miraculously rapid economic growth. 　　In order to attract investment， local governments have sold the right to suburban land use at a low price or even yielded land use rights for free to investors. Such a practice， coupled with cheap labor， has enabled China to become a manufacturing powerhouse. 　　However， such a development model has wasted land resources. Although the Ministry of Land and Resources has taken multiple measures to strengthen the management of land resources since the 1990s， these efforts have not achieved the desirable result. Effective supervision is crucial to conservative land use. This year， the ministry conducted an evaluation of land use in 578 cities and will establish a national database on urban land utilization by 2018 to provide references for land use supervision. 　　As land approval is being tightened， local governments should tap into idle land， whose utilization rights have alread