China media: Apec summit

Beijing is preparing to host world leaders at the Apec summit

Papers analyse China's role in pushing for regional economic integration at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Beijing.

The summit will start in Beijing on Saturday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the meeting would deepen regional economic integration and also push for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) agreement.

The China News Service observes that the current trading systems, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), "do not communicate with each other".

The TPP is a US-led free trade agreement that has excluded China, while the Asean-led RCEP arrangement does not include Washington.

"This summit is significant because China is likely to bring up the difficult topic of integrating the Asia-Pacific region," Zhang Yunling, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, tells the news agency.

The Haiwai Net says Beijing now has a bigger responsibility because the summit comes in the backdrop of the end of US quantitative easing.

"Many countries expect that China will make new contributions to the development of Apec… It has become a trend for different countries to seek solutions from China," says the article.

Criticising "some developed countries" for being "fearful" of the "trend", the commentary notes such nations are "trying all means to obstruct the implementation of the proposals provided by China".

Meanwhile, several media outlets note Beijing's efforts to curb air pollution during the summit.

The China National Radio reports that Beijing authorities have decided to stop all construction work during the summit. The report adds that the "strictness of the measures has even surpassed that of the 2008 Beijing Olympics".

The People's Daily, however, states that Beijing is "ready to welcome the guests" with "clean air, beautiful environment" and "meticulous service" with "Chinese characteristics".

Party's authority

Elsewhere, papers and experts are backing President Xi Jinping's remarks that the ruling Communist Party has absolute control over the military.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Mr Xi, who is also the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, recently said that "the principle of the party leading the army should always be firmly upheld".

The People's Liberation Army Daily backs the president's statement, saying "one can realise the dream of having a strong military" under the party's leadership.

Wang Zhanyang, a professor with the Central Institute of Socialism, tells the Global Times that the party's "absolute leadership" is needed to "prevent the military coups that frequently occur in some Latin American and Asian countries".

"Unlike Western countries, China has only one ruling party. Thus the country faces different conditions regarding the relationship between the party and the military," Xu Yaotong, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, adds.

Noting that there had been suggestions to nationalise the People's Liberation Army [make it a national army rather than the party's army], an editorial in the paper says that "such calls should end".

"If the West wants to create disturbances in China, nothing can be more effective than weakening the party's leadership... Nationalisation of the military is also one of these topics. It directly advocates depriving the party's leadership of the military and shaking the foundation of the party's power," it argues.

And finally, several papers are raising questions over prison security in the country after a man broke out of a jail in southern China.

According to the Southern Metropolis daily, a 28-year-old man escaped from a prison in Shaoguan, in Guangdong Province, on Saturday. However, he was arrested a day later.

The paper quotes an official as admitting that there are "loopholes" in the prison management system of China.

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