- David Gitter, Brock Erdahl, Jinhui Lee, Sandy Lu
Weekly Report 2|46 9.14.2019-9.20.2019
Highlights
Xi Jinping took a trip to Henan Province, where he visited revolutionary sites in anticipation of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, toured the local manufacturing industry, and inspected poverty alleviation work (see Senior Leaders section).
People’s Daily struck a positive tone on US-China trade, expressing approval of the Trump administration’s “gesture of goodwill” in delaying new tariffs until after the October 1 anniversary (see Propaganda Work section).
Senior Leaders
On National Cybersecurity Awareness Week, Xi Jinping Stresses Giving Equal-Weight to Safety Control and Openness Innovation
9.16 Xi Jinping gave important directives on National Cybersecurity Awareness Week, saying that national cybersecurity work should adhere to “cybersecurity for the people and cybersecurity relying on the people, ensuring the security of individual information, and defense of the legal rights and interests of citizens in cyberspace.” He called for the formation of a “good ecology of talent cultivation, technological innovation, and industrial development,” and the cultivation of “new technology and new applications such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and next-generation communications.” He stressed that cybersecurity work should “continue to place equal importance on safety control and openness and innovation.”
The opening ceremony for the 2019 National Cybersecurity Awareness Week was held in Tianjin on 16 September. Politburo member and Central Propaganda Department head Huang Kunming (黄坤明) attended the ceremony.
Xi Jinping’s Inspection and Research in Henan
Xinhua
9.16-9.20 Xi Jinping undertook an inspection and research tour in Henan Province, where he visited the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area Revolutionary Martyr Cemetery, a revolutionary museum at the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area Memorial Park, and the descendants and families of martyred Red Army soldiers. In Zhengzhou, Henan’s capital, Xi visited a coal mining machinery factory, the Yellow River Museum, and a Yellow River national geopark to inspect the development of the area’s manufacturing industry and ecological protection of the Yellow River.
During the tour, Xi commented on a number of topics. He said poverty alleviation requires both wisdom and willpower, and that it is necessary to develop a spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement, not only to alleviate poverty, but also to “become rich” and continue progressing toward a more prosperous life. While at the coal mining machinery factory, Xi stressed that “the manufacturing industry is the foundation of the real economy,” and an “important support for building a strategic advantage for future development.” He said it was necessary to “carry forward industrial transformation and upgrading, strengthen independent innovation, develop high-end manufacturing and smart manufacturing,” and “firmly realize the ‘two centenary’ struggle goals.”
On 19 September, Xi Jinping presided over a symposium in Zhengzhou on ecological protection and the high-quality development of the Yellow River basin. In a speech, he stressed the need to “persist in the ‘clear water and green mountains are [as valuable as] mountains of gold and silver’ concept, persist in green development that prioritizes ecology,” strengthen ecological protection management, protect long-term peace and stability of the Yellow River and promote high-quality development for the entire river basin. He said that ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin was a major part of the national strategy, just like the coordinated development of the Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the building of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. He said it was necessary to support the basin area’s battle against poverty, resolve local concerns about flood control, drinking water safety, ecological protection, etc, and protect social stability and national unity.
Propaganda Work
Zhong Sheng: The More Positive Interaction the Better
9.14 People’s Daily put out a Zhong Sheng (钟声) article, which authoritatively conveys the paper’s views on international affairs, praising recent “positive interaction” between the US and China in trade relations. The article followed US President Trump’s 13 September announcement that he would delay planned tariff increases on Chinese goods until after the PRC’s 70th anniversary on 1 October, and China’s reciprocal lifting of tariffs on China’s potential purchase of US soybeans and pork products. The article said that compared to escalating US-China trade frictions and the US’ “endless extreme pressure on China,” any effort to advance toward a solution deserves to be welcomed and encouraged. It said the recent series of “positive interactions” show the US and China both wish to break the deadlock, and stressed the need for both sides to consider their common interests. It said China was committed to upholding the consensus of the Buenos and Osaka G20 summits, and urged the US to keep its promises too.
Le Yucheng: Follow the Past and Herald the Future, Join Hands to Establish China-Russia Relations for a New Era
9.16 Qiushi published an article by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Yucheng (乐玉成) on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. The article called for “looking back at the past in order to gain experience and enlightenment from history, promote the long-term stability of China-Russia relations for a new era, and better benefit both countries and the world.”
The first section summarized the “winding path of trials and hardships” in China-Soviet Union relations. It described the 1950s as a “honeymoon period” before noting that “a decade of debate, a decade of confrontation, and a decade of talks” followed. It concluded that this history “has left us with much to reflect on and learn from regarding the development of state-to-state relations. Among the most fundamental are adhering to equal treatment, mutual respect, mutual noninterference in internal affairs, and non-imposition and not drawing ideological lines.”
The second section argued that “strategic coordination” between China and Russia opened up a “new situation” following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It listed four “major breakthroughs” reached during this period: 1. “Signing a historic political treaty,” i.e. the 2001 Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, 2. “Completely resolving border issues,” 3. “Founding the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” and 4. “Advocating for a just and reasonable international order.” It added that “China-Russia relations at the turn of the century continuously realized leap-frog development. Most crucially, the two sides made full use of the spirit of a strategic partnership of coordination.”
The third section called for “joining hands to walk into a new era.” After noting that Xi Jinping chose Russia for his first state visit (made only days after he became president of China) and has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin 30 times, it asserted that “since the 18th Party Congress, China-Russia relations have achieved unprecedented new development, reached their best level in history, and obtained achievements that have attracted worldwide attention in all fields of cooperation under the strategic leadership of the two countries’ heads of state.” It advocated four actions needed to “push the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era to reach new heights”: 1. “Put the promotion of political mutual trust in the first place,” 2. “Integrate mutual benefits into all-round cooperation,” 3. “Consolidate inter-generational friendship with people-to-people bonds,” and 4. “Use strategic coordination to commonly resist risks and challenges.”
United Front Work
PD Editorial: Strive to Write a New Chapter for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
9.20 People’s Daily published an editorial celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The editorial praised the CPPCC for “actively throwing itself into the great practices of founding New China, building New China, exploring the path of reform, and realizing the China Dream and growing and bravely advancing together with the republic.”
The editorial described the “CCP-led multi-party cooperation and political consultation system” as “China’s fundamental political system” and “an important contribution to the political culture of mankind.” It stressed that this system “not only accords with the reality of contemporary China but also accords with the Chinese nation’s excellent traditional culture of all under heaven being equal (天下为公), taking in everything (兼容并蓄), and seeking common ground (求同存异).”
The editorial called for “doing CPPCC work for a new era well” by “insisting on CCP leadership,” “insisting on the CPPCC’s characteristic position,” “insisting on the great unity and solidarity,” and “insisting on using the people as the center while performing one’s duties.” It concluded with “On the New Long March where we must be of one mind in jointly building the China Dream and jointly founding a beautiful new era, insisting on using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as a guide and conscientiously strengthening the ‘Four Consciousnesses,’ fortifying the ‘Four Confidences,’ and accomplishing the ‘Two Defends’… will inevitably create an even brighter future!”
Party Discipline
US-China Anti-Corruption Working Group Holds Its 14th Meeting in Beijing
9.16-17 The 14th meeting of the US-China anti-corruption working group was held in Beijing. Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) Deputy Secretary and National Supervisory Commission (NSC) Deputy Director Li Shulei (李书磊) met with US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad and the US delegation during the meeting. Both sides agreed to deepen their anti-corruption cooperation and build an efficient cooperative mechanism for law enforcement under the United Nations Convention against Corruption and each country’s laws.
International Liaison Work
International Department Holds Fifth Public Day
9.17 The CCP International Department (CCP/ID) held its fifth “Public Day” in Beijing. Fifty Young Pioneers from Beijing’s Cuiwei Elementary School and over 20 media representatives took part in the related activities. A CCP/ID spokesperson told the media that Public Day is meant to “offer our blessings to the motherland, pass on our party’s original aspirations to the next generation, and create qualified successors (后继有人) for and carry forward (发扬光大) the Party’s external work.”
The Young Pioneers first participated in a flag-raising ceremony and took a group photo with International Department Head Song Tao (宋涛). They then toured a photo exhibition on external work and attended a seminar titled “Telling the CCP/ID’s Story,” which featured former Chinese Ambassador to Tonga and former CCP/ID Research Office Director Huang Huaguang (黄华光), former Chinese Ambassador to Yemen and former CCP/ID West Asia and North Africa Bureau Head Liu Denglin (刘登林), and CCP/ID Bureau I (South and Southeast Asian Affairs) youth cadre Wang Siqi (王思祺). They finished the day by observing and emulating a meeting between International Department Deputy Head Wang Yajun (王亚军) and a Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) delegation led by CPRF Central Committee Secretary and Leninist Komsomol of the Russian Federation Central Committee First Secretary Vladimir Isakov.
International Department
9.13-9.16 At the invitation of the French Communist Party (PCF), Jiangxi Party Secretary Liu Qi (刘奇) visited France as a representative of the CCP to attend the annual festival of the PCF newspaper L'Humanité. While there, he individually met with PCF National Secretary Fabien Roussel and National Assembly Vice President Carole Bureau-Bonnard.
9.13-9.17 At the invitation of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (Philippine Democratic Party–Power of the Nation/PDP–Laban), Politburo member and Chongqing Party Secretary Chen Min’er (陈敏尔) led a CCP delegation to the Philippines. While there, the delegation attended the China (Chongqing) - Philippines Trade and Investment Forum as well as individually met with President and PDP–Laban Chairman Rodrigo Duterte, House of Representatives Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, PDP-Laban President Aquilino Pimentel III, and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
9.17 International Department Head Song Tao (宋涛) met with a Brazilian multiparty congress member study group led by Federal Senate Vice Leader and Democratic Senator Chico Rodrigues.
International Department Deputy Head Wang Yajun (王亚军) also held working talks with the study group on the same day.
9.17 Wang Yajun met with a Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) cadre study group led by CPRF Central Committee Secretary and Leninist Komsomol of the Russian Federation Central Committee First Secretary Vladimir Isakov.
9.17-9.19 At the invitation of the United National Party (UNP), Chen Min’er led a CCP delegation to Sri Lanka. While there, the delegation inspected the Colombo Port City and Colombo International Container Terminal projects, toured the Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention Hall with Speaker of the Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, and individually met with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
9.18-9.19 At the invitation of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), Song Tao led a CCP delegation to Bangkok, Thailand.
On 18 September, he held a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister and PPRP Strategy Committee Head Prawit Wongsuwan, Minister of Finance and PPRP Leader Uttama Savanayana, House of Representatives First Deputy Speaker and PPRP core member Suchart Tancharoen, Minister of Energy and PPRP Secretary-General Sontirat Sontijirawong, and House of Representative Second Deputy Speaker and Bhumjaithai Party Deputy Leader Suphachai Phosu.
That same day, Song held another meeting with National Assembly President, House of Representatives Speaker, and Democrat Party Chief Adviser Chuan Leekpai and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Commerce, and Democrat Party Leader Jurin Laksanawisit.
That same day, Song held a third meeting with House of Representatives Opposition Party Leader and Pheu Thai Party Leader Sompong Amornwiwat and Pheu Thai Party Strategy Committee Head Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan.
In the evening, Song met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai.
On 19 September, Song met with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.