- David Gitter, Julia Bowie, Calvin Blackburn
Weekly Report 3|48 9.27.2020-10.2.2020
Highlights
Xi Jinping doubled down on ethnic policy in Xinjiang with a speech that declared current policy “completely correct” (see Senior Leaders section).
The Politburo met to discuss the 14th Five Year Plan (see Senior Leaders section).
Senior Leaders
Xi Jinping Gives Important Instructions Emphasizing Online Opinion Solicitation Activities For Preparation of the 14th Five-Year Plan - The Role of Gathering the People’s Wisdom
9.26 Xi Jinping issued important instructions on soliciting opinions and suggestions from all of society in the process of drawing up the five-year plan for the first time in history. From August 16 to 29, People’s Daily, Xinhua, China Central Radio and Television, and other news clients set up a column to solicit suggestions (建言专栏) for the “14th Five-Year Plan.” Xi Jinping instructed relevant departments to sort through and thoroughly analyze the over 1.18 million response in time. According to his instructions, it is necessary to better use the internet to listen to the voices of the people and to better brainstorm (集思广益) and focus. Xi Jinping emphasized that the people’s struggle in desiring for a better life is the goal of the 14th five-year plan and the strength of China in forging ahead should provide the people with confidence and support.
Xi Jinping: Adhere to Governing Xinjiang According to the Law, Uniting and Stabilizing Xinjiang, Culturally Enriching Xinjiang, Enriching the People and Revitalizing Xinjiang, and Building Xinjiang for the Long-Term; Work Hard to Build a Xinjiang of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era
9.26 CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Third Central Xinjiang Work Symposium, that lauded “unprecedented accomplishments” in “economic and social development and improvements in the people’s livelihoods” in Xinjiang since the Second Central Xinjiang Work Symposium in 2014. He divided these accomplishments into the four general categories of economic growth, improvements in day-to-day life such as housing and access to public services, poverty alleviation, and the growth of subsidies and support for Xinjiang from the central government and localities. He concluded, “the facts fully prove that [China’s] ethnic work has been successful.”
After noting that the CCP Central Committee “formed the Party’s overall policy on governing Xinjiang in a new era” (新时代党的治疆方略) following the 18th Party Congress, Xi listed eight aspects to “adhere to.” These were: 1. “Adhere to strategically reviewing and planning Xinjiang work,” 2. “Adhere to taking social stability and long-term peace and order (长治久安) as the overall objectives of Xinjiang work,” 3. “Adhere to using the gathering of public support as the foundation,” 4. “Adhere to forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation,” 5. “Adhere to China’s religious sinicization orientation,” 6. “Adhere to promoting and cultivating core socialist values,” 7. “Adhere to sticking close to people’s livelihoods to promote high-quality development,” and 8. “Adhere to strengthening the Party’s leadership over Xinjiang work.” Xi concluded, “practice proves that the Party’s overall policy on governing Xinjiang in a new era is completely correct and must be adhered to for the long term.”
Xi also called for “holding high the banner of socialist rule of law” to maintain lasting stability in Xinjiang, treating development as “the major foundation for long-term peace and order,” “using the forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation as the central theme to continuously consolidate unity among all ethnicities” and incorporating related measures into the education of Xinjiang cadres, youth, and society to make this sense of community “take root deep in the soul (根植心灵深处),” and “taking the building a contingent of high-caliber cadres from ethnic minority groups who are loyal to the Party and possess both integrity and talent (德才兼备) as an important task.”
Premier Li Keqiang (李克强) and Politburo Standing Committee Member and Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Wang Yang (汪洋) also spoke at the symposium. Li praised Xi’s “comprehensive summary” of the achievements since the second symposium and “deep analysis” of the current trends in Xinjiang work, while Wang praised Xi’s speech as “high-minded and far-sighted, [harboring] profound thinking, and full of abundant meaning” and its role in guiding Xinjiang work to “shore up innovation and march forward victoriously.”
CCP Politburo Convenes Meeting; Discusses Documents to be Submitted for Deliberation to the Fifth Plenum of the 19th Party Central Committee; Deliberation of “CCP Central Committee Work Regulations”
9.29 People’s Daily published an article about the Politburo’s 28 September meeting on the 14th Five-Year Plan. Xi Jinping presided over the meeting. Important points from the meeting included:
To promote economic and social development, “[We] must adhere to the party’s comprehensive leadership, adhere to and refine the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and unceasingly raise the capability and level of the new development concept’s implementation.”
“Formulating and officially launching the ‘CCP Central Committee Work Regulations’ is an inevitable requirement to resolutely safeguard the Party Central Committee’s authority and centralized and unified leadership with comrade Xi Jinping as the core.”
The Politburo decided that the Fifth Plenum of the 19th Party Central Committee will be held in Beijing from 26 to 29 October.
The Politburo emphasized the importance and success of the 13th Five-Year Plan, highlighting that “[China’s] economic, scientific and technological strength and comprehensive national power leapt to a higher level.” The meeting pointed out the need to “build a new pattern of development, earnestly change the form of development, promote a transformation of quality, efficiency, and motivation.” The meeting also requested personnel from the Central Committee, Politburo, and Standing Committee to take the lead on the implementation of “strengthening the ‘four consciousnesses’ (四个意识), consolidating the ‘four confidences’ (四个自信), achieving the ‘two defends’ (两个维护).”
At the Politburo Collective Study Session, Xi Jinping Stresses The Construction Of Archaeology with Chinese Characteristics and A Better Understanding Of the Ancient and Profound Chinese Civilization
9.29 On 29 of September, the CCP Central Committee held the 23rd collective study session on recent Chinese archaeological discoveries and their significance. Xi Jinping pointed out archeology is inseparable from understanding history as archeology is meant to display and construct the history of the Chinese nation and the treasures of Chinese civilization.
Xi Jinping proposed four requirements in researching historical works:
Continue searching for the historical unknowns and reveal origins.
Do a good job in the excavation, sorting, and interpretation of archaeological results. The archaeological community needs to present results more comprehensively to better educate people by working with researchers in economy, law, politics, culture, sociology, ecology, science, and medicine.
Do a good job in protecting historical and cultural heritage. Because they are witnesses to history, it is necessary to establish and improve resource asset management systems, improve the protection mechanism of immovable cultural relics, and severely crack down on cultural relic crimes.
Strengthen the construction of archaeology capabilities and schools. It is necessary to adhere to dialectic and historical materialism to conduct in-depth exploration to enhance the influence of the power and popularity of Chinese archaeology in the international archaeological community.
Xi Jinping ended by emphasizing that in the long course of history, China’s cultural DNA is its great national spirit and excellent traditional culture, which is the force for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Archaeology will educate and guide the broad masses of cadres to understand the historical context of the origins and development of Chinese civilization and recognize their accomplishments to enhance national cohesion and pride. Party committees and government at all levels must firmly establish the concept of protecting historical and cultural heritage and provide financial support and care for archaeologists.
Propaganda Work
Office of the State Council Issues “Opinions” On Accelerating Deeper Integration of Media
9.27 The CCP Central Committee and State Council General Offices jointly issued opinions on accelerating media integration (integration of traditional and new media) and emphasized the urgency and importance of its implementation.
The opinion emphasized the need to allocate resources to collect raw and scattered information on the internet to occupy the emerging communication front. In the era of cross platform media (全媒体时代), the direction still needs to be focused on serving the people and implementing the party’s line. Media needs to combine new technologies and the party’s traditions to attract users’ participation in producing and disseminating information and creating content that the masses prefer and construct channels the masses cannot do without. The opinion pointed out that it is necessary to have advanced technology to achieve integrated development, including 5G, big data, cloud computing, etc. The opinion concluded that Party committees and government at all levels need to strengthen financial guarantees, strengthen policy support and develop media integration, as it is important for the regions’ ideological work.
Zhong Sheng: “Human Rights Defenders” Who Disregard the Right to Life
9.27 People’s Daily published a Zhong Sheng (钟声) commentary criticizing the hypocrisy of “some US politicians” who “for no reason at all, attack and smear” other countries’ human rights. It pointed to global criticism at the 45th Session of the UN Human Rights Council of the US’ large-scale human rights infringement regarding epidemic prevention and systematic racism. The commentary stated, “the American side should look in the mirror and seriously examine its own appearance” before mentioning that the US has over seven million COVID-19 cases and 200,000 COVID-19-related deaths. It also said that “US cable television news networks drew blood on the first prick (一针见血), pointing out that US racial inequality and COVID-19 are equally deadly.” The commentary criticized “the American side’s unilateralist policies under the epidemic [for] having disregard for human life (草菅人命)” and said that the US pursues a human rights “double standard.” It concluded by reiterating the “hypocrisy, double standards, and hegemony” of “some US politicians’ botched performance.”
PD Commentator Article Series: On the Study and Implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Speech at the Third Central Xinjiang Work Symposium
9.28-10.1 People’s Daily published a commentator article series expanding on Xi Jinping’s speech at the Third Central Xinjiang Work Symposium.
The first commentator article, titled “Completely and Accurately Implementing the Party’s Overall Policy on Governing Xinjiang in a New Era,” began with reprinted parts of Xi’s comments about accomplishments and policy goals in Xinjiang, then stressed the importance of “doing Xinjiang work well” by implementing the “spirit” of Xi’s speech, CCP Central Committee policy on Xinjiang, and the “party’s overall policy on governing Xinjiang in a New Era,” placing these in the context of China entering a “new phase of development” in the period of the 14th Five Year Plan. It then emphasized the leading roles of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era and the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core in implementing this policy.
The second commentator article, titled “Firmly Grasp the Overall Objectives of Xinjiang Work,” focused on the “overall objectives of social stability and long-term peace and order in Xinjiang,” and began by stressing that Xinjiang’s “social stability and long-term peace and order” will affect reform and opening up, national unity, ethnic unity, national security, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It then noted that Xinjiang has “effectively curbed violent terrorist activities and achieved significant results in anti-extremism,” then said that “practice proves that the divisions and actions taken by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core on Xinjiang work are completely correct.” The commentary also said that “people of all ethnicities in Xinjiang” recognize that stability is the “lifeline of Xinjiang’s development and prosperity” and called a “sense of community for the Chinese nation” the foundation for national unity, the root of ethnic unity, and the soul of “spiritual power.”
The third commentator article, titled “Stick Close to the People’s Day-to-Day Lives, Promote High-Quality Development in Xinjiang” began with mentions of the economic progress in Xinjiang as noted by Xi in his speech and then quoted several statements from Xi about economic development to emphasize Xi’s role in “raising economic development and improvements to the people’s day-to-day lives into the strategic heights for stabilizing and pacifying Xinjiang” since the 18th Party Congress. The commentary then noted several economic growth statistics since the Second Central Xinjiang Work Symposium, including 9.1 percent growth in per capita disposable income, a reduction in the poverty rate from 19.4 to 1.24 percent, and growth in central government and private support for state entities and private businesses. It also stressed the importance of “fully realizing Xinjiang’s positional advantages” as part of the Silk Road Economic Belt and focusing on poverty alleviation.
The fourth commentator article, titled “Strengthen the Party’s Central and Unified Leadership Over Xinjiang Work,” delves into comments from Xi on importance of party guidance over the “overall policy for governing Xinjiang in a new era,” stressing that “party committees at all levels” must “maintain a high level of consistency with the Party Central Committee in though, politics, and actions of their own volition, and adhere to strengthening the party’s leadership over Xinjiang work.” It continued with a description of the “high degree of importance” placed on Xinjiang by the CCP since the 18th Party Congress and achievements in “social stability” and “peaceful lives for the people,” which it attributed to the “clear advantages” of the party’s leadership and the socialist system. The commentary then recommended strengthening party leadership by cultivating certain characteristics, stressed “taking the building a contingent of high-caliber cadres from ethnic minority groups who are loyal to the Party and possess both integrity and talent (德才兼备) as an important task,” and further emphasized the importance of party leadership to accomplish Xinjiang work.
Zhong Sheng Series: Correctly Viewing and Properly Handling China-US Relations
9.28-29 People’s Daily published two new Zhong Sheng (钟声) commentaries in its ongoing series on China-US relations.
The ninth Zhong Sheng commentary in the series, titled “[When] Holding an Advantage, [One] Should Not Give Up Righteousness,” criticized “US exceptions” and “some US politicians’” who “ignore international regulations and raise a hubbub about economic ‘decoupl[ing]’ and a ‘scientific and technological Cold War.’” It accused the US of “exploit[ing] [its] post-World War II advantageous position to lead global economic and trade rule-making” before stating that “economic, scientific, and technological advantages also do not give the US the right to ‘squeeze the throat’ (卡脖子) of other countries.” The commentary also pointed out that the 2008 global financial crisis originated in the US and criticized “some US politicians” for attempting to “transform [their] economic, scientific, and technological advantages into ‘extravagant privileges.’” It asserted that such US politicians’ “unscrupulously suppressing and bullying other countries and attacking international rules and regulations” was “harmful to their own interests” and “contrary to their pursued [goal] of ‘America First.’” The commentary concluded by warning, “[we] strongly advise a single sentence to them: If a gentleman desires wealth, he obtains it the right way (君子爱财，取之有道). Economic, scientific, and technological advantages are absolutely not grounds for ordering people around (颐指气使). [When] holding an advantage, [one] should not give up righteousness. Only by taking the path of mutual respect, mutual benefit, mutual advancement, and joint development can those who are prosperous always succeed (荣者常通).”
The tenth commentary, titled “The US General Election Should Not Misuse the ‘China Question’ to Put on a Show,” criticized the two political parties for using China to avoid dealing with rising domestic issues in the US. The commentary noted that a tough line on China has been de rigueur in US general elections since the end of the Cold War and quoted former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to explain trends of political support before and during a war. It also quoted academic David Lampton’s assessment that, given the global epidemic situation, global economic distress, and domestic crises related to racial discrimination and injustice, “China is not the US’ biggest problem.” The commentary asserted that the “political performances” of “some US politicians” would both fail to resolve the “multiple ever-more-serious systemic crises in American society” and damage international relations. Asserting that the China-US relationship could only be destroyed from within, the commentary noted of US campaigns that “misused the ‘China question’” that “shortsighted political schemes are bound to have losses that exceed their gains (得不偿失).”
Zhong Sheng: Vaccine Research and Development is Absolutely Not an Antagonistic Competition
9.30 People’s Daily published a Zhong Sheng commentary that advocated international cooperation in vaccine research and development and criticized “some people in specific countries” for using the vaccine as a “diplomatic tool.” The commentary said that “the vaccine ought to become a global public good” and that it “absolutely should not become an attack or smear weapon.” It emphasized UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ call to oppose “vaccine nationalism” and highlighted the World Health Organization’s call to strengthen global unity and cooperation in vaccine research and development in order to “divide the risks, and share the gains.” The commentary asserted that “in the research and development process of the coronavirus vaccine, China is an active contributor and result sharer” and reiterated China’s commitment to developing a vaccine and sharing it with other countries. It stated that various US media outlets believed that “in the global fight against the epidemic, China established a better image and made more countries willing to stand on China’s side.”
International Liaison Work
9.28 International Department Head Song Tao (宋涛) and Deputy Head Guo Yezhou (郭业洲) participated in the first meeting of the “China-Indonesia political parties ‘Belt and Road’ joint consultation mechanism.’” Held as a videoconference, the meeting focused “jointly building the ‘Belt and Road’ and jointly promoting the economy and people’s livelihoods.” Other participants included Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee member and Executive Deputy Governor (冯飞), Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian (肖千), Golkar Party Chair, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, and COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Working Committee Chair Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Foreign Affairs Committee Chair and People's Consultative Assembly Deputy Speaker Ahmad Basarah, and Great Indonesia Movement Party Director of Foreign Relations Irawan Ronodipuro.
9.28 Song Tao and International Department Assistant Head Zhu Rui (朱锐) held a videoconference with Iranian Expediency Discernment Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee.
9.28 Guo Yezhou held a videoconference with Maltese Labour Party Deputy Leader for Party Affairs Daniel Micallef.
9.29 Guo Yezhou held a videoconference with Chinese Ambassador to Kiribati Tang Songgen (唐松根) and Tobwaan Kiribati Party President Ioteba Redfern.
9.30 Song Tao and Guo Yezhou participated in a theoretical seminar on “Development of Socialism through the Lens of COVID-19 Response: Theory, Institution-Building & Practice” jointly organized by the CCP International Department and the 21st Century Marxist Research Association of South Asia via videoconference. The seminar also featured leaders from 15 left-wing political parties of four South Asian countries, including Nepal Communist Party Secretariat member and former Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Sri Lankan People’s United Front Leader and Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Dinesh Gunawardena.
Organization Work
9.29 Ren Jingdong (任京东) was appointed deputy head of the National Energy Administration.
9.30 Wu Jianghao (吴江浩) was appointed assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.