2024's First PBSC Meeting - Iron Army ≠ Wolf Warrior Diplomacy - CCDI Plenary Preview - Xi Thought on Culture's Implications for Rule of Law - China Sanctions US Defense Firms
In Friday’s paper, we had a report (full English report) on the first PBSC meeting of the year. The meeting heard work reports from the leading Party members groups of the:
NPCSC
State Council
CPPCC National Committee
Supreme People’s Court
Supreme People’s Procuratorate
and a report from the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee
The report adds:
“It was stressed at the meeting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and is a critical year for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan. These five leading Party members groups must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deeply understand the decisive significance of the affirmation of Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and the affirmation of the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, become more conscious of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership, and strengthen confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. They must uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole, and uphold the CPC Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. They should comprehensively implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the Second Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and adhere to the highest political principle of the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee. They should never forget our original aspiration and founding mission, forge ahead with brave initiative and effective action to advance Chinese modernization, which is of utmost political importance. They should, under the unified command of the CPC Central Committee, do a good job in making concerted efforts to promote the implementation of the strategic deployment of the 20th CPC National Congress, and make greater contributions to building China into a strong country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
It also called on the Secretariat to “strengthen its sense of political responsibility, fulfill its duties, improve its capability to deliberate important issues and get things done, prioritize key areas, ensure sound implementation of relevant policies and continue to fulfill the tasks assigned by the CPC Central Committee.”
On Saturday, there was a report on the State Council meeting, which:
discussed policies and measures for the development of the silver-haired economy
reviewed guiding opinions on further optimising government services and improving administrative efficiency
discussed a report on the payment of wages for migrant workers
submitted the draft amendment of the Accounting Law and the draft energy law to the NPC Standing Committee for review
a draft interim regulation on the management of carbon emissions trading was adopted.
Here are the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People's Daily’s edition on Monday, January 08, 2024.
Page 1: On the front page today, there are two long articles previewing the CCDI plenary. I am focussing on one of these, which offers a recap for 2023. The first section of the article basically highlights Xi’s role in promoting “self-revolution” through the past year. Some key points:
The holding of the democratic life meeting at the end of 2023, focussing on the implementation of eight-point regulation on conduct. This was adopted on December 4, 2012.
Last January, at the second plenary session of the 20th CCDI, Xi had introduced the Six How to Always - 六个如何始终 (“How to always ensure that we always stay true to our original aspiration and keep the mission firmly in mind? How should we always unify thoughts, will and actions? How to always ensure that we always maintain a strong governing ability and leadership level? How to always maintain the entrepreneurial spirit? How can we always identify and solve problems in a timely manner? How can we always maintain a clean and upright political ecology?)
At the first session of the 14th NPC, he had said (English speech) that: “We must remain sober-minded and resolved about addressing the challenges unique to a big political party as ours, and have the courage to carry out self-reform. We must unceasingly exercise full and rigorous Party self-governance, unswervingly fight against corruption, and always maintain the unity and solidarity of the Party. By doing so, we will be able to ensure that the Party will never change its nature, its conviction, and its character, which will serve as a strong guarantee for building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation.” 在十四届全国人大一次会议上，习近平总书记着眼全党全国人民的中心任务，强调“要时刻保持解决大党独有难题的清醒和坚定，勇于自我革命，一刻不停全面从严治党，坚定不移反对腐败，始终保持党的团结统一，确保党永远不变质、不变色、不变味，为强国建设、民族复兴提供坚强保证”.
On March 30, the Politburo deliberated the regulations on the reporting of personal information by leading cadres.
In June 2023, the National Organization Work Conference was held, where Xi made important instructions, emphasising the significance of “comprehensive and strict Party governance.”
It adds that: “addressing the unique challenges of a large party requires both persistent and concentrated efforts. The year is the first year for the full implementation of the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. Carrying out the thematic education campaign to study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is a concentrated effort to solve the unique problems of a big party.” 解决大党独有难题，既需要常抓不懈，又需要集中发力。全面贯彻党的二十大精神的开局之年，在全党深入开展学习贯彻新时代中国特色社会主义思想主题教育，正是解决大党独有难题的一次集中发力. The campaign was formally launched on March 30, 2023, during a Politburo meeting. This meeting was followed by a Politburo study session to discuss the campaign. “The CPC Central Committee took the lead in setting a good example, demonstrating to and driving Party organizations at all levels and cadres r to take the thematic education campaign as an opportunity to find deficiencies, identify gaps, clarify directions, undergo political check-ups, clean up political dust, correct behavioural deviations, and address prominent problems in ideological and organisational purity.” 党中央率先垂范、以上率下，示范带动各级党组织和广大党员干部以主题教育为契机，查不足、找差距、明方向，接受政治体检，打扫政治灰尘，纠正行为偏差，解决思想不纯、组织不纯方面存在的突出问题.
During grassroots research visits, General Secretary Xi Jinping attached great importance to thematic education, personally planning, deploying, and promoting work. In Guangdong, he emphasised ‘forging the soul through learning’; in Shaanxi, he interpreted it as ‘increasing wisdom through learning’; in Inner Mongolia, he talked about ‘rectifying the atmosphere through learning’; in Jiangsu, he called for ‘promoting actions through learning’; in Sichuan, he emphasised the need to ‘examine formalism and bureaucracy, analyse the root causes, prescribe targeted remedies, and achieve practical results’; in Jiangxi, he pointed out the need to ‘incorporate practical requirements throughout the entire process of thematic education, resolutely prevent and overcome formalism and bureaucracy’; in Shanghai, it was emphasised that ‘it is necessary to grasp the second batch of theme education campaign, deepen comprehensive and strict Party governance, promote a political environment in which one does not dare to, cannot and does not want to be corrupt, strengthen the political and organisational functions of Party organisations at all levels, and ensure that all work is implemented with strict discipline, practical style and ethical integrity…” 党中央率先垂范、以上率下，示范带动各级党组织和广大党员干部以主题教育为契机，查不足、找差距、明方向，接受政治体检，打扫政治灰尘，纠正行为偏差，解决思想不纯、组织不纯方面存在的突出问题。基层调研中，习近平总书记对主题教育念兹在兹，亲自谋划、亲自部署、亲自推动——在广东，强调“以学铸魂”；在陕西，解读“以学增智”；在内蒙古，阐释“以学正风”；在江苏，号召“以学促干”；在四川，强调“要对形式主义、官僚主义的东西来一次检视，分析根源，对症下药，切实改出实效”；在江西，指出“要把实的要求贯穿主题教育全过程，坚决防止和克服形式主义、官僚主义”；在上海，强调“要抓实第二批主题教育，深入推进全面从严治党，一体推进不敢腐、不能腐、不想腐，强化各级党组织的政治功能和组织功能，以严的纪律、实的作风、廉的操守确保各项工作落到实处”…
“Through the concentrated efforts within the ambit of the thematic education campaign, Party members and cadres have deepened their understanding of the decisive significance of ‘Two Establishments’ and consciously adhered to the ‘two safeguards.’ Using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to focus the mind and cast the soul to achieve new results, the spirit of entrepreneurship has been effectively stimulated, and the atmosphere of doing real work has become stronger.” 通过主题教育的集中发力，广大党员干部深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义、坚决做到“两个维护”的自觉性有了新提高，用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想凝心铸魂取得新成效，干事创业的精气神得到有效激发、真抓实干的氛围愈发浓厚.
In section 2, we get some data.
In the first three quarters of 2023, the national disciplinary and supervisory authorities filed cases against a total of 54 central-level cadres, 2,480 the department and bureau-level cadres, and 20,000 cadres at the county and division levels. Starting from the 20th Party Congress to November 2023, the country has investigated and resolved 112,000 cases related to the ‘four winds’, subjected 161,000 individuals to criticism and education, with disciplinary and administrative actions taken against 113,000 people in accordance with Party regulations… 2023年前三季度，全国纪检监察机关共立案中管干部54人、厅局级干部2480人、县处级干部2万人；党的二十大以来，截至2023年11月，全国共查处“四风”问题11.2万起，批评教育和处理16.1万人，其中给予党纪政务处分11.3万人…
Then, there’s more rhetoric emphasising strict Party governance. It explains that:
“Comprehensive and strict Party governance must first be viewed politically. As a powerful measure to urge the entire party to adhere to the centralised and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, the fundamental task of political supervision in the new era and on the new journey is to promote Party members and cadres to deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments’, and resolutely uphold the ‘two safeguards’, in order to ensure that the major decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the important requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping are implemented to the letter.” 全面从严治党首先要从政治上看。作为督促全党坚持党中央集中统一领导的有力举措，新时代新征程政治监督的根本任务，就是推动党员干部深刻领悟“两个确立”的决定性意义、坚决做到“两个维护”，确保党中央重大决策部署和习近平总书记重要要求不折不扣落到实处.
It adds that: “Wherever the Party Central Committee’s major decisions are deployed, political supervision will follow close behind in order to effectively clear bottlenecks, obstructions, and difficulties in the implementation process, ensuring that the decisions and arrangements of the 20th Party Congress are implemented effectively.” 党中央重大决策部署到哪里，政治监督就跟进到哪里，切实打通了贯彻执行中的堵点淤点难点，保障党的二十大决策部署落实见效.
In the final section, there are some key developments from 2023 that have been highlighted:
The publication of the plan by the Central Committee to issue and revise Party regulations from 2023 to 2027. I had covered this in detail in April 2023.
At the end of the year, the revised Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action were put out.
The issuance of the Central Inspection Work Plan (2023-2027) 中央巡视工作规划（2023—2027年) in May 2023, which clarified the guiding ideology, basic principles, goals, tasks, and work priorities for the next five years
In September, the Work Plan of the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group (2023-2027) was released. Caixin had then reported: “China has released a new five-year plan to deepen its corruption crackdown in sectors such as finance, health care, sports, higher education and on state-owned enterprises, with an aim to stamp out “industrial, systemic and regional corruption.”...The tougher campaign will extend to areas such as employment, entrepreneurship, social security, food and drug safety, and law enforcement will also be targeted…”
The only other noteworthy report (English report) on the page informs that in 2023, a total of 921,000 invention patents, 2.09 million utility models, 638,000 appearance designs, 4.38 million registered trademarks, and 11,300 registered layout designs of integrated circuits were authorized in China.
Page 3: A couple of stories to note. First, new Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu will be visiting China for a four-day tour starting today. This is his first state visit since taking office. MoFA said:
“President Xi Jinping will host a welcome ceremony and a welcome banquet for President Mohamed Muizzu. The two heads of state will hold talks and attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji will meet with President Mohamed Muizzu respectively. China and the Maldives boast time-honored friendship. In the past 52 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have treated each other with respect and supported each other, setting a fine example of equality and mutual benefits between countries of different sizes. In 2014, President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to the Maldives. The two sides agreed to build a future-oriented all-around friendly and cooperative partnership. Over the past decade, the relations between China and the Maldives have deepened and achieved fruitful outcomes of practical cooperation in various fields, including Belt and Road cooperation, and deepening traditional friendship. The relations between China and the Maldives now stand at a new historical starting point. We believe that through this visit, the two heads of state will provide strategic guidance for the bilateral relations to reach a new height.”
The visit will, of course, be closely watched in India. It’s been a rough beginning for the Muizzu administration in terms of its dealings with India thus far. Three of its ministers - Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha, and Hassan Zihan - have reportedly been suspended. This was because of their remarks in the context of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep, where he sought to promote tourism. Read the details around the controversy here.
Second, there’s a report informing that China’s forex reserves totaled $3.238 trillion as of the end of December 2023, rising by $66.2 billion.
Page 6: There is an article by Ying Yong, who is the Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. He writes about Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and its implications from a law-enforcement perspective. I am not doing a full translation. Rather I am focussing on section 2 of the article, where he makes some important operative points.
Ying argues that:
“Culture is closely tied to the foundation and destiny of a country. To advance the Chinese-style modernization, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of a culturally strong nation, promoting the common prosperity of people’s spiritual lives. Procuratorial organs must adhere to a political perspective and emphasise the rule of law, earnestly implement the decisions and deployments made by the 20th Party Congress regarding cultural construction, perform their duties with high quality and efficiency, and provide strong legal protection for the construction of a culturally powerful country.” 文化关乎国本、国运。推进中国式现代化，需要加快建设文化强国，促进人民精神生活共同富裕。检察机关要坚持从政治上着眼、从法治上着力，认真贯彻党的二十大关于文化建设的各项决策部署，以高质效检察履职，为文化强国建设提供有力法治保障.
Resolutely safeguard political security, ideological security and cultural security. Security is the foundation of development, and ideological security and cultural security are related to political security. The procuratorial organs must enhance their awareness of struggle, improve their fighting skills, make full use of legal instruments, and punish crimes in the ideological field in accordance with the law. Conscientiously implement the ‘Guidelines on strengthening the Internet-related rule of law work of Procuratorial organs in the new era’ (关于加强新时代检察机关网络法治工作的意见), punish the criminal activities of the ‘Internet water army’ (网络打手--folks paid for trolling and posting certain kinds of comments online) such as spreading rumours, manipulating public opinion and extortion, actively participate in the governance of Internet culture, promote the creation of a clean Internet cultural space, and resolutely safeguard the ideological security on the Internet. 坚决维护政治安全、意识形态安全和文化安全。安全是发展的基础，意识形态安全、文化安全事关政治安全。检察机关要增强斗争意识，提高斗争本领，用足用好法律武器，依法惩治意识形态领域犯罪。认真落实《关于加强新时代检察机关网络法治工作的意见》，依法惩治“网络水军”造谣引流、舆情敲诈等犯罪活动，积极参与网络文化治理，促进营造清朗网络文化空间，坚决维护网络意识形态安全.
Protect the Chinese cultural context with the power of the rule of law. Historical and cultural heritage carries the genes and blood of the Chinese nation and is an important carrier of inheriting Chinese culture and national spirit. It is necessary to conscientiously implement the cultural relics protection law, crack down on and prevent crimes related to cultural relics in accordance with the law, intensify efforts in tracking, prosecuting, and recovering stolen artefacts, strengthen the retrieval of involved cultural relics, and achieve a comprehensive and integrated approach to prevention and control. Continue to strengthen public interest litigation and prosecution work for the protection of cultural relics and cultural heritage, promote the inheritance of Chinese civilization, and protect the historical context. 以法治之力守护中华文脉。历史文化遗产承载着中华民族的基因和血脉，是传承中国文化和民族精神的重要载体。要认真贯彻文物保护法，依法打击防范文物犯罪，加大追捕追诉追缴力度，加强涉案文物追索返还工作，实现全链条打击、一体化防治。持续加强文物和文化遗产保护公益诉讼检察工作，促进传承中华文明、守护历史文脉.
Consciously ensure the development and prosperity of cultural industries. The modern cultural industry system and cultural market system are important components of the socialist market economy. It is necessary to perform procuratorial functions, fully utilise the power of the rule of law, punish crimes that disrupt the competitive order of the cultural market in accordance with the law, equally protect all types of cultural business entities, strengthen comprehensive judicial protection of intellectual property rights in the cultural field, and focus on strengthening the protection of online intellectual property rights, such as databases, network domain names, and digital copyrights. In doing so, provide judicial protection and create a better legalised business environment for the prosperity and development of the cultural industry. 自觉服务文化产业繁荣发展。现代文化产业体系和文化市场体系，是社会主义市场经济的重要组成部分。要履行检察职能，充分运用法治力量，依法惩治破坏文化市场竞争秩序犯罪，平等保护各类文化经营主体，加强文化领域知识产权综合司法保护，注重加强对数据库、网络域名、数字版权等网络知识产权的司法保护，为文化产业繁荣发展营造更好的法治化营商环境。
Finally, he talks about the need to promote core socialist values and lead the socialist rule of law construction through the performance of procuratorial duties.
Page 10: There’s a report on a team from the Tianjin International Research Center for Nanoparticles and Nanosystems at Tianjin University achieving a breakthrough in developing the world’s first functional semiconductor made from graphene. SCMP’s report on this informs that this was a Chinese-US research team, with the study being led by professors Ma Lei from Tianjin University and Walt de Heer from Georgia Tech.
Page 16: There’s a report on China sanctioning five US defense companies. Xinhua reported:
“The U.S. arms sales to China's Taiwan region in blatant violation of the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, particularly the August 17 joint communique of 1982, and the illegal unilateral sanctions the United States has imposed on Chinese companies and individuals under various false pretexts seriously harm China’s sovereignty and security interests, said the spokesperson. The U.S. arms sales and the illegal unilateral sanctions also undermine the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and violate the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has made solemn demarches to the United States, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that in response to these gravely wrong actions taken by the United States and in accordance with China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, China has decided to sanction five U.S. defense industry companies, namely BAE Systems Land and Armament, Alliant Techsystems Operation, AeroVironment, ViaSat and Data Link Solutions. The countermeasures consist of freezing the properties of those companies in China, including their movable and immovable property, and prohibiting organizations and individuals in China from transactions and cooperation with them, the spokesperson said.”
Other Stories:
Although this is not in the paper, do check out this Xinhua report, refuting Reuters’ interpretation of the phrase “Iron Army” as encouragement to “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy. It is really interesting that Xinhua put out this clarification, and I must add that I agree with Xinhua’s interpretation of the phrase. I had covered Xi’s comments to Chinese envoys in late December for our Eye on China newsletter, and I didn’t think that he was emphasising the need for a tough or abrasive approach in general.
The report says:
“Recently a Reuters report cited a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping as saying that China is reviving ‘wolf warrior diplomacy,’ but upon examination, Xinhua discovered the report was the result of a misreading of official Chinese literature. The Reuters report quoted a speech Xi made before Chinese diplomatic envoys in late December as saying that the Chinese ambassadors were urged to ‘forge a diplomatic iron army.’ The report went on to say the phrase ‘iron army’ revived ‘the abrasive Wolf Warrior rhetoric propagated by some diplomats as a sign of China's increasingly assertive foreign policy’. By making the association, the Reuters report implies that the call for forging an ‘iron army’ is an order to carry out ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’ in disguise. In reality, this association is misleading. ‘Iron Army’ is a frequently appearing phrase in official Chinese literature and carries a specific meaning. It emphasizes the discipline of government officials and has nothing to do with the armed forces. That’s why the phrase has been around for ages and can be found in official speeches across government agencies, ranging from law enforcement to environmental protection. For example, in an interview in 2021, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu called for forging ‘an environmental protection iron army’, using the phrase in the sense of strengthening discipline. If the Reuters report provided a more complete context for the phrase iron army, readers would realize that the envoys were not being urged to put on a menacing face before the world. Instead, they were being encouraged to act on their best behavior and not bend the rules. Admittedly, for Western readers, the phrase iron army conjures up an intimidating image that can easily be interpreted as a synonym for wolf warrior, but it doesn't really mean that. Wrongly associating phrases and basing entire news stories on them does no good in offering readers an accurate understanding of what China is saying.”