Biden & Core Interests, Anti-corruption Crackdown, & Navigating 'instability and uncertainty'

Below are the stories that I found noteworthy from the People’s Daily’s January 22, 2021, edition

Page 1: There’s a new book compiling Xi Jinping’s thoughts - this one’s on building China's strength in cyberspace. PD’s report isn’t fundamentally different from Xinhua English’s report. It says that “Xi's discourses, along with a series of new ideas and viewpoints he has put forward on the subject of building China's strength in cyberspace, constitute a fundamental guideline for the development of China's cyber and information undertakings in the new era.”

Next, there’s a long piece in connection with the fifth plenary of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. It talks about the disciplinary measures adopted last year, particularly in connection with the fight against the pandemic. It says that “resolutely investigating and punishing party members and cadres who have fluttered and neglected their duties in the fight against the epidemic with a zero tolerance attitude demonstrates the determination and self-confidence of our party to pay more attention to self-construction in the face of risks and challenges.” The steps taken towards this were authorised under the “Notice on Strengthening the Party’s Leadership and Providing a Strong Political Guarantee for Winning the War of Preventing and Controlling the Epidemic.”

The story also talks about efforts towards “grassroots burden reduction” efforts and tackling corruption linked to the poverty alleviation campaign. It says that 

“from January to November 2020, discipline inspection and supervision agencies at all levels held accountable 9554 party members and leading cadres who were ineffective in performing poverty alleviation responsibilities; investigated and dealt with 56,900 cases of corruption and work style in the field of poverty alleviation, criticized education and helped and dealt with 85,000, of which Party discipline and government affairs sanctioned 35,700 people.”

Here’s more: “In 2020, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and State Supervision announced the news of 18 cadres under review and investigation, including Zhang Zhinan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor, and Sun Lijun, a member of the Party Committee and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Public Security, and a number of other "tigers" fell one after another. The epidemic did not stop the pace of chasing fugitives. From January to November 2020, the "SkyNet 2020" operation recovered 1,229 fugitives and 2.445 billion yuan of stolen money.”

On future action, it says: “Comprehensive strict governance of the party must always adhere to the political construction as the primary task, to promote the normalization of political oversight concrete, resolutely rectify the implementation of the central party's decision and deployment of formalism, bureaucracy, such as orders, perfunctory, ineffective performance, to ensure the smooth flow of the party's central government orders, the party's unity of purpose to move forward.”

And: “Comprehensive strict governance must always adhere to the center, serve the overall situation, focus on the bull's-eye, find the focus, especially to continue to increase anti-corruption efforts in sectors and industries where power is concentrated, capital-intensive, resource-rich, and people's livelihoods are at stake, more prominently play the effectiveness of supervision and governance, with a tight supervision system to prevent risk challenges and build a solid security barrier.”

Finally, there’s a long Ren Zhongping commentary. It essentially talks about how the Party and country led by Xi overcame the challenges of 2020, while continuing down the road of innovation and reform. It then says:

“Looking up, the future of national rejuvenation is bright; looking back, a century of suffering and glory. Over the past century, the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people to resist tenaciously when foreign enemies invaded, to fight bloodily when mountains and rivers were broken, to be indignant and strong when they were poor, and to advance with the times when the times were developing.”

Then says: “In the world's unprecedented changes, we know that ‘the closer we are to national rejuvenation, the less smooth sailing it will be, the more risky and challenging it will be, and the more turbulent it will be’. The world has never seen a big change in a century, not a moment, a region and a country of change, but the world of change, the times of change, the history of change. Today, the world has entered a period of turbulent change, the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic is widespread and far-reaching, economic globalization has encountered headwinds, unilateralism, protectionism, hegemonism continue to rise, a variety of "black swans" "gray rhinoceros" events occur from time to time, we must drive a good top wind ship in the more adverse external environment, we must seek new development in the international environment of significantly increased instability and uncertainty.”

Here’s how the commentary views the task of modernisation ahead: “The modernization we want to achieve is a modernization with a huge population, a modernization with common prosperity for all people, a modernization with harmonious material and spiritual civilization, a modernization with harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature, and a modernization on the road of peaceful development. Such a path is unprecedented, such a change has no precedent, and such a journey is full of challenges.”

I also thought this was a fairly realistic view of the state of affairs: “we are well aware that ‘my country's development is still in a period of important strategic opportunities, but both opportunities and challenges have new development changes.’ In the past, we were able to take advantage of the trend and it was easier to grasp opportunities; now we have to go up against the wind, and it is more difficult to grasp opportunities. In the past, the general environment was relatively stable, and the risks and challenges were relatively easy to see; now the world is turbulent and complex, geopolitical challenges are high and waves, and there are many submerged reefs and undercurrents, which puts forward higher requirements for coping capacity. In the past, our level of development was low, and we were more complementary to others; now that our level of development has improved, we are more competitive with others.”

Page 2: Let’s start with Li Keqiang chairing the State Council’s executive meeting on Wednesday, where he urged for efforts to ensure that no undue burdens are placed on businesses and people. He called for removal of arbitrary charges on businesses, demanding the orderly collection of taxes and fees. Essentially, this is about ensuring that businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, continue to get financial support, while the central leadership cracks down on abuses of power at the local level.

Another report on the page says that the National Intellectual Property Office Directors Meeting was held on Thursday. It found that “as of the end of 2020, the number of invention patents per 10,000 people has reached 15.8, exceeding the national 13th Five-Year Plan target…(and) the number of valid registered trademarks in my country reached 30.173 million.” It also outlines a broad list of tasks to be done in 2021. These are really generic to list them out here.

Page 3: Three pieces on the page. First, a story highlighting positive coverage in the international press and comments by businesses with regard to China’s economic recovery following the Q1 dip in 2020. The central point that the piece wants to communicate is this: 

“People from various countries interviewed by our reporter spoke highly of this, and many foreign media paid attention to and reported on it, saying that against the backdrop of the global economy being hit hard by the Newcastle pneumonia epidemic, it is of great importance for China's economy to take the lead in recovery, bringing significant benefits and confidence to the international community and injecting new momentum into promoting global economic recovery and development.”

Next, MoFA’s comments on US-China ties, hoping for “better angels” to overcome “evil.” Here’s what Hua Chunying said about Biden being sworn in. Do make sure you read till the final commentary in today’s edition below to contrast it with these remarks.

“We congratulate President Biden on taking office. I've noticed that the American media say this turns a new page in American history. This morning, as I watched the fireworks display and heard the crowd cheering at the inauguration party, I did feel somewhat emotional. Indeed, it has been a very rough patch. After going though the trying days, the people of China and the United States deserve a better future, and we wish President Biden every success in state governance...Due to differences in social system, stage of development, history and culture, it is normal for China and the United States to have some differences. But as President Biden said in his inaugural address, democracy allows disagreement and "Disagreement must not lead to disunion". I think this should also be reflected in international relations...President Biden also mentioned that the United States "has too much to heal, much to restore". The same is true of China-US relations. In the past few years, the Trump administration, especially Pompeo, has laid too many mines, burned too many bridges and destroyed too many roads in China-US relations, which are waiting to be cleared, rebuilt and repaired. I think both China and the United States need to show courage and wisdom, truly hear, see and show respect to one another. This is what we should do as two major powers. This is also what the international community wishes to see.”

Pages 5 & 6: These are dedicated to centenary propaganda. Today the focus is on the Jinggangshan Spirit. A bit of context for those who might not be familiar with what this means. Here’s something from GT on this: “Jinggangshan is known for being the ‘cradle of the Chinese revolution.’ In October 1927, the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops led by Mao Zedong marched to Jinggangshan, set up the first revolutionary base there.” The site is, of course, one of the key places for “red tourism.” Given the history, there’s lots of talk about having courage and preparing from struggle - standard fare really for all this.

Page 11: Some interesting reports to note on the page. First, Li Guozhong, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, said that in “the 15 main livelihood satisfaction surveys organized by the National Bureau of Statistics, the national residents’ satisfaction with social security reached 83.6%.” Li also said that they had eliminated 3,392 triad organizations last year. Next, two high profile arrests by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. The first of these is the former party secretary and chairman of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Hu Wenming, who was suspected of taking bribes and abuse of power. Hu was the chief commander of China's aircraft carrier program. He retired in 2019. A probe into his tenure began in May 2020, reports Global Times, with the probe being completed by Central Commission for Discipline Inspection before being transferred to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. The second is Wen Guodong, former deputy governor of the Qinghai provincial government, for accepting bribes. Wen’s investigation began in September 2020. Earlier this month, he was expelled from the Party. The official statement at that time had said “Wen lost his ideals and convictions, played at major decisions and arrangements by the CPC Central Committee and traded his power with illegal private businesses, resulting in continuing illegal mining activities in the province and serious damage to local political ecosystem...Wen severely violated the Party's political discipline and rules on organization and frugality, committed duty crime and is suspected of taking bribes...he showed no signs of restraint even after the 18th CPC National Congress.”

Page 16: On the international page, we have a report on Biden taking charge in Washington, suicide bombings in Iran, and arrests of “extremists” in Uzbekistan. In addition, there’s a Zhong Sheng commentary which talks about sanctions against Trump administration officials. If one were unclear that Beijing will continue to be unyielding on its expanded view of and assertion on core interests, this should make it clear. Of course, this is so different from what Hua Chunying said at the presser I quoted earlier.

The piece says that these US officials essentially are to blame for “dragging China and the United States into the trap of conflict and confrontation...It is precisely under the poison of these anti-China politicians that the last US administration made a fundamental mistake in its strategic perception of China. It regarded China as its biggest strategic competitor and did everything it could to suppress, slander, and discredit China. The Sino-US relations have caused serious damage, bringing Sino-US relations into the most severe situation since the establishment of diplomatic relations.”

And then this: “Respecting each other’s core interests is the basis and prerequisite for the development of Sino-US relations. Taiwan, Hong Kong-related, Tibet-related, and Xinjiang-related issues are related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as China's core interests, and no external forces are allowed to interfere. No country or force should expect China to trade its core interests, and no one should expect China to swallow the bitter fruit that undermines national sovereignty, security, and development interests. China does not provoke trouble, but it is not afraid of trouble either. We have said many times that those who seriously harm China’s national interests will pay a heavy price. China does what it says, and no country or force should have any illusions about it.”