Boosting consumption, sovereignty & ruling HK
Below are the stories that I found noteworthy from the People’s Daily’s February 02, 2021, edition.
Page 1: It’s the holiday season in China so very little of significance on the front page. The lead story is about Xi Jinping meeting leaders from non-Communist parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, as well as “public figures without party affiliation,” as Xinhua English put it, ahead of the upcoming Spring Festival. Xi basically talked up the CCP’s policies over the past year. Xinhua says that he then “called upon them to preserve the political character of pursuing the common goal with unity and working together with the CPC.” This entails continuously improving “their political judgment, political understanding, and political execution ability.” Xi also announced that a campaign will be launched this year within the CPC on studying the Party's history. He urged people from other political parties and public figures with no party affiliation to view the CPC’s centenary as an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to cooperation with the Party and enhance their self-improvement.
Page 2: There’s an interview with Zhang Yuxian, Director of the Economic Forecast Department of the National Information Center, on China’s economic performance. Zhang basically says that China did well in coping with the pandemic and external shocks. He talked about expansion of material strength, the resilience of the economy, the livelihood support provided to the people. Going ahead, he believes that “the continued upward trend of China's economy will not change...my country has abundant labor resources and capital, and its technological innovation capabilities have been steadily and substantially improved.”
The challenges for 2021 entail: “The continued global epidemic prevention and control and world economic recovery are still subject to greater uncertainty; domestic demand has been relatively slow to recover under the impact of the epidemic; the macro leverage ratio has increased last year. In some places, the pressure on fiscal revenue and expenditure and the employment pressure of key groups have increased, and the task of preventing and deflating systemic risks remains arduous.”
Priorities for the year: “Adhering to the strategic base point of expanding domestic demand, let’s first look at consumption as the first engine. At the consumption end, there are still many obstacles: the supply of medium and high-end goods and services is still difficult to meet the demand for consumer upgrades; there are still certain restrictions on the enhancement of consumer ability and willingness; there are shortcomings in consumer infrastructure such as elderly care, central and western logistics; the quality standard system is relatively lagging behind; the unity and fairness of the market still needs to be strengthened, local protectionism and industry monopoly phenomenon needs to be eliminated; the construction of the credit system still needs to be improved.”
On investment, he wants to increase the construction of new infrastructure, and make up for the shortcomings of traditional infrastructure construction.
Page 3: I guess I can classify today’s Zhong Sheng commentary as the first truly negative piece since the Biden administration took charge, although it’s not attacking the administration. Other pieces so far have been negative from the perspective of the Trump administration’s policies. This one takes off on racial discrimination in the US. It says that while Biden’s made this a top priority,
“racial discrimination has long been a pervasive and systemic problem in the United States, and the source of the problem is inexhaustible and the root of the problem is difficult to eliminate. The shocking incidents of racial discrimination in the United States that have become international hotspots are just the tip of the iceberg.” The piece then talks about how the pandemic has not just exacerbated racial discrimination.
It then says that “in recent years, the federal government has struggled to hold even the basic moral line when racial conflicts have erupted. Some American politicians are eager to engage in discourse games, converting racial issues that need to be faced by American society into weapons of political attacks, which has long caused visible fatigue and growing discontent among the public.”
Next, Wang Yi spoke to the Syrian and Saudi foreign ministers. To Syria’s Faisal Mekdad, Wang said (English version) that “the future of Syria should be decided by the Syrian people themselves, he said, stressing that the international community should adhere to the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned principle, and support the process of reaching a solution which conforms to Syria’s national conditions and accommodates the concerns of all parties through inclusive political dialogue.”
Mekdad said that “Syria firmly upholds the one-China policy and firmly stands with China on issues involving China's core interests such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Syria strongly condemns the groundless suppression and smear by some Western countries of China's anti-pandemic efforts and will never forget that the country's first batch of foreign anti-pandemic aid came from China.”
With Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Wang talked about (English version) preparations for the China-Arab summit. He also said this: “China attaches great importance to Saudi Arabia's important influence in the region and understands Saudi Arabia's reasonable concerns in safeguarding the security of its own and that of the Gulf. China condemns attacks on civilians and civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia, supports Saudi Arabia's efforts to maintain security and stability, and opposes external interference, unilateral bullying and terrorism.” No remarks reported on Faisal talking about China’s core interests like the Syrian foreign minister did.
Page 4: Two pieces that I found noteworthy. First, this one about Xi’s recent chat with Carrie Lam. It essentially tells you about Beijing’s anxieties and plans for political life in Hong Kong. The piece makes Xi’s remark to Lam about “patriots” ruling Hong Kong as the fundamental principle for the actions we can expect going ahead.
“‘Patriots ruling Hong Kong’ is the proper meaning of one country, two systems, and is a major issue of right and wrong that concerns national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. As Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China, patriotism and love for Hong Kong are political ethics that every politician in the SAR must adhere to, and they are also clearly stipulated in the Basic Law and the Hong Kong National Security Law.”
Here’s more: “In recent years, a group of anti-China and rebellious elements have made use of their status as public officials to incite confrontation and create rift, interfering with, obstructing and undermining the effective administration of the SAR Government. They support ‘black violence’...openly ask foreign governments to sanction China and interfere in Hong Kong affairs, and engage in confrontation with bottomless behavior, which has turned into social unrest, causing serious harm to one country, two systems and endangering not only national security but also the whole Hong Kong society paying a heavy price. The Hong Kong community has become increasingly clear: If we allow these people who do not identify with the country, deliberately confront the central authorities, or even intend to subvert state power, collude with external forces to endanger national security to seize the right to govern Hong Kong, not only national sovereignty, security and development interests can hardly be effectively safeguarded, the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and the general well-being of Hong Kong people will also be threatened and damaged.”
The piece then talks about how the new national security law has taken HK on the path back “from chaos to governance.”
Next, Anhui has a new Governor in Wang Qingxian. If you’d like, here’s the official biography of his work in the Party. His last post was the Secretary of the Qingdao Municipal Party Committee.
Page 9: Zhang Yuejiao from Tsinghua’s Law school, writes about the principle of sovereignty underpinning international relations. It’s a bit tiresome because he basically is reiterating key principles. So here’s the proposition: “The key to sovereign equality lies in the fact that countries do not distinguish between large and small, strong and weak, rich and poor, that sovereignty and dignity must be respected, that there is no interference in internal affairs, and that countries have the right to choose their own social systems and development paths.”
And here’s what the problem has been from Zhang’s perspective: “The current response to the global pandemic has once again demonstrated that sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs are still principles of international law that must be upheld. At the critical moment of the global fight against the pandemic, the problem that hinders the unity and cooperation of the international community is precisely because politicians of individual countries disregarded the principle of sovereign equality, shifted the blame, politicized and stigmatized the epidemic, and insisted on rejected international exchanges and dialogue and cooperation, seriously undermining the global fight against the epidemic. We advocate and uphold the international rule of law, strengthen the coordination of systems and rules, and oppose the use of the epidemic to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries. At the same time, we will continue to promote regional and global agendas such as building the One Belt, One Road and addressing climate change. Only by adhering to the principle of sovereign equality can we uphold multilateralism and oppose unilateralism, promote the gradual resolution of relevant disputes on the basis of mutual respect and equal consultation, and continue to build consensus on international solidarity and cooperation.”
Interesting that this piece comes today, given that Yang Jiechi just delivered a speech (video here) that set a “red line” with the Biden administration with regard to interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
Finally, here’s what was covered on the international page:
