BRICS FMs Meet - Zhong Sheng on US Democracy: 'Rich Have, Rich Rule & Rich Enjoy' - Li on Support for Market Entities - Meteorological development Guidelines - Party's Strict Governance
Hi folks,
Before we get to today’s paper, I’d like to share a couple of things.
First, my colleague Megha Pardhi and I have recently launched a project ‘Tracking PLA Members in CPC Central Committee’ on The Takshashila Institution’s website. This is a dynamic project; so there will be additions over the year. At present, we’ve plotted the distribution of PLA officers on the 19th Central Committee. Next, we will be working to analyse likely changes in terms of the PLA’s representation in the 20th Central Committee. If you have any suggestions, corrections, feedback or would like to contribute to the project, please do reach out to me.
Second, if you haven’t already, do read this piece below by China Media Project’s David Bandurski.
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Friday, May 20, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: At the top of the page is a report about Xi Jinping’s speech to the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Xinhua reports:
“Xi noted that currently, the impacts of major changes and a pandemic unseen in a century are being combined, and factors of instability, uncertainty and insecurity are increasing in the international situation. ‘Despite it, peace and development remain the unchanging theme of the times, the aspiration of people across countries for a better life remains unchanged, and the historical mission for the international community to pursue solidarity and win-win cooperation remains unchanged,’ Xi said. As a positive, inspiring and constructive force in the international community, the BRICS countries need to firm up belief, brave the storms and waves, and take real action to promote peace and development, uphold fairness and justice, and advocate democracy and freedom, so as to inject stability and positive energy into international relations in a period of turbulence and transformation, Xi said.
President Xi stressed that both history and reality tell us that seeking one’s own security at the expense of others’ will only create new tensions and risks. To promote common security in the world, he put forward not long ago the Global Security Initiative (GSI). BRICS countries need to strengthen political mutual trust and security cooperation, maintain close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns, respect each other's sovereignty, security and development interests, oppose hegemonism and power politics, reject Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, and work together to build a global community of security for all, Xi said.
Development is a common task for emerging markets and developing countries, Xi underscored, adding that facing the various risks and challenges of the day, it is more than ever important for emerging markets and developing countries to strengthen solidarity and cooperation. He called on the five BRICS countries to engage in dialogue and exchanges with more emerging markets and developing countries to increase mutual understanding and trust, tighten the bond of cooperation, and deepen the convergence of interests, so as to make the pie of cooperation bigger and the force for progress stronger, and contribute still more to the lofty vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.”
Next, there’s a report (English report) about Xi’s letter to the BRICS Political Parties, Think Tanks and Civil Society Organisations Forum, which opened in Beijing on Thursday. Over 130 participants from 10 countries representing political parties, think tanks and non-governmental organisations attended the meeting via video link. In the letter,
“Xi said the global economic recovery is currently weak and faltering, compounded by a widening development gap. Meanwhile, climate change and digital governance are facing daunting challenges. He stressed that countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) should stay true to their original founding aspiration and bear in mind the mission of cooperation to work together with the majority of developing countries, rise to the challenges and create a bright future for development.”
Third, a letter by Xi in reply to scholars based at Nanjing University, who returned to China after studying abroad. Xinhua reports that around 120 representatives of young scholars in Nanjing University who returned home from overseas since the 18th national congress of the CPC in 2012 recently wrote to Xi about their education and research work and their resolve to play their role in building China into a strong nation. In response, Xi said that,
In your letter, you said that it is a blessing to be born in this great era, and that young people who have returned from studying abroad should be concerned with ‘national affairs’ and shoulder ‘national responsibilities’. These words are very good. I hope that you will vigorously carry forward the glorious tradition of studying abroad and serving the country, consciously pursue serving the country and the people, make new achievements in upholding virtue and cultivating people, promoting scientific and technological self-reliance, strive to set an example in strengthening cultural self-confidence and telling Chinese stories well, and actively contribute wisdom and strength to the Chinese dream of building a comprehensive socialist modernised country and realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!” 你们在信中表示，生逢伟大时代是人生之幸，留学归国青年要心系“国家事”、肩扛“国家责”，这些话讲得很好。希望同志们大力弘扬留学报国的光荣传统，以报效国家、服务人民为自觉追求，在坚持立德树人、推动科技自立自强上再创佳绩，在坚定文化自信、讲好中国故事上争做表率，为全面建设社会主义现代化国家、实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦积极贡献智慧和力量！
Quick Thought: It’s really interesting that in the official translation by Xinhua, the idea of studying abroad and serving the country has become the “glorious tradition of studying hard to serve the country.” The original Chinese is - 弘扬留学报国. Perhaps, I am reading too much into it, but I guess this is perhaps a measure of how politicised scholarly and educational exchanges have become between China and the West.
Fourth, there’s a report (English report) about Li Keqiang’s comments during his inspection tour in Qujing and Kunming. This is quite a detailed report, which shares information about Li’s engagements with the people. For instance, he visited an agriculture market, where he talks to freight driver, who tells him about how his income has declined, which has made it difficult to pay back his vehicle loan. Or how he walked into a roadside food stall, asking about operating costs, running water, rent, etc.
Anyway, the big message that Li delivered was about strengthening support for market entities in difficulty. Also, while visiting Wingtech Technology Co Ltd, a private company with foreign investment, Li said that “enterprises should have the drive of reform, innovation and open development, gather advanced elements at home and abroad, and form a multiplier effect. The state supports the development and growth of enterprises of all types of ownership without discrimination.” 李克强来到闻泰通讯公司，得知公司是民企也引入了外资，在产业链多个环节通过开放合作打造优势，他说企业就是要有改革创新、开放发展的劲头，汇聚国内外先进要素，形成乘数效应。国家一视同仁支持各类所有制企业发展壮大.
Fifth, a report about Vice Premier Han Zheng presiding over a meeting of the Central Ecological Environmental Protection Supervision Leading Group. Han called for thoroughly implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilisation.
“The meeting reviewed a report on the second round of environmental inspection and laid out major follow-up tasks. Han urged authorities to make clear the rectification requirements for the problems found by the inspection, and summarise the experience and practices. Focusing on solving the outstanding problems troubling the public, more efforts should be made to brighten the skies, restore the purity of water, and protect the soil quality with higher standards, Han stressed. He stressed the economical use of resources and promote carbon peaking and neutrality in a steady and orderly manner. Han also called for drawing and strictly adhering to an ecological protection red line, strengthening biodiversity protection, enhancing the quality and stability of ecosystems, and maintaining environmental security.”
Finally, a report about a new guideline on promoting high-quality meteorological development from 2022 to 2035. In terms of the long-term goals, the document reportedly says that:
“By 2025, the key core technologies of meteorology will be independently controllable; the modern meteorological science and technology innovation, service, business and management system will be more complete; monitoring precision, forecasting accuracy, and fine service abilities will continue to improve; the level of supply and equality of access to meteorological services will be significantly improved, and meteorological modernisation will reach a new level. By 2035, global leadership will be achieved in meteorological monitoring, forecasting and services, international competitiveness and influence will be significantly improved, and meteorological modernisation featuring smart meteorology will be basically realised.”《纲要》明确，到2025年，气象关键核心技术实现自主可控，现代气象科技创新、服务、业务和管理体系更加健全，监测精密、预报精准、服务精细能力不断提升，气象服务供给能力和均等化水平显著提高，气象现代化迈上新台阶。到2035年，气象关键科技领域实现重大突破，气象监测、预报和服务水平全球领先，国际竞争力和影响力显著提升，以智慧气象为主要特征的气象现代化基本实现.
The document outlines 7 main tasks, as per the report:
enhance the independent innovation capability of meteorological science and technology.
strengthen basic meteorological capacity building. Build a precise meteorological monitoring system, a precise meteorological forecasting system, a precise meteorological service system and a meteorological information support system.
improve the ability to monitor, forecast and give early warning of meteorological disasters; improve society’s ability to prevent and respond to meteorological disasters, improve weather modification capabilities (提升人工影响天气能力), strengthen mechanisms for preventing and reducing meteorological disasters.
improve the level of high-quality development of the meteorological service economy– basically, this is about services for different domains like agriculture, maritime affairs, transportation, etc.
improve services to cover both th urban and rural areas
strengthen meteorological support for ecological progress
build a team of high-level meteorological talents
Page 2: A report with positive reactions from foreigners to Xi Jinping’s speech at the 70th anniversary of CCPIT and Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit. The reporter found that as per these individuals Xi’s speech “pointed out the direction for the global economic recovery and trade cooperation.”
Next, Wang Yi’s comments at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting.
“Noting that the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is an important platform for BRICS political and security cooperation, Wang said that BRICS countries should seek common security together, work for common development, strive to build a firewall for human health, and advocate a global governance philosophy of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. Wang stressed that all parties should further strengthen strategic communication and coordination and political mutual trust, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. All parties should seek strength through unity, and further demonstrate openness and inclusiveness, he added.”
The report added:
“The foreign ministers said that the world is now at a critical turning point in history, and it is more important than ever for BRICS countries to strengthen unity and cooperation. We must uphold multilateralism, uphold the purposes and principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, promote the reform of the global governance system, and build a fairer, more just, more reasonable and more inclusive international structure. The foreign ministers appreciate China's active role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and coping with global climate change, and are willing to strengthen cooperation in various fields such as anti-pandemic cooperation, trade, health, humanities and climate change. All sides agreed to fully implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, better benefit the people of developing countries and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. The Foreign Ministers supported advancing the process of BRICS expansion and indicated that further discussions would be held on this issue. They also exchanged views on matters related to Ukraine and Afghanistan.”
The foreign ministers also issued a joint statement. PD has a brief summary of the statement. A full English version is available on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website. Some excerpts:
“The Ministers reiterated their commitment to multilateralism through upholding international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations as its indispensable cornerstone, and to the central role of the United Nations in an international system in which sovereign states cooperate to maintain peace and security, advance sustainable development, ensure the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, and promoting cooperation based on the spirit of mutual respect, justice and equality.”
“The Ministers reiterated their commitment to enhancing and improving global governance by promoting a more agile, effective, efficient, representative and accountable system; exercising inclusive consultation and collaboration for the benefit of all on the basis of respecting sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, equality, legitimate interests and concerns of different countries.”
“They supported the call for greater representation of developing countries in the international organizations and multilateral fora so that they could play an important role in global governance.”
On COVID, they “recognized the importance of the on-going discussions in the WTO on relevant IP waiver proposals, as well as capacity building and strengthening local production of vaccines and other health tools, especially in developing countries. They stressed the need to continue to strengthen the cooperation on developing, testing methods, therapeutic, research, production and recognition of vaccines, the research on their efficacy and safety in light of new variants of COVID-19 virus and recognition of national document of vaccination against COVID-19 and respective testing, especially for purpose of international travel, as well as knowledge-sharing on traditional medicine among the BRICS countries. They expressed support to the launch of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Center, the establishment of BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for preventing mass infectious diseases risks, and the adoption of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of Regulation of Medical Products for Human Use. They called for conducting an origin-tracing based on scientific principles, evidence-based decision-making, objectivity, inclusivity, transparency and free from stigmatization or interference, within existing international frameworks including the WHO.”
“They reiterated their support for G20’s leading role in global economic governance and underlined that G20 shall remain intact and respond to current global challenges. They called upon the international community to foster partnerships while underlining that it is imperative to strengthen macro-policy coordination in driving the world economy out of the crisis and shaping a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive post-pandemic economic recovery. They urged major developed countries to adopt responsible economic policies, while managing policy spillovers, to avoid severe impacts on developing countries.”
“The Ministers expressed their support for an open, transparent, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system with a view to ensuring a level playing field with special and differential treatment for developing countries, and avoid the unilateral actions and protectionist measures that run counter to the rules of WTO. They supported a robust Global Financial Safety Net with a quota-based and adequately resourced IMF at its center.”
“The Ministers reiterated that the objectives, principles and provisions of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances, must be honored…They also expressed their concern on the attempts to link security with climate change agenda and recalled that the UNFCCC, including the annual COP sessions, is the appropriate and legitimate international forum to discuss the issue of climate change, considering all its dimensions.”
On the war in Ukraine, “The Ministers recalled their national positions concerning the situation in Ukraine as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC and UNGA. They supported talks between Russia and Ukraine. They also discussed their concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed their support to efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and ICRC to provide humanitarian aid in accordance with UN General Assembly resolution 46/182.”
In addition, there are paragraphs on terrorism, arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, building an “open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful ICT-environment,” and AI.
On human rights, we have this: “The Ministers reiterated the need for all countries to cooperate in promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms under the principles of equality and mutual respect. They agreed to continue to treat all human rights including the right to development in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis. They agreed to strengthen cooperation on issues of common interests both within BRICS and in multilateral fora including the United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council, taking into account the necessity to promote, protect and fulfil human rights in a non-selective, non-politicised and constructive manner and without double standards.”
Finally on the page, there’s a report about the meeting of the BRICS Political Parties, Think Tanks and Civil Society Organisations Forum. ILD’s Song Tao said at the meeting that “as the world enters a new period of turbulent change, BRICS countries should become a powerful force for common development, international cooperation, global security and human progress.” He called on the forum to push BRICS countries towards strengthening cooperation in the fields of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific and technological innovation, green and low-carbon development, poverty reduction and poverty alleviation; practice genuine multilateralism, abandon the Cold War mentality, promote the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, push forward the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and work together for a better future.” 金砖国家政党、智库和民间社会组织要发挥各自特色优势，推动金砖国家以及其他新兴市场国家、发展中国家和国际组织坚守全人类共同价值，在抗击新冠肺炎疫情、科技创新、绿色低碳、减贫脱贫等领域加强合作，践行真正的多边主义，摒弃冷战思维，推进全球发展倡议和全球安全倡议，推动落实联合国2030年可持续发展议程，携手迈向美好未来。
Page 3: A report about Li Keqiang’s message (English report) to Elisabeth Borne on her appointment as French Prime Minister.
Page 4: All but one of the stories on the page are about COVID outbreaks in China. For instance, the report on Beijing says that from April 22 to 15:00 on May 19, a total of 1,282 novel coronavirus infections were reported in Beijing, across 15 districts. The city has classified 14 areas as high-risk for COVID-19 and 29 as medium-risk. The piece also suggests that we are likely to see greater frequency of testing because the virus’ incubation period differs from person to person. So the strategy of three days of continuous testing might be in for a change.
Second, the report on Shanghai talks about the press conference by Vice Mayor Zhang Wei. He said that “at present, power generation and power supply, information communication, water supply and gas supply, refined oil supply and other aspects directly related to production and daily life are running smoothly. In the first half of May, the electricity consumption of industrial enterprises above the designated level in the city recovered to 80.5% of the level of the same period last year.” 目前，发电供电、信息通信、供水供气、成品油供应等与生产生活直接相关的环节连续稳定运行，5月上半月全市规上工业企业用电量恢复至去年同期水平的80.5%.
He added that “the daily container throughput of Shanghai port reached 119,000 teu, which was 90% of the normal level. The daily cargo throughput of Pudong Airport exceeded 7,000 tons, recovering to 70%. The number of freight vehicles entering and leaving Shanghai through the provincial expressway crossing reached 78,000 a day, two-thirds of the normal number.” 近日，上海港集装箱单日吞吐量达11.9万标准箱，恢复至正常水平的九成；浦东机场货物日吞吐量超7000吨，恢复至七成水平；经由高速公路省界道口进出上海的货运车辆单日达7.8万辆，恢复至常态的2/3.
The report also talks about the opening of the city’s transport system. It says that “rail transit will resume on four lines (3, 6, 10 and 16) and buses will resume operation on 273 routes, with a network covering all the central urban areas, including eight routes connecting Shanghai Hongqiao and Pudong airports, and 19 routes connecting Shanghai and Hongqiao railway stations.” “The resumption of private cars and cruise taxis is being studied,” he said. Residents who have an urgent need to leave Shanghai still have to follow preventive measures and requirements in terms of negative tests obtained within 24 or 48 hours.
Page 8: First, a report saying that China’s domestic output of raw coal from January to April grew 10.5 percent year-on-year. Coal output achieved double-digit growth for four consecutive months.
Second, a report (English report) based on the Ministry of Commerce’s press briefing. It says that China's service outsourcing industry posted steady expansion in the first four months of this year. Chinese firms inked service outsourcing contracts worth 589.9 billion yuan (about 87.4 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-April period, up 8.8 percent year on year. The executed contract value totalled 387.2 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.3 percent. The data also showed that the number of people employed in the sector came in at 14.26 million as of the end of last month, up 8.1 percent year on year.
The PD report also talks about foreign investment into China growing by 20.5% in the first four months. The official offered three reasons for this:
“the attractiveness of the Chinese market”; “the fundamentals of economic stability and long-term improvement have not changed. The domestic market is very large, and foreign-funded enterprises are optimistic about the long-term development prospects in China.”
implementation of the opening-up policy; “the new negative list for foreign investment has further eased the restrictions on the proportion of foreign holdings in automobile manufacturing and other fields…various departments have actively responded to the demands of foreign-funded enterprises to facilitate business in China, and introduced a series of policies and measures, including guaranteeing equal participation of domestic and foreign investors in government procurement, and extending the tax reduction and exemption policy for foreign entities, which has stabilised foreign investment expectations and confidence.”
“continuous optimisation of the investment environment”; in addition, China enjoys “comparative advantages in infrastructure, human resources, and industrial facilities.”
Page 9: There are three pieces which basically draw from the history resolution adopted at the 6th plenum, focussing on the concept of strict party governance and self-revolution. The lead piece is by Chai Fangguo, deputy director of the Institute of Party History and Literature. Chai talks about the evolution of the Party’s current state of strict governance. This excerpt was interesting:
“Taking the Party’s political construction as the guide to promote its comprehensive and strict governance, the key aspect of work has been to seize the ‘key minority’ and establish and improve an effective system. Since the 18th Party Congress, our party has been focusing on party building. First of all, this effort has been in regard to the construction of the Central Committee, the Politburo and its Standing Committee. The various intra-party laws and regulations formulated have put forward higher standards for the central leadership comrades, requiring them to set a benchmark and set an example for all comrades across the party in terms of observing discipline, observing rules and performing the political responsibility of managing the party. We improved the system of the ‘two safeguards’, improved the system to ensure the leadership of the CPC Central Committee over major work, improved the implementation mechanism for major decisions of the CPC Central Committee, and strictly implemented the system of asking for instructions and reporting to the CPC Central Committee.
Every year, the Politburo Standing Committee specially listens to the work reports of Party groups of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, as well as from the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. All comrades of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee report their work in writing to the CPC Central Committee and the General Secretary every year, which has become an important institutional arrangement to strengthen and safeguard the centralised and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee.
Following the tempering through this exercise of comprehensively and strictly governing the party, the whole party has maintained a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core in terms of political position, direction, principles, and path and its political judgement, understanding, and execution have significantly improved, consciously achieving a stage of responding resolutely to what is advocated by the Central Committee, resolutely implementing the decisions of the Central Committee, and resolutely refusing what is prohibited. The party's core role of leading the overall situation and coordinating all parties has been brought into full play. The whole party deeply understands the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments’, the ‘four consciousnesses’ have been constantly strengthened, the “four self-confidences’ are firmer, and the ‘two safeguards’ are firmer.”
以党的政治建设为统领推进全面从严治党，重点是抓住“关键少数”，并建立健全行之有效的制度。党的十八大以来，我们党抓党的建设，首先抓中央委员会、中央政治局及其常委会的建设，制定的各项党内法规都对中央领导同志提出更高标准，要求中央领导同志在守纪律讲规矩、履行管党治党政治责任等方面为全党同志立标杆、作表率。完善落实“两个维护”的制度，健全党中央对重大工作的领导体制，完善推动党中央重大决策落实机制，严格执行向党中央请示报告制度。中央政治局常委会每年专门听取全国人大常委会、国务院、全国政协、最高人民法院、最高人民检察院党组工作汇报和中央书记处工作报告，中央政治局全体同志每年向党中央和习近平总书记书面述职，已经成为加强和维护党中央集中统一领导的重要制度安排。经过全面从严治党的锤炼，全党在政治立场、政治方向、政治原则、政治道路上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致，政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力显著提高，自觉做到党中央提倡的坚决响应、党中央决定的坚决执行、党中央禁止的坚决不做。党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用充分发挥。全党深刻领会“两个确立”的决定性意义，“四个意识”不断增强，“四个自信”更加坚定，“两个维护”更加坚决。
Page 11: A report (English report) about the 41st Chinese naval escort taskforce setting out for the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia from a military port in the city of Zhoushan. The taskforce consists of the guided-missile destroyer Suzhou (Hull 132), the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 533) and the comprehensive supply ship Chaohu (Hull 890), as well as two ship-borne helicopters and dozens of special operations soldiers. It is the first time for ship Suzhou and ship Nantong to perform escort missions.
Page 16: On the international page, we have a Zhong Sheng commentary. This is the third in the series attacking the US on the issue of human rights. The piece says that the widening income and wealth gaps in the US are evident amid the CPI soaring to 8.5% in March and 8.3% in April. Inflation, the piece says, has further demonstrated the inequalities prevalent in the US.
“Average hourly earnings for American workers rose 5.6 percent over the past year, well below the current rate of inflation, the data showed.” The piece adds that inflation hurts the poor more than the rich. It quotes Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard saying that “low-income households spend 77% of their income on necessities, compared with 31% of high-income households.”
The asymmetric impact of high inflation on the American people is a true portrayal of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer in American society for a long time. The United States is the only Western country with the most severe gap between the rich and the poor; its Gini coefficient rose to 0.48 in 2021, the highest in almost half a century.高通胀给美国民众带来的非对称影响，是美国社会长期以来富者愈富、穷者愈穷的真实写照。美国是贫富分化最严重的西方国家，2021年基尼系数升至0.48，几乎是半个世纪以来的新高.
It later adds that “the gap between the rich and the poor exacerbates social injustice, and the human rights problems faced by the underclass in the United States are becoming more and more serious. It’s no coincidence that there have been a greater number of COVID-19 cases and higher death rates among poor Americans. After the outbreak, tens of millions of Americans fell into a food crisis, and the life expectancy of the poor continued to decline…” 贫富分化加剧社会不公，美国底层民众面临的人权问题日益严重。美国穷人感染新冠肺炎病例更多、死亡率更高并非偶然。疫情发生后，数千万美国人陷入食物危机，穷人预期寿命持续下降...
“The long-standing disease of inequality between the rich and the poor is rooted in the failure of the American political and economic system and the disorder of governance. American democracy, which is widely touted by American politicians, has long been reduced to a game of being ‘the rich have, the rich rule, and the rich enjoy’.” 贫富分化痼疾难除，根源在于美国政治经济制度失灵、治理失序。美国政客大肆宣扬的美式民主，早已经沦为“富人有、富人治、富人享”的游戏。— I found this bit particularly striking. From an era where it was glorious to be rich to a demonisation of wealth — and inequality to be fair — the political and economic discourse in China has changed so much. And I don’t see this argument placed in this article as simply a reflection of the geopolitical tensions between China and the US. This is a product of the changes in the Chinese leadership’s economic priorities and an ideological shift within the country. I say this to make the point that beyond geopolitical interests, this is indicative of a deeper systemic friction that is developing between China and the US.
Next, there’s a report (detailed English report) about an online seminar on the path of China’s Human Rights Development, which was attended by Chinese and foreign scholars. This was organised by the China News Service. They discussed the concept and achievements of China’s human rights development, China’s participation in global governance of human rights, and mutual learning on human rights between China and the West.
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From MoFA’s press briefing:
China Daily: It is reported that US Under Secretary and Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Uzra Zeya met with head of the “Tibetan government-in-exile” and some Tibetan representatives in India on May 18. Her office said the Under Secretary will meet with the Dalai Lama and visit Tibetan communities in Nepal on May 19. Do you have any comment?
Zhao Lijian: The so-called “Tibetan government-in-exile” is an out-and-out separatist political group and an illegal organization in total violation of China’s Constitution and laws. It is not recognized by any country in the world. The 14th Dalai Lama is a political exile disguised as a religious figure. He has long been engaging in anti-China separatist activities and attempting to split Tibet from China. The appointment of the so-called “US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues” constitutes an interference in China’s internal affairs. China is firmly opposed to this and has never recognized it.
The US should take concrete actions to honor its commitment of acknowledging Tibet as part of China, and not supporting “Tibetan independence”. It should stop meddling in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of Tibet-related issues, and offer no support to the anti-China separatist activities of the Dalai clique. China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.