BRICS Summit - Afghan Neighbours Statement - Zhong Sheng on HK Alliance Arrests - Xi Thought: Green Development - Biden-Xi Call - Greater Mekong Subregion Meeting
Here are the stories and pieces from the September 10, 2021, edition of the People’s Daily that I found noteworthy.
Page 1: Let’s begin with the BRICS leaders meeting, which gets top billing on the front page. Interesting that we get the leaders’ picture and an individual picture of Xi too. Anyway, the report basically tells us about Xi’s speech. The English version of the speech is available here; the original is on Page 2. Xi emphasised the need to:
practice true multilateralism, i,e, adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and safeguard the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law.
COVID-19 solidarity and cooperation, including upholding a science-based approach to tracing its origins, vaccine cooperation and opposing politicization and stigmatization.
promote openness and innovation-driven growth, including upholding the WTO-centered multilateral trading regime and pushing for an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.
promote common development, including sustainable development focus and climate change action based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
Xi announced that “on top of the US$100 million donation to COVAX, China will donate an additional 100 million doses of vaccines to fellow developing countries within this year.” He also said that BRICS must deepen ties in “trade and investment, technology and innovation, and green and low-carbon development. China proposes to host a BRICS high-level meeting on climate change and a BRICS forum on big data for sustainable development.” He also called to “consolidate the BRICS strategic partnership, support each other on issues concerning our respective core interests, and jointly safeguard our sovereignty, security and development interests.” Finally, Xi said that “China will host the BRICS seminar on governance and the BRICS forum on people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and open an online training course for media professionals of our five countries. China will host the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games early next year.”
The PD report tells us that all BRICS members “reaffirmed their support for multilateralism and basic norms governing international relations, opposed unilateralism and hegemonism, and advocated that all countries respect each other's independence, sovereignty and equality. They will step up communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, work together to address climate change and build a community with a shared future for mankind.” It adds that they all backed the hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
Staying with BRICS, it’s interesting to note the full declaration after the meeting (Chinese version). On multilateralism, the statement echoed an earlier statement adopted after the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting earlier this year; here is coverage of that document. The same was the case with regard to international conflicts:
“We endorse the position taken by our Foreign Ministers at their last meeting on the situation in Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, the Palestinian-Israeli issue, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Afghanistan, Korean Peninsula, the Iran nuclear issue and Myanmar. We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of States and reiterate that all conflicts must be resolved by peaceful means and through political and diplomatic efforts in line with international law, in particular the UN Charter.”
On Afghanistan, the statement says:
“We follow with concern the latest developments in Afghanistan. We call for refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful means. We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country. We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks near the Hamid Karzai Kabul International Airport that resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries. We underscore the priority of fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terrorist organisations to use Afghan territory as terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks against other countries, as well as drug trade within Afghanistan. We emphasise the need to address the humanitarian situation and to uphold human rights, including those of women, children and minorities.”
This was also interesting:
“We reaffirm the sole authority of the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions and stress further the imperative of refraining from any coercive measures not based on international law, in particular the UN Charter. We call for a further consolidation and strengthening of the working methods of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committees to ensure their effectiveness, responsiveness and transparency and look forward to continuing BRICS engagement on these issues.”
Also, there’s a BRICS Action Plan on Innovation Cooperation for 2021-2024 that’s in the works. I like how the plan is 2021-2024, but it is still being finalised as per the document.
Do note this:
“We agree 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. We agree to strengthen cooperation on issues of common interests both within BRICS and in multilateral fora including the United Nations Human Rights Council, taking into account the necessity to promote, protect and fulfil human rights in a non-selective, non-politicized and constructive manner, and without double standards.”
Next, we have a report (English readout) about Xi writing to Kim Jong Un on the 73rd anniversary of North Korea’s National Day. Xi said that as a “comrade and friend,” he is “sincerely delighted” to see how the WPK “has united the DPRK people and led them to make untiring efforts to obtain great achievements in building a socialist country.” He called the bilateral relationship a “common treasure of both parties.” He said that his relationship with Kim has “resulted in encouraging results and a new dimension to our traditional friendship.” And then he promised to work for “for constant and new achievements.”
Third, we have a report (English report) about Li Keqiang at the meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program. Li made six key points, the report tells us. Li’s full speech here.
The first one was to “fully respect the legitimate rights and interests of all countries in the rational development and utilization of water resources.” This map from DW is useful to understand what the power and control dynamics are in this case.
The second point was about pandemic cooperation, with Li promising “continuous support to nations along the Mekong, saying that they will be the priority in China's aid in medical supplies and vaccines.”
Third, he wants to move quickly to “approve and enact the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and implement the upgraded free trade agreement between China and ASEAN.”
Fourth, he talked about physical connectivity, mentioning the need for “quicker progress in the construction of the China-Thailand Railway and the highway between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.”
Fifth, climate change cooperation.
Sixth, upholding multilateralism and promoting the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
Also, this bit in the story is rather interesting: Li talked about China’s economic situation, “pointing out that development is the basis and key to solving all problems in China.” 李克强介绍了中国经济形势，指出发展是解决中国一切问题的基础和关键，将按照立足新发展阶段...
Finally, we have a report about Xi’s letter to teachers across the country. The letter is written in response to representatives of China’s outstanding university teachers. A bit of background on this. These teachers are from the 201 role-model teaching teams selected by the Ministry of Education from across the country. The teams are named after Huang Danian, the late renowned geophysicist. Huang died in 2017, aged 58. After that, Xi issued an instruction calling upon people to learn from Huang’s great spirit of patriotism and his dedication to the country’s development. This led to the the Ministry of Education selecting outstanding teaching teams from 200 universities and colleges across the nation beginning in 2017, encouraging them to spearhead efforts in teaching and research.
Anyway, in Xi’s letter, he talks about the need to “carry forward the noble spirit of Comrade Huang Danian” and cultivating morality, pursuing learning and innovation, while being good guides to students with the aim of “training socialist builders and successors.”
Page 3: Yesterday, I covered Wang Yi’s comments during the meeting of foreign ministers from countries neighbouring Afghanistan. Today, we have the joint statement (English version) from that meeting. The document has 16 points. The key aspects are that they all:
“Expressed support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, and non-interference in its internal affairs…”
“Stressed the necessity of forming an open, inclusive governmental structure; which practices moderate and sound internal and external policies; adopts friendly policies towards neighbours of Afghanistan; achieves the shared goals of durable peace, security, safety, and long-term prosperity; and respects the fundamental human rights including those of ethnic groups, women and children.”
“Cautioned against the possibility of incitement and role of spoilers, both inside and outside the country, to derail efforts towards an all-inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan.”
“Emphasized that Afghanistan's territory should not be allowed to pose a threat to other countries. Reiterated that terrorist organizations, such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, ETIM, TTP, BLA, Jondollah* and others should not be allowed to maintain a foothold on Afghanistan's territory.” -- *I presume this was Jundallah.
“Ensure the smooth cross-border flow of goods to facilitate Afghanistan's access to external support, in particular the transport of humanitarian supplies...”
Stressed the need to stop narcotic drugs production in Afghanistan.
Unhindered access and protection to United Nations entities and other international humanitarian organizations
Called on international organizations and financial institutions to provide the necessary support for major international energy, transport, communications, infrastructure and other projects implemented by neighbouring countries for socio-economic development of Afghanistan.
This will also now become somewhat institutionalised in that there will be regular meetings with different countries playing host. The next one’s in Tehran. So this is a mini-lateral grouping that China has led; so much for constantly whinging about “groups” and “cliques.”
A couple of more reports to note. First, Wang Yi spoke to Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith.
Second, ILD’s Song Tao hosted, in Nanning, a meeting involving “more than 300 leaders from more than 40 political parties, heads of youth organizations and government representatives from Southeast Asia and South Asia attended online”, while 30 senior diplomats from Southeast Asia and South Asia were present at the venue. The theme was economic development and party cooperation. Song Tao spoke about BRI, party-to-party consultation, focus on poverty reduction, pandemic control and sharing of best practices. At the end, the meeting adopted a document called the “Joint Initiative of the CPC in Dialogue with Political Parties of Southeast and South Asian Countries.”
Finally, we have a report (shorter English report) about the Chinese mission in Geneva hosting a meeting for the permanent missions of various countries to talk about human rights issues in Xinjiang and criticise Western sanctions. Basically, the event had “people from all walks of life in Xinjiang” sharing “their stories on how unilateral coercive measures (UCM) imposed by Western countries have jeopardized normal business activities and legitimate rights and interests of companies and violated the human rights of people of all ethnic groups there.”
Permanent representatives and senior diplomats of more than 30 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kenya, Zambia, Brazil and Mexico, officials of the UN Human Rights Office, experts and more than 60 journalists attended the meeting, reports PD. Chinese diplomat Chen Xu hit out at Western countries, saying that they had “fabricated blatant lies of the so-called ‘forced-labor’ in Xinjiang and imposed unjustified” UCMs.
Page 4: Wang Chen recently visited Tibet. A report on the page tells us that he went to Lhasa, Shigatse and other places to investigate enterprises, rural areas, communities, and people's congresses. The priorities he highlighted were the “four major tasks of stability, development, ecology and strengthening border areas” and “promoting ethnic unity and progress, and firmly safeguarding the reunification of the motherland.” Of course, a key part of all this, as the report mentioned, is “forging a sense of the Chinese nation as a community.” The report also talks about specific activities and visits to specific places.
For instance, he visited the Ningsuan Technology Group Co., Ltd, which is engaged in developing the world’s highest-altitude cloud computing data centre in Tibet. This, I learned from the Indian Express, will “meet the data storage needs of the country and South Asian nations like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.” Wang was told that the data center will be based on “clean energy.”
Next, Wang Lixia (57) has been elected chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
A lot of the page is dedicated to the Human Rights Action Plan (2021-25). It’s a long document. An English version is available if anyone’s interested. The original is in PD from pages 10 to 12. The commentary on the document on Page 4 tells us that this plan underscores that “the development of China’s human rights cause has entered a new stage.”
The commentary says that in the new era,
“we must adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era as the guide, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, insist that the happy life of the people is the greatest human right, and promote the all-round development of people and the common prosperity of all people as the starting point and basis of human rights development…”奋进新征程，必须坚持以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，坚持人民幸福生活是最大的人权，将促进人的全面发展、全体人民共同富裕作为人权事业发展的出发点和落脚点，发展全过程人民民主，维护社会公平正义，着力解决人民群众急难愁盼问题，使全体人民的各项人权得到更高水平的保障，不断增强人民对于人权保障的获得感、幸福感、安全感.
Page 5: We have the 40th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about Xi’s proposition that “clear waters and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver.” We are told that Xi came up with this vision while serving in Zhejiang in 2005, and today this is a “major principle for advancing modernization.”
As per this vision, economic development need not exhaust natural resources and drain the ecological environment, and environmental protection does not imply abandoning economic development. The metaphor used to argue this is缘木求鱼 yuán mù qiú yú - climbing a tree to seek fish. The piece does prioritise development, repeating Deng Xiaoping’s aphorism that “Development is the last word” 发展是硬道理 - but it does also say that this does not imply thoughtless extraction of resources without considering environmental impact and capacity.
Therefore, the piece says that it is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between economic development and ecological environmental protection. This entails protecting the 金饭碗 - golden rice bowl - of clear waters and lush mountains, make use of natural advantages to develop industries with local characteristics, develop industries keeping in mind local conditions, leverage the value of ecological products, establish a market-oriented and diversified ecological compensation mechanism, explore ways to realize the value of sustainable ecological products, etc.
The next question is linked, in that it talks about why promoting green development and lifestyles is a profound revolution in the concept of development. This emphasises the evolution of approach to consumption, highlighting the need for restraint in order to limit economic activities and people’s behavior as per the limits that natural resources and the environment can withstand. The piece says that:
“China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has achieved modernization, which is unique and unprecedented. To achieve sustainable development, however, it is unsustainable and impossible to follow the old path of the US and Europe, which entails indiscriminate consumption of resources and environmental pollution regardless of the cost.” Therefore, the piece calls for abandoning “the way of development and way of life that kills the goose that lays the golden egg and drains the pond.” Instead, it calls for taking “green development and way of life as the fundamental solution and address ecological and environmental problems at their source.” 14亿人口的中国实现现代化，是绝无仅有、史无前例的。要实现永续发展，如果再走美欧老路，无节制消耗资源，不计代价污染环境，是难以为继的，也是走不通的...与其扬汤止沸不如釜底抽薪，必须坚决摒弃杀鸡取卵、竭泽而渔的发展方式和生活方式，把绿色发展方式和生活方式作为根本之策，从源头上解决生态环境问题.
This is useful to note:
“Green development determines the success of development. Economic development is no longer simply based on GDP growth rate, but in accordance with the requirements of harmonious development between man and nature. In the pursuit of green development and property, we have moved from questions of lack of development to to whether the development is good and now to questions of development quality.” 绿色决定发展的成色，经济发展不再简单以国内生产总值增长率论英雄，而是按照统筹人与自然和谐发展的要求，从“有没有”转向发展“好不好”、质量“高不高”，追求绿色发展繁荣.
In this scenario, what’s needed is “to adjust the economic structure and energy structure, and optimize the national spatial development layout, strengthen energy conservation and environmental protection industries, clean production industries and clean energy industries, form a green economy through the transformation of green technology system, promote ecological industrialization and industrial ecologicalization…” 加快形成绿色发展方式，重点是调整经济结构和能源结构，优化国土空间开发布局，培育壮大节能环保产业、清洁生产产业、清洁能源产业，通过绿色技术体系改造形成绿色经济，推进生态产业化和产业生态化，实现腾笼换鸟、凤凰涅槃.
Other Stories:
On the international page, we have a Zhong Sheng commentary, lashing at the “black hands” of American and British politicians in Hong Kong. This is in the context of the arrests this week of members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which the piece calls an “anti-China” organisation. This is a particularly vitriolic commentary. To me, it implies that members of the HK Alliance are likely to face a very difficult time going ahead. Also, the NSL was just the first step; the crackdown in Hong Kong is still in early stages, it seems.
The commentary takes shots at reactions from the US and UK, particularly politicians from the country on Twitter. Global Times had termed Blinken and Raab’s reactions “useless wailing.” But the PD piece says that US and UK politicians have “double standards” and “are neither on the side of law nor morality.” It talks about Hong Kong people being smarter than becoming “puppets of foreign forces and cooperating with some American and Western politicians in plotting to contain China's development.”
The commentary accuses the Hong Kong Alliance of leading youth to “the path of violent crimes” and “dragging Hong Kong society into the abyss of turmoil.” It also accuses the group of working with “hostile forces outside the country.” The commentary says that Western politicians are “increasingly frustrated and even desperate. They are not being able to reconcile to the fact that they will no longer have the opportunity to use the anti-China forces and Hong Kong rioters whom they have carefully supported for many years.” The piece also talks about US withdrawal from Afghanistan to argue that people in HK have also understood the hypocrisy of the nation of American democracy serving as a beacon for the world.
Finally, a quick look at the Biden-Xi call today, although it’s not in PD, since it took place after print.
The US readout of the call said that:
“The two leaders had a broad, strategic discussion in which they discussed areas where our interests converge, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge. They agreed to engage on both sets of issues openly and straightforwardly. This discussion, as President Biden made clear, was part of the United States’ ongoing effort to responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the PRC. President Biden underscored the United States’ enduring interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the world and the two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict.”
Xinhua tells us that “the two leaders had candid, in-depth and extensive strategic communication and exchanges on China-U.S. relations and relevant issues of mutual interest.” Xi said that managing the China-US relationship “is a question of the century to which the two countries must provide a good answer.” With the international community facing many common challenges, China and the United States need to show broad vision and shoulder great responsibilities...demonstrate strategic courage and political resolve, and bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track of stable development…” This, for Xi, must be done “on the basis of respecting each other’s core concerns and properly managing differences.” He said that on this basis, the relevant departments of the two countries may continue their engagement and dialogue to advance coordination and cooperation on climate change, COVID-19 response and economic recovery as well as on major international and regional issues.
As per Xinhua, Biden said that he was “prepared to have more candid exchanges and constructive discussions with China to identify key and priority areas where cooperation is possible, avoid miscommunication, miscalculation and unintended conflict, and get U.S.-China relations back on track.”
The Chinese embassy in the US has shared more details than the Xinhua report. It says that Xi “pointed out that for some time, due to the U.S. policy on China, the China-U.S. relationship has run into serious difficulty.” And then after talking about the need to provide a good answer to the question of ties, he said: “Getting the relationship right is not an option, but something we must do and must do well.”
The readout also tells us that “Xi Jinping elaborated on China’s position on climate change and other issues. He stressed that China continues to prioritize ecological conservation and pursues a green and low-carbon path to development, and has taken the initiative to actively shoulder international responsibilities befitting China's national conditions.” This was followed by the bit on relevant departments cooperating. So I guess this is a direct reaction to the friction that was reported after John Kerry’s recent talks with Chinese leaders.
The readout also says that “the U.S. side has no intention to change the one-China policy.” And this:
“Both presidents agreed that in-depth communication between them on China-U.S. relations and major international issues is very important for steering the bilateral ties in the right direction. They agreed to maintain frequent contact by multiple means and instruct officials at the working level to intensify the work, conduct extensive dialogue and create conditions for the further development of China-U.S. relations.”