Fan Yongpeng's Critique of US System - 2021 FDI Data - Political and Legal Affairs Work - Chen Zhimin on Multilateralism
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Monday, January 17, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Before I get to today’s front page, let’s look at Sunday’s story about Xi’s comments (Xinhua English story) at the political and legal affairs work conference. The report says that Xi “called for efforts to safeguard national political security, social stability and the peaceful life of the people.”
Guo Shengkun read out Xi’s message:
He “emphasized that it is necessary to uphold the Party’s absolute leadership over political and legal work, draw wisdom and strength from the Party’s century-long struggle, carry forward the great spirit of Party building, enhance the ability to prevent and defuse major risks, improve law enforcement and judicial policies, comprehensively deepen political and legal reform, consolidate and deepen the achievements of the education and rectification of political and legal personnel, earnestly fulfill the major responsibility of safeguarding national security, social stability and people’s peaceful life, and let the people truly feel that fairness and justice are around. Party committees at all levels should study and resolve the prominent issues that restrain political and legal work in a timely manner and support political and legal organs to perform their duties in accordance with laws. Efforts should be made to provide a strong guarantee for advancing the Peaceful China initiative and promoting the rule of law at a higher level, thus welcoming the 20th CPC National Congress with solid actions.” 习近平强调，要坚持党对政法工作的绝对领导，从党的百年奋斗史中汲取智慧和力量，弘扬伟大建党精神，提升防范化解重大风险的能力，完善执法司法政策措施，全面深化政法改革，巩固深化政法队伍教育整顿成果，切实履行好维护国家安全、社会安定、人民安宁的重大责任，让人民群众切实感受到公平正义就在身边。各级党委要及时研究解决制约政法工作的突出问题，支持政法各单位依法履职，为建设更高水平的平安中国、法治中国提供有力保障，以实际行动迎接党的二十大胜利召开.
Guo also said that “national political and legal organs should take Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era as the guide, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Rule of Law, fully implement the spirit of the 19th Party Congress and all its plenary sessions, strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses,’ ‘four self-confidences’, achieve the ‘two safeguards’ and thoroughly study and understand the decisive significance of the ‘two establishments’.” He also talked about striving to promote the high-quality development of political and legal work in the new era by focusing on creating a safe and stable political and social environment for the 20th Party Congress, taking strengthening the Party’s political construction as the guide…
Page 1: Today’s front page is quite scant on news. First, there’s another story from the series on grassroots cadres “shaking hands” with Xi. The theme of this piece today is around the theme of technological self-reliance. The cadre in focus today is Sun Zezhou, chief designer of Tianwen-1. The piece goes back to XI Jinping’s meeting with Chang’e-4 mission representatives in February 2019.
Recalling Xi’s comments, Sun said that the “speech inspired the vast number of aerospace workers to climb the peak of science and technology bravely, and to make unremitting efforts to build a space power and achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.” He later adds that Xi’s hands “are very generous, giving people endless warmth and strength.” 孙泽洲表示：“总书记的重要讲话激励着广大航天工作者勇攀科技高峰，为建设航天强国和实现高水平科技自立自强不懈奋斗.”...“总书记的手很宽厚，给人无穷的温暖和力量.”
Then Sun recalls this bit from Xi’s comments, saying that it has guided people to constantly pursue new dreams and make new breakthroughs.
“Experience tells us that great undertakings begin with dreams, and dreams are the source of vitality. China is a nation that pursues dreams bravely. The CPC Central Committee’s decision to implement the lunar exploration project is to pursue the nation's unyielding dream of flying into the sky and reaching for the moon.” Each bold idea and its successful implementation in lunar exploration is a full demonstration of the human capacity to gain knowledge of and utilize a celestial body. “In the journey of building a great modern socialist country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, every industry and every person should dream and strive courageously and fulfill their dreams with arduous and continuous efforts, step by step and baton by baton just like in a relay race.”
Next, there’s a commentary based on Xi’s speech to officials at the Party School last week. The commentary focuses on Xi’s comments about the history resolution. Xi had then said that the resolution indicated a “new understanding of the history of the Party’s century-long struggle” and must be studied and understood in depth in order to understand the Party’s major achievements and historical experience.
The next paragraph informs that since the 18th Party Congress, the Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core “has attached great importance to studying the history of the Party, and has put forward a series of requirements.” When Xi visits towns and cities, he tends to visit “sacred revolutionary sites, sites commemorating the past, and red sites.” Xi is quoted as having said that he visits with a sense of “reverence and comes back with a lot of insights.”
The next paragraph says that the “decision of the CPC Central Committee to carry out a review, study, education and publicity campaign around Party history across the Party and society was designed to enhance historical confidence, solidarity and unity, and strengthen the spirit of struggle. Over the past year, Party members and officials have received a comprehensive and profound political education, ideological tempering, and spiritual baptism. The historical consciousness and self-confidence of the whole party have been greatly enhanced, and the creativity, cohesion and combat effectiveness of the Party have been greatly enhanced. It is important to realise that whether we can continue to provide excellent answers on the new road depends on whether we have firm historical self-confidence.” 党中央决定在全党全社会开展党史总结、学习、教育、宣传，就是为了增加历史自信、增进团结统一、增强斗争精神。一年来，广大党员、干部受到了一次全面深刻的政治教育、思想淬炼、精神洗礼，全党历史自觉、历史自信大大增强，党的创造力、凝聚力、战斗力大大提升。必须深刻认识到，在新的赶考之路上，我们能否继续交出优异答卷，关键在于有没有坚定的历史自信.
Over the past 100 years, our party has been committed to the happiness of the Chinese people, the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the progress of mankind, the common interests of the world, and the righteous path. This is the greatest component of our Party’s historical confidence — the historical confidence of our Party’s rule and long-term governance in China and the historical confidence of the Party in uniting and leading the people in moving forward. Historical cognition is an important foundation of historical confidence. We must persevere in promoting the summation, study, education and publicity of Party history, so that the correct view of Party history can be established more deeply and widely, and the official history can become the consensus of the whole Party and society. It is important to educate the majority of Party members, cadres and all the people, especially the majority of young people, to strengthen their historical confidence, build up their historical memories and move forward with confidence. The resolution of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized that the whole party should adhere to the historical materialism and the correct view of party history, see clearly why we succeeded in the past and find out how we can continue to succeed in the future from the century-long struggle of the party, so as to practice our original mission more firmly and consciously, and better uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. This is an important political task put forward by the 6th Plenum of the Central Committee, and we should continue to implement it. 一百年来，我们党致力于为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴，致力于为人类谋进步、为世界谋大同，天下为公，人间正道，这是我们党具有历史自信的最大底气，是我们党在中国执政并长期执政的历史自信，也是我们党团结带领人民继续前进的历史自信。历史认知是历史自信的重要基础。要持之以恒推进党史总结、学习、教育、宣传，让正确党史观更深入、更广泛地树立起来，让正史成为全党全社会的共识，教育广大党员、干部和全体人民特别是广大青年坚定历史自信、筑牢历史记忆，满怀信心地向前进。党的十九届六中全会决议强调全党要坚持唯物史观和正确党史观，从党的百年奋斗中看清楚过去我们为什么能够成功、弄明白未来我们怎样才能继续成功，从而更加坚定、更加自觉地践行初心使命，在新时代更好坚持和发展中国特色社会主义。这是六中全会提出的一项重要政治任务，我们要继续抓好落实.
The next paragraph talks about understanding history, learning from it, doing practical things and continuing with the history learning work through Party groups, courses, etc. The piece ends with a call to never forget yesterday’s challenges and suffering and to be worthy of today’s missions.
Next, there’s coverage about the upcoming Winter Olympics. This doesn’t interest me at all. Finally, a report (English report) about FDI inflows into China. This is based on the Ministry of Commerce’s press briefing last Thursday. Here’s the data:
FDI into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 14.9 percent year on year to a record high of 1.15 trillion yuan in 2021. The figure, excluding the banking, securities and insurance sectors, expanded by 20.2 percent in U.S. dollar terms.
High-tech industries saw FDI inflows jump 17.1 percent from a year earlier.
High-tech manufacturing industry saw an increase of FDI by 10.7%; the high-tech service industry saw a growth of 19.2%.
Overall FDI in the service industry was 906.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%.
Investment in the Chinese mainland from countries along the Belt and Road and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, respectively, surged by 29.4 percent and 29 percent in 2021 year on year.
In regional terms, foreign investment into the eastern, central and western parts of China recorded a growth rate of 14.6 percent, 20.5 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively.
Page 2: We have a piece that marks the anniversary of Xi’s speech at the UN office in Geneva in 2017 on the theme of building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind.
There’s really nothing newsworthy in this piece. But I do think that for people studying propaganda, this is a useful read. It’s an example of foreign praise/validation is so valuable at home. The first part of the piece is essentially about how much the international community - as in the media, officials at multilateral institutions and foreign government leaders - have appreciated Xi’s analysis and proposals about global challenges. In doing so, the piece also articulates the importance of a continued global role for China, and the policies of the leadership. This bit comes later as the article lists details of China’s contribution to global growth, to the sustainable development agenda, the expansion of BRI, China’s trade linkages and its openness to foreign goods and investment, etc.
That said, I wanted to highlight this. The piece reminds us that summing up the evolving global situation at the time, Xi had said that “China’s proposition is: build a community of shared future for mankind and achieve shared and win-win development.” It then says that:
“Standing at the height of the development process of human history, President Xi Jinping as the leader of a major country, accurately grasped the profound changes in the international situation, and clearly put forward the ideas:
Build a world of lasting peace through dialogue and consultation
Build a world of common security for all through joint efforts. No country in the world can enjoy absolute security
Build a world of common prosperity through win-win cooperation
Build an open and inclusive world through exchanges and mutual learning
Make our world clean and beautiful by pursuing green and low-carbon development
And then PD tells us that the speech lasted 47 minutes, and there were 30 rounds of “warm applause.” “Almost every key point was applauded. At the end of the speech, the audience stood up to pay tribute and applauded for a long time.” 47分钟的演讲，30多次热烈掌声。到关键处，几乎一句一次掌声。演讲结束时，观众起立致敬，掌声经久不息.
Next, a positive piece about China’s economic outlook. It says that China’s GDP expanded 8.1 percent to 114.37 trillion yuan (about $18 trillion) last year. This puts the two-year average growth at 5.1 percent. Foreign trade volume reached $6.05 trillion in 2021, surpassing the $6 trillion mark for the first time. FDI expanded 14.9 percent year on year to a record high of 1.15 trillion yuan in 2021. All of this, the piece argues, shows that the fundamentals of China’s long-term economic growth have not changed and this data injects confidence in the global economic recovery.
Anyway, some useful points from the piece:
China’s economic development has maintained a global leading position. This is inseparable from its global leading position in terms of pandemic prevention and control. — 中国经济发展保持全球领先地位，与疫情防控保持全球领先地位密不可分。To me, this basically tells us that the strict, zero-tolerance to COVID policy will continue for a while.
It adds: “China has not only achieved the stable operation of its own economy, but also joined hands with its trading partners to jointly maintain the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain, providing strong support for global epidemic prevention and control and world economic recovery. China’s role as a stabiliser and driver of world economic growth has become more evident, which fully proves that China’s commitment to effectively coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development and implementing sound macroeconomic policies is conducive to world economic recovery and development. This is a truly responsible approach. 中国不仅实现了本国经济的稳定运行，还携手贸易伙伴，共同维护了全球产业链供应链的稳定，为全球疫情防控、世界经济复苏提供了有力支撑。中国对世界经济增长的稳定器和动力源作用更加明显，充分证明中国坚持有效统筹疫情防控和经济社会发展、实施稳健的宏观经济政策，有利于世界经济复苏发展，是真正的负责任之举.
The next paragraph talks about KPMG, HSBC and American executives having a very positive view of the investment situation in China.
The next paragraph discusses trade figures to argue that “China firmly upholds multilateralism and economic globalisation, demonstrating the responsibility of a responsible major country…China’s opening-up has benefited China and other countries.”
Page 5: There’s been a series of commentaries on the significance of the Party’s century of struggle. This one, the third in the series, argues that the Party’s successes over the past 100 years have demonstrated the vitality of Marxism. It begins like this:
“The Party has continued to write Marxism on its banner, constantly promoting the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context, absorbing all the fine achievements of human civilisation with a broad mind, and guiding its great practice with the scientific theories of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. The path of socialism with Chinese characteristics has been expanding, the superiority of socialism has been greatly demonstrated, and scientific socialism is full of vigour and vitality in 21st century China.” 党坚持把马克思主义写在自己的旗帜上，不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化，用博大胸怀吸收人类创造的一切优秀文明成果，用马克思主义中国化的科学理论引领伟大实践. 中国特色社会主义道路越走越宽广，社会主义优越性得到极大彰显，让科学社会主义在21世纪的中国焕发出强大生机活力.
Page 9: A couple of interesting pieces on the page. First, Chen Zhimin, Vice President of Fudan University writes about multilateralism.
There is so much moralising here that it gets farcical. But it’s useful to note these arguments. They posit China’s view of the international order as driven by morality as opposed to national interest. It also contrasts this with what it sees as a self-serving Western view of the world order. If you are interested in an analytical piece examining Chinese values-based narrative around the international order, I recommend reading: ‘A Shared Future for Mankind’: Rhetoric and Reality in Chinese Foreign Policy under Xi Jinping by Andrew J. Nathan and Boshu Zhang.
Anyway, Chen argues that multilateralism meets the requirements of “economic globalization and multi-polarization…The international community should be governed by rules and consensus agreed upon by all countries, rather than being dictated by one or a few countries.” 国际社会应该按照各国共同达成的规则和共识来治理，而不能由一个或几个国家来发号施令.
Chen explains that since WWII, “multilateral cooperation has increasingly become an important mechanism for the international community to maintain peace, promote development and cope with common challenges.”
In an increasingly interconnected world, no country, no matter how powerful, can go it alone or solve the problems facing the world on its own. Instead, it needs to focus on multilateral cooperation and the multilateral system from a strategic and principled perspective. As an important concept in modern international relations theory, multilateralism is not a tree without roots, but a product of meeting the requirements of the era of economic globalization and world multi-polarization. 在一个日益你中有我、我中有你的世界中，任何一个国家，无论多么强大，都无法独善其身，也不能凭一己之力解决世界面临的问题，而是需要从战略和原则的高度来重视多边合作和多边制度。作为现代国际关系理论中的重要理念，多边主义不是无本之木，而是适应经济全球化、世界多极化时代要求的产物.
Chen adds that “true multilateralism is open and inclusive. It holds that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community and can participate in the global multilateral system, have their say and jointly decide international affairs.” He then backs the role of the UN in the multilateral system, calling it the “most universal, representative and authoritative international organization in the world today.” He calls for safeguarding the international system with the United Nations as the core, the international order based on international law and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. At the same time, the international community should also pay attention to the construction of multilateral mechanisms that are more representative and inclusive in their respective fields, such as the G20 mechanism, and give full play to its important role in coordinating the economic policies of various countries.”
After this, Chen critiques “some western theories of multilateralism” for advocating “small circles/cliques” and regarding “the multilateral system as a tool for individual countries or a small group of countries to consolidate or expand their dominant position in the world, often excluding most countries along ideological lines. Imposing their own values, norms and rules on other countries through the multilateral system seriously undermines their sovereign equality and voice in global affairs. Multilateralism should not be closed and exclusive. This deviates from the original intention and essence of multilateralism and is a kind of ‘pseudo-multilateralism’ that pursues unilateralism in the name of multilateralism.” 真正的多边主义坚持开放包容，认为各个国家不分大小、强弱、贫富都是国际社会的平等一员，都能够参与全球性的多边制度，并有自己的发言权，共同决定多边事务。国际社会要维护和发挥具有普遍代表性的多边制度的地位和作用，特别要维护当今世界最具普遍性、代表性、权威性的国际组织——联合国的权威和地位，维护以联合国为核心的国际体系、以国际法为基础的国际秩序、以联合国宪章宗旨和原则为基础的国际关系基本准则。同时，国际社会也要重视那些在各自领域更具代表性和包容性的多边机制建设，比如二十国集团机制，充分发挥其在协调各国经济政策上的重要作用. 西方的一些多边主义理论具有浓厚的小圈子色彩，把多边制度视为个别国家或某些少数国家在世界上巩固或扩展其支配地位的工具，常常以意识形态划线把多数国家排除在外。通过多边制度把自己的价值、规范、规则等强加给其他国家，严重损害其他国家的主权平等地位和在世界事务中的发言权。多边主义不应是封闭排他的，小圈子的多边主义背离多边主义的初衷和要义，是一种以多边主义之名行单边主义之实的“伪多边主义”.
The next section of the piece talks about rules and consensus. Chen writes:
“In the established multilateral system, countries should act in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures and uphold the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral system. International rules should be observed by all countries, with no exceptions. The multilateral system should continue to be innovated and improved in practice so as to better coordinate the actions of all countries and meet challenges. But it should not be treated as a tool to be used if it works for one and discarded if it is not compatible.” 在已经建立起来的多边制度中，各国应该按照相应的规则和程序行事，维护多边制度的权威性和有效性，在履行义务和遵守规则上不能按照自己的意愿取舍、选择。国际规则应该由各国共同遵守，没有也不应该有例外。多边制度还应在实践中不断革新完善，以更好协调各国行动、应对挑战，但不能把多边制度当作合则用、不合则弃的工具.
He adds that “true multilateralism aims at promoting cooperation and sharing the fruits of development. All countries should participate in, contribute to and benefit from global development. One country cannot develop while the rest of the world does not; some countries cannot develop while others do not. Some western multilateralism theories put forward some useful ideas in promoting the construction of the multilateral system, but there are also views that interfere with the healthy development of multilateralism. For example, they regard the multilateral mechanism as the institutional system to be used to maintain their hegemonic position, or adopt a utilitarian and instrumental attitude towards multilateralism, and only want to enjoy the benefits brought by multilateralism, rather than undertake and perform corresponding obligations. Some developed countries often show a tendency of self-interest in the construction and operation of multilateral mechanisms. This kind of ‘selective multilateralism’ follows the logic that national interests are given priority, which is inconsistent with the realisation of common interests of mankind and hinders the deepening of multilateral cooperation and the unity of the international community.” 真正的多边主义，其目的是促成合作、促进发展成果共享。各国都应成为全球发展的参与者、贡献者、受益者。不能一个国家发展、其他国家不发展，一部分国家发展、另一部分国家不发展。西方的一些多边主义理论在推进多边制度建设上提出了可供借鉴的见解，但也存在干扰多边主义健康发展的观点。比如，把多边机制视为维持自身霸权地位的制度支撑，或者对多边主义采取功利主义和工具主义的态度，只愿享有多边主义带来的好处，不愿承担和履行相应义务。一些发达国家在有关多边机制建设和运行中经常显现出自利倾向。这种“有选择的多边主义”遵循的逻辑是本国利益优先，与人类的共同利益的实现不相符，阻碍了多边合作的深化与国际社会的团结。
Chen contrasts the above with China’s policy of building a “community with a shared future for mankind”. The final section talks about global governance. Here, I thought this was interesting:
“In today’s world, the balance of international power is undergoing profound adjustment. Emerging markets and developing countries have contributed 80% to world economic growth over the past 20 years. The international political and economic order led by developed countries has become increasingly incommensurate with the new reality of international relations. The deepening of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has created both unprecedented opportunities for development and new challenges. Mankind faces an endless stream of non-traditional security threats. The era we are living in today is one of great development and great transformation.” 当今世界，国际力量对比深刻调整，新兴市场国家和发展中国家过去20年来对世界经济增长的贡献率高达80%，发达国家主导的国际政治经济秩序已经越来越不适应国际关系新的现实。新一轮科技革命和产业变革深入发展，既创造了前所未有的发展机遇，也带来了新的挑战，人类面对的非传统安全威胁层出不穷。今天我们所处的时代，既是大发展的时代，也是大变革的时代.
Ergo, he talks about the importance of global governance and institutional reform. This includes:
Reform of the WTO, the IMF and other multilateral institutions to increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries
Creation of new mechanisms and rules in emerging areas such as cyberspace, deep seas, polar regions and outer space.
Next, there’s a piece by Sun Jisheng from the China Foreign Affairs University, talking about language and international relations. He says that there are two key areas of study in this context:
First, how actors use language and discourse to further their interests - verbs, adverbs, narrative tools, etc.
Second, the audiences’ understanding. This includes how different groups of people interpret information and actions; the audience's knowledge background, habits and customs, etc., all of which directly affect the acceptance process of the discourse and the final cognition of the audience.
He adds that “deepening the study of international political language will help to tell Chinese stories and spread Chinese voices well. At present, we should base ourselves on China's rich diplomatic practice, draw on China's own unique resources in language, culture, thought, practical experience and other aspects, and promote this research to make greater progress.” 深化国际政治语言研究，有助于讲好中国故事，传播好中国声音。当前，应立足我国外交丰富实践，汲取中国自身独特的语言、文化、思想、实践经验等方面的资源，推动这一研究取得更大进展.
In this regard, Sun gives an example about the framing of identity politics in Western discourse and Chinese philosophy of language. He writes that “In the study of identity in Western international politics, it is often thought that identity is constructed by ‘self’ and ‘the other’, which is always based on the logic of binary opposition. Chinese language philosophy, on the other hand, holds that the subject and object of meaning expression are not isolated, but interrelated, and they influence each other in a process of dynamic development. Such thinking expressed in Chinese philosophy of language is an important aspect of international political language research that is worthy of further exploration. 比如，西方国际政治学关于身份的研究中，往往认为身份由“自我”和“他者”建构而成，始终基于二元对立的逻辑。中国语言哲学认为意义表达的主体和客体不是孤立的，而是在动态发展中相互联系、相互影响。中国语言哲学的思想、思维等，是国际政治语言研究值得深入挖掘的一个重要方面.
Sun then calls on Chinese scholars and social scientists “observe, describe and explain international political issues from the perspective of developing countries, and better discover the concepts and problems that are intentionally or unintentionally neglected in Western studies of international politics.” The argument is that political science and IR fundamentally do not reflect the views, interests and issues concerning the developing world.
Finally, Sun argues that “drawing from the practice of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, Chinese scholars should construct the linguistic theory of contemporary China’s international relations from the perspective of Chinese language, thinking and culture, so as to better describe, explain, present and publicise China's ideas and propositions to the international community.” 我国学者需要立足中国特色大国外交实践，从中国语言、思维和文化出发建构当代中国的国际关系语言理论，从而更好向国际社会叙述、解释、呈现和宣介中国理念和中国主张.
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There are two new research centers, i.e., the 公共政策研究中心 and 共同富裕研究中心 - Public Policy Research Center and Common Prosperity Research Center that have been established under the China International Cultural Exchange Center. He Yiting spoke at an event discussing the establishment of the two centers. The centers will “focus on promoting people-to-people exchanges and cooperation and building community of shared future for mankind across BRI countries, adhere to innovation guidance, pool intellectual resources, enhance exchanges and mutual learning, and carry out research and research on projects involving public areas such as economy, culture, people’s livelihood and society. The first batch of projects will focus on three areas: population and aging, promoting the healthy development of digital platform economy, and building a low-carbon society.
A report (English report) about the Ministry of Public Security's press briefing from last week around cyber crimes. It says that public security organs nationwide investigated and resolved about 62,000 cases related to cybercrimes in 2021 - yp 10.7% year on year. They arrested 103,000 suspects - up 28.7% year on year - and gave administrative punishment to 27,000 Internet enterprises and units that violated regulations and laws. Among the total, police resolved about 18,000 cases of infringement of personal information and hacking and busted 6,000 groups providing fund settlement, technical support and promotional services for online gambling and fraud. They also shut down 16 pornographic websites involving minors and several pornographic livestreaming platforms and online prostitution platforms and seized more than 6,000 webcams and materials for taking photos without permission.
Finally, on the international page, there’s a long piece by Fan Yongpeng from the China Institute at Fudan University. This is a blistering attack on the American system of governance. Fan basically argues that the US’ political problems are a product of “the deep contradictions between the nature of its society, its institutional design and its hegemonic system.” He adds that blame-shifting, which has led to accusations about China being the “chief culprit” for America’s woes, is a product of the structure of the US system, political culture and psychology.
Fan makes three broad points.
First, he argues that the US political system was established drawing on the logic of a “limited liability” enterprise. He talks about British colonial rule and the structure of colonies, essentially resulting in the United States’ system inheriting a spirit that was driven by the need to “realise the interests of the ruling capitalists while avoiding political responsibility.” He then argues that in the US, the federal government’s authority is rather limited, with states enjoying significant authority. Added to this, the separation of powers across different branches of government, the role of the judiciary in constraining executive and legislative power and “hidden vetos” across the system yield inefficiencies and internal constraints on the government’s authority. Fan then talks about three trends:
the evolution of the two-party system, which has led to political friction.
the administrative bureaucracy is confined to the status of a non-political ‘instrument’ that has no access to core political power
rise of private banking groups that have monopolised the monetary power of the United States and leveraged ‘financial capital to restrict state power’ through the Federal Reserve.”
除了宪法制度外，其他方面的制度发展也遵循同样逻辑。首先，两党政治逐渐成形，相互掣肘，遂成今日党争之患。其次，行政官僚系统被限定在非政治性的“工具人”地位，无法染指核心政治权力。最后，私人银行集团兴起，垄断了美国的货币权力，通过美联储来行使“金融资本限制国家权力”的功能.
Fan argues that the above structures and systems essentially limit the political liability of the federal government. There is no one government but many in the US. To him, this decentralised structure “gives the federal government a legitimate excuse for inaction on various social issues.” He quotes Tocqueville as having said that rule of law in the US “transforms all political problems into legal problems, absolves the government of political responsibility, and gives a natural advantage to those who can afford to hire lawyers.” He adds that “the representative system is the spokesperson for property rights, such that economic power is directly transformed into political power; for people without property, the government naturally does not bear responsibility. The greatest utility of the separation of powers is also that it leaves accountability nowhere to be found…” 这些制度设计，使得政府处于一种有限责任状态。联邦制及其主权分层结构极大地免除了联邦政府的治理责任。例如全美没有统一的警察、消防和学区系统，因而在各种社会问题上，联邦政府有合理的借口不予行动。美国崇尚的法治原则，如法国著名思想家托克维尔所说，让一切政治问题转化为法律问题，免除了政府本应承担的政治责任，而且让有钱雇佣律师的人占据天然优势。代议制就是财产权的代言人，让经济权力直接转化为政治权力，对于没有财产的人，政府自然不承担责任。三权分立最大的效用也是让责任无处可寻。英国哲学家密尔曾说，当任何人都不知道谁应负责的时候，就等于谁都不负责.
He then concludes this bit by arguing that because the system is designed in such a way that the government “has no real motivation to solve the problem of national development and people’s interests”; rather it serves “for the benefit of the capitalist ruling group,” when there are problems, first choice of politicians is to shift blame. 在这样一套有限责任制度原则之下，美国政府显然没有解决国家发展和人民利益问题的真正动力，一切都是为了资本统治集团的利益。遇到问题，开启“甩锅”模式自然是政客们的第一选择.
The second point is that the US inherited a European system of 广场型政治 -politics of the public square. To summarise the argument, in this sort of a system, those who excel at rhetoric tend to win power. But clever rhetoric isn’t always enough, and therefore, there’s a culture of mud-slinging that has evolved. Once in power, the winner tends to lose the so-called democratic constraints. Often the consequences of incompetence or even malfeasance are nothing more than losing the next election. But despite that, one may soon be able to regain power again, as people’s memories fade. Even in the case of serious crimes, at the most, what one suffers is impeachment. In fact, Tocqueville noted that America’s peculiar system of impeachment was, in effect, a limited liability system of immunity from the responsibilities of elected officials. 在广场型政治的传统下，擅长“巧言令色”者才能获得选票而上台。当然仅靠“巧言令色”往往还不够，还要辅之以对对手的攻击。在美国政治词汇中，专有“甩泥巴”一词来形容此现象。胜利者一旦上台即失去了所谓民主的约束，无能甚至渎职的后果无非是下次败选而已，但可能不久后随着人们的记忆淡去还可再次上台。即便是严重犯罪，也无非是遭到弹劾。早在19世纪初，托克维尔就注意到美国奇特的弹劾制度，其实就是有限责任制度之下，对民选官员责任的豁免.
Fan then critiques the model of competitive elections. He argues that competitive elections “exacerbate partisanship, with candidates in both parties making arbitrary promises, proposing irresponsible and extreme policy initiatives, and deliberately amplifying divisive issues or identity differences in order to win votes. This will not only intensify existing conflicts in society, but also deliberately create conflicts where there are none.” 选举还会进一步加剧党争，两党候选人为迎合选票而随意承诺、提出不负责任的极端政策倡议，会故意放大分裂性议题或者身份差别，等等。这不仅会激化社会中已经存在的矛盾，还会在原本没有冲突的地方刻意制造冲突.
He says that electoral politics has also led to the emergence of mass media as a political variable. “Since the 1960s, US elections have become increasingly dependent on the mass media, making them more akin to ‘talent shows’ in the entertainment industry and encouraging politicians to make extreme statements and propose extreme policies. With the rise of online media and self-publishing, the ‘cocoon effect’ (茧房效应 - people being cocooned in their echo chambers) has become more pronounced, with voters gravitating toward a single news source and algorithms targeting homogeneous information based on big data analysis. This process will continue to increase voter polarization and party polarization, making politicians more interested in rhetoric than in realistic solutions. 选举政治还引入了一个重要的政治变量——媒体。自20世纪60年代起，美国选举越来越依赖大众传媒，使选举活动更加类似于娱乐圈中的“选秀”，鼓励政客发表极端言论、提出极端政策。随着网络媒体和自媒体的兴起，信息的“茧房效应”更加突出，选民倾向于单一新闻来源，算法又会基于大数据分析而定向分发同质信息。这个过程会不断加剧选民极化和政党极化，使政客们热衷逞口舌之利而不是实事求是地解决问题.
The third and final point that Fan makes is about the infantilization of American culture (美国文化的巨婴化). He says that there are two main reasons for this:
First, lack of historical tempering. For Fan, the US has never really faced a severe, a true test or a real ordeal; therefore, its culture and spirit are still stuck in childhood (童年期). 由于没有经历过真正严峻的考验，美国的精神和文化长期停留于童年期. He says the US acts like a child with a lethal weapon, lacking self-control and destroying others. He argues that the American giant baby 美国巨婴 has never experienced “挫折教育” - frustration education; therefore, it is prone to blaming others.
Second, he talks about the cultural divide in the US. The culture war has torn America apart, disintegrated its culture and polarized its politics. He says that the culture war has led to the left and right being locked into their “fanatical dogma” and unwilling to face their own problems. In such a situation, blaming others is the easiest thing to do.
He ends the piece by saying that “there are serious doubts across the international community about whether the US has the ability and courage to change course. However, we would like to sincerely advise American elites from all walks of life: What the American people should do today is to recognize the root cause of their own problems, give up the big dream of hegemony and the illusion of avoiding contradictions, and reconcile with the world and work with China to build a better future together.” 对于美国是否有能力、有勇气改弦更张，国际社会都抱着高度的疑虑。但我们还是要真诚地建议美国各界精英：今天美国人要做的是认清自身的问题根源，放弃霸权主义的春秋大梦，丢掉转嫁矛盾的幻想，与世界和解，与中国合作，共同建设更美好的未来.