Global Security Initiative - PLA Veterans as Role Models - Han Zheng Backs Clean Coal Use - Wendy Sherman on China - My Brief Take on India, China & the Ukraine War - Regulation on Place Names
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Friday, April 22, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: The top story on the page is around Xi Jinping’s speech at the Boao Forum for Asia. I covered that yesterday. There is also a front page commentary based on Xi’s speech.
It talks about Xi proposing the Global Security Initiative. “President Xi Jinping's keynote speech was far-sighted, profound in thought and rich in connotation. It has contributed Chinese wisdom and pointed out the direction of efforts for global solidarity and cooperation, and aroused enthusiastic response and wide resonance…” 习近平主席的主旨演讲高瞻远瞩、思想深邃、内涵丰富，为全球团结合作、共克时艰贡献了中国智慧、指明了努力方向，引发会场内外的热烈反响和广泛共鸣.
The piece then talks about Xi’s four-point proposal on defending people’s lives and health, promoting economic recovery, maintaining peace and stability, and tackling global governance challenges. It says that this proposal provides “important epistemology and methodology for all countries in the world to join hands to meet challenges and cooperate to create the future, and fully demonstrates China’s firm determination and courage to safeguard world peace, promote common development and the construction of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind.” 习近平主席在主旨演讲中提出的4点主张，为世界各国携手迎接挑战、合作开创未来提供了重要认识论和方法论，充分展现了中国维护世界和平、促进共同发展、推动构建人类命运共同体的坚定决心和勇毅担当.
The next paragraph talks about the world entering a period of turbulent change, with human society facing a “governance deficit, trust deficit, development deficit, and peace deficit.” It adds: “the trend of world multi-polarization has not fundamentally changed, economic globalisation has shown new resilience, and the call for safeguarding multilateralism and strengthening communication and coordination has become stronger.”
The next bit reiterates this paragraph from Xi’s speech:
“We need to work together to tackle global governance challenges. Countries around the world are like passengers aboard the same ship who share the same destiny. For the ship to navigate the storm and sail toward a bright future, all passengers must pull together. The thought of throwing anyone overboard is simply not acceptable. In this day and age, the international community has evolved so much that it has become a sophisticated and integrated apparatus. Acts to remove any single part will cause serious problems to its operation. When that happens, both the victims and the initiators of such acts will stand to lose. In today's world, unilateralism and excessive pursuit of self-interest are doomed to fail; so are the practices of decoupling, supply disruption and maximum pressure; so are the attempts to forge ‘small circles’ or to stoke conflict and confrontation along ideological lines. Instead, we need to embrace a global governance philosophy that emphasizes extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, promote the common values of humanity, and advocate exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations. We need to uphold true multilateralism, and firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law. It is particularly important for major countries to lead by example in honoring equality, cooperation, good faith and the rule of law, and act in a way befitting their status.”
There’s also a report about Han Zheng’s remarks to the BFA board of directors and representatives of the forum’s strategic partners Han spoke about the need to provide “Boao plans” for regional development. He also talked about other issues, ranging from the pandemic to the global economic recovery and low-carbon development. On energy, he said that China’s national condition is such that its energy structure is coal-dominated. He added that China will “vigorously promote the clean utilisation of coal, give full play to the role of market mechanism and government regulation, ensure the safety and stability of energy and power supply this year, and promote carbon peak and neutrality in a steady and orderly manner.” 韩正表示，中国将立足能源结构以煤为主的基本国情，大力推动煤炭清洁利用，发挥市场机制和政府调控作用，确保今年能源电力供应安全稳定，稳妥有序推进碳达峰碳中和。— Quick thought: Basically, this means that there’s going to be greater emphasis on electricity supply as opposed to an aggressive effort to cut emissions.
He talked about the importance of the dynamic zero-Covid policy, but added that it is important to ensure “orderly and smooth logistics, ensure the stability of the industrial supply chain, and minimise the impact of pandemic on economic and social development.” 坚持科学精准、动态清零，统筹好疫情防控和经济社会发展，有序畅通物流，保障产业链供应链稳定，最大限度减少疫情对经济社会发展的影响。Finally, he talked about building a “law-based business environment,” treating all market players equally and welcoming foreign enterprises to invest in China.
Apart from this, there’s a report about Xi’s letter to students at Francis Holland School in the UK, talking about climate change. PD reports:
“Xi Jinping said that schools of all levels and types in China attach great importance to the education of ecological civilization. Chinese primary school students start from small things, develop good habits of energy conservation and environmental protection, and learn a green and low-carbon lifestyle. You are welcome to come to China to visit the world’s largest wind and solar power plants, the most extensive man-made forests and beautiful national parks. You are welcome to communicate with primary school students in China, so that the concept of green development can take root in your hearts and become active builders of a beautiful home for mankind when you grow up.” 习近平表示，中国各级各类学校都十分重视生态文明教育，中国小学生们都从点滴小事做起，养成节能环保的良好习惯，学习绿色低碳生活方式。欢迎你们有机会来到中国，参观世界上最大的风电站和太阳能电站、面积最广阔的人工林和风光秀丽的国家公园。欢迎你们同中国的小学生们进行交流，让绿色发展理念在心中扎下根，长大后成为人类美好家园的积极建设者。
Finally, there’s a report about a new State Council decree on revising the regulation regarding the naming of places. The new regulation requires strict management over the naming and renaming of localities and sites and, in the meantime, demands efforts for cultural protection in this regard.
PD reports that “place names are basic public information and an important carrier of history and culture.” It says that the regulations aim to “further strengthen and standardise the management of place names, meet the needs of economic and social development, people's life and international exchanges, and inherit and develop the excellent Chinese culture…” 地名是社会基本公共信息，是历史文化的重要载体。为进一步加强和规范地名管理，适应经济社会发展、人民生活和国际交往的需要，传承发展中华优秀文化，在总结现行《条例》多年来实施经验的基础上，针对地名管理工作面临的一些新情况、新问题，对《条例》进行了修订.
I also thought that this was interesting: place name management should uphold and strengthen the leadership of the Party, which is conducive to safeguarding national sovereignty and national unity, promoting socialist core values, promoting the modernisation of the national governance system and governance capacity, and inheriting and developing Chinese excellent culture; place names should remain relatively stable.《条例》规定，地名管理应当坚持和加强党的领导，有利于维护国家主权和民族团结，有利于弘扬社会主义核心价值观，有利于推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化，有利于传承发展中华优秀文化；地名应当保持相对稳定.
Page 2: This page is basically dedicated to Xi’s speech at the Boao Forum. The full speech is published, along with a piece on the participants’ enthusiastic response to it. There’s also another commentary based on the speech. This one specifically focuses on the Global Security Initiative proposed by Xi. It says that this initiative is “another important international public good provided by China after the BRI and the Global Development Initiative. It is a vivid practice of the concept of the Community of Shared Future for Mankind in the field of security, and contributes to China's vision to address challenges related to global security governance.” 这是继共建“一带一路”和全球发展倡议之后，中国提供的又一重要国际公共产品，是人类命运共同体理念在安全领域的生动实践，为破解全球安全治理难题贡献了中国方案。
It adds that the world has entered a period of turbulent change. The outbreak of the Ukraine crisis has made the already uncertain international situation more complex and turbulent, and the trend of the times of peace and development is facing severe challenges. In pursuit of their absolute security, individual countries are keen to form gangs and engage in exclusive ‘small circles’ and ‘small groups’, which seriously threaten global security. As mankind is an inseparable security community, all countries must take a path of security that is jointly built, shared and beneficial to all.” 乌克兰危机的爆发，让本来就充满不确定性的国际局势变得更加复杂动荡，和平与发展的时代主题面临着严峻挑战。个别国家为追求自身绝对安全，热衷于拉帮结派，搞排他性“小圈子”“小集团”，严重威胁全球安全。人类是不可分割的安全共同体，各国必须走出一条共建、共享、共赢的安全之路.
It further adds that Xi spoke about the concept of “common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.” This concept of security is rich in connotation, emphasises respecting and safeguarding the security of every country, coordinating the maintenance of security in traditional and non-traditional areas, promoting the security of all countries and regions through dialogue and cooperation, and paying equal attention to development and security in order to achieve lasting security. It is the core idea and fundamental principle behind building universal security. 这一安全观内涵丰富，强调尊重和保障每一个国家安全，统筹维护传统领域和非传统领域安全，通过对话合作促进各国和本地区安全，发展和安全并重以实现持久安全，是建设普遍安全的世界的核心理念和根本遵循.
It then says: “To maintain world peace and tranquillity, we must abandon the outdated Cold War mentality. In today's world, many security problems are caused by hegemonism and power politics pursued by individual countries.” In addition, it says that Xi spoke about:
respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, and respecting for the development path and social system independently chosen by the people of different countries
abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, reject the cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and refrain from engaging in bloc politics and confrontation
attaching importance to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, upholding the principle of indivisibility of security, building a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and opposing building one’s security on the basis of other countries’ insecurity
“The proposal of the Global Security Initiative conforms to the historical trend of economic globalisation, multi-polarisation of the world and democratisation of international relations. It emphasises that security is universal, equal and inclusive. It should be based on mutual respect among countries, joint observance of the international system with the United Nations as the core and the international order based on international law, and defines important principles for building a universally secure world at bilateral and multilateral levels.” 维护世界和平安宁，必须摒弃过时的冷战思维。当今世界，不少安全问题是个别国家推行霸权主义和强权政治造成的。习近平主席提出全球安全倡议，强调坚持尊重各国主权、领土完整，不干涉别国内政，尊重各国人民自主选择的发展道路和社会制度；坚持遵守联合国宪章宗旨和原则，摒弃冷战思维，反对单边主义，不搞集团政治和阵营对抗；坚持重视各国合理安全关切，秉持安全不可分割原则，构建均衡、有效、可持续的安全架构，反对把本国安全建立在他国不安全的基础之上。全球安全倡议的提出顺应经济全球化、世界多极化、国际关系民主化历史大势，强调安全是普遍的、平等的、包容的，应建立在国与国相互尊重、共同遵守以联合国为核心的国际体系和以国际法为基础的国际秩序基础上，从双多边层面为建设普遍安全的世界明确了重要原则。
The next paragraph focuses on this part of Xi’s speech: “stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises, reject double standards, and oppose the wanton use of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction; stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains, and work together on regional disputes and global challenges such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity and biosecurity.”
The final paragraph is interesting. It says that:
“After the Ukraine crisis, China firmly advocated the maintenance of international law and the universally recognised basic norms of international relations, adhered to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, advocated a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, and called on all parties to face up to the contradictions accumulated over the years, find solutions to the problems, promoted the construction of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework, and provided constructive solutions for resolving the crisis and building lasting peace in Europe and Eurasia.
For a long time, China has actively participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations, international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation processes, firmly pursued the nuclear strategy of self-defence, and made great efforts to promote political solutions to hot-spot issues such as the Korean nuclear issue and the Iranian nuclear issue. China is committed to promoting international anti-pandemic cooperation, actively leading the global climate governance process, launching the Global Data Security Initiative, and thereby making an important contribution to the response regarding non-traditional security threats.” 中国是全球安全倡议的提出者，也是维护世界和平安宁的行动派。乌克兰危机发生后，中国坚定倡导维护国际法和公认的国际关系基本准则，坚持按照联合国宪章宗旨和原则办事，主张共同、综合、合作、可持续的安全观，呼吁各方直面多年来积累的矛盾，找到解决问题的办法，推动构建均衡、有效、可持续的欧洲安全框架，为化解危机、构建欧洲和亚欧大陆持久和平提供了建设性方案。长期以来，中国积极参加联合国维和行动，积极参与国际军控、裁军和防扩散进程，坚定奉行自卫防御的核战略，并为推动政治解决朝核、伊核等热点问题凝心聚力。中国致力于推动国际抗疫合作，积极引领全球气候治理进程，发起《全球数据安全倡议》，为应对非传统安全威胁贡献重要力量.
Page 4: Two reports that are interesting.
First, there’s a joint initiative by the Central Propaganda Department, the Veterans Affairs Department, and the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. This entails activities around the theme the “Most Beautiful Veterans.” Basically, this is about the study and propaganda around exemplary veterans/role models. 20 role models will be selected for this.
The report says that the study and publicity activities “must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on the work of retired soldiers, vigorously promote the great spirit of Party building, and insist on cultivating and practising core socialist values.” It talks about publicising deeds of soldiers, telling stories of veterans, building a respectable and loveable image of veterans, etc. — Quick thought: I guess it will be interesting from an Indian perspective to see if any of the soldiers who died or were involved in the Galwan valley clash of 2020 are included in this list.
Next, there’s a report drawing from the new white paper titled “Youth of China in the New Era” that was published this week. The full English version of the paper is here. I’ve not read through the paper; but there does seem to be some interesting bits of information there. For instance, I did not know that there was a Middle- and Long-term Youth Development Plan (2016-2025). Here’s a snippet of what’s part of that plan.
Also, this data on education is useful
Page 9: On the theory page, the lead article is by the Shandong Provincial Research Center on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It talks about the need to “deeply understand and grasp the historical logic, theoretical logic, and practical logic of the Party’s century-long struggle, and draw the wisdom and strength of the Party’s century-old struggle for a new journey.” It adds:
“The history of the Chinese nation of the past 180 years, the history of the Communist Party of China over the past 100 years, and the history of the People’s Republic of China for more than 70 years have fully proved that without the Communist Party of China, there would be no New China and there would be no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This is the conclusion of history and the choice of the people. Over the course of its century-long struggle, our Party has maintained its advanced nature and purity, and its governance capacity and leadership have been constantly improved. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core is committed to the Principle that the Party should supervise the Party and exercise strict self-governance in all respects. The Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organisation, and appeal to society have been continuously enhanced and are full of new vitality, providing a strong political guarantee for the cause of the Party and the country.” 中华民族近代以来180多年的历史、中国共产党成立以来100多年的历史、中华人民共和国成立以来70多年的历史都充分证明，没有中国共产党，就没有新中国，就没有中华民族伟大复兴。这是历史的结论、人民的选择。在百年奋斗历程中，我们党始终保持先进性和纯洁性，党的执政能力和领导水平不断提高。以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚持党要管党、全面从严治党，党的政治领导力、思想引领力、群众组织力、社会号召力不断增强，焕发出新的强大生机活力，为党和国家事业发展提供了坚强政治保证.
“The historical logic of the Party’s century-long struggle profoundly shows that the Communist Party of China’s leadership is the embodiment of the common will and fundamental interests of the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups, and the fundamental guarantee for realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Today, we are closer, more confident and capable of realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than at any time in history. On the new journey, we must profoundly understand the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments’, strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, the ‘four self-confidences’ and achieve the ‘two safeguards’, give full play to the political advantages of the Party’s leadership, implement the Party’s leadership in all fields and links of the cause of the Party and the country, and march towards the Chinese dream of realising the goal of the second century and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 党百年奋斗的历史逻辑深刻表明，中国共产党领导是全党全国各族人民共同意志和根本利益的体现，是实现中华民族伟大复兴的根本保证。今天，我们比历史上任何时期都更接近、更有信心和能力实现中华民族伟大复兴的目标。新征程上，必须深刻领会“两个确立”的决定性意义，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，充分发挥党的领导政治优势，把党的领导落实到党和国家事业各领域各方面各环节，向着实现第二个百年奋斗目标、实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦进军。
The second section of the article talks about the theoretical logic of the Party’s century-long struggle. This essentially discusses the need to adhere to Marxist viewpoints and of course the sinicized versions of Marxist thinking. In this way, it talks about the three leaps in the sinicization of Marxism. Deng Xiaoping theory is mentioned by name although the leap is the creation of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The section talks about Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, of which Xi is the “main founder,” and calls for the need to adhere to its guidance.
Other Stories:
From the MoFA press briefing yesterday, I thought the following is good to note.
The response to US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s comments in Brussels. She said, as per SCMP’s report:
“President [Joe] Biden has spoken to Xi Jinping directly; Jake Sullivan, our national security adviser, to [China’s top diplomat] Yang Jiechi; Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken to Foreign Minister Wang Yi; I myself have spoken to more than one [official] in the PRC...And we’ve been very direct that they have seen what we have done in terms of sanctions, export controls, designations vis-à-vis Russia, so it should give them some idea of the menu from which we could choose if, indeed, China were to provide material support.”
The report adds:
Sherman accused Beijing of “parroting the Kremlin’s disinformation”, including claims that the US was producing bioweaponry in Ukraine; and of having “repeatedly drawn false equivalencies between Russia’s war of aggression and Ukraine’s self-defensive actions”. “Let’s be clear, China’s already doing things that do not help this situation,” Sherman said. By spelling out the consequences to Chinese leaders, Sherman implied that the US was trying to avoid a dramatic escalation that could see superpower frictions spiral out of control. “We don’t want to start another cold war, we don’t want conflict, we don’t want miscalculation. We want channels of communication,” Sherman said. “We hope there are areas where there can be cooperation, but make no mistake, I believe that President Xi Jinping has made a decision about what he wants the PRC to be in the world. And it’s a very different vision than we have in this room.” Sherman framed the US-China rivalry in stark terms. “Do we want to have governments that are transparent and accountable to their people, or governments that exist to consolidate their own power and control their people in turn?” she asked. “Beijing is seeking to undermine the very system that they benefited from to return instead to a system where might makes right and big nations can coerce smaller countries into acting against their own interests.”
MOFA’s Wang Wenbin responded saying:
“What is disinformation? Efforts to discern disinformation should be based on objective facts, not subjective conjecture.
The bellicose US, under the cover of human rights and democracy, meddles in other countries’ affairs and starts conflicts and wars. It shoulders an unshirkable responsibility over the turmoil in Europe and elsewhere in the world. This is not disinformation. The vast majority of countries advocate resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and negotiation and oppose unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that contravene international law. This is not disinformation. As European countries pay a heavy price for the conflict, American arms dealers and oil and gas companies have made a fortune. This is not disinformation.
On the contrary, it is pure disinformation to allege that China has acquiesced in and connived at Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and that Russia has requested military equipment from China. The US should stop spreading disinformation to smear China, face up to and reflect on its due responsibility in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and work with the international community to facilitate an early political resolution of the Ukraine crisis, rather than let Europe and the whole world pay a dearer price for its selfish agenda.”
Quick thought: Often in media discourse, India and China get clubbed together in terms of their responses to the war. I think this is a deeply flawed view. There are several differences between the positions of the two countries. For starters, India isn’t talking about NATO being a Cold War relic; there’s no talk about undoing blocs in India; neither is the official nor is the media discourse amplifying unfounded conspiracies about bio-labs; unlike Xi, the Indian Prime Minister has spoken to both the Putin and Zelensky, etc. There’s a lot more that I could list, but fundamentally the difference between India and China when it comes to the war in Ukraine is in terms of their views on American power. Beijing, of obvious reasons, views American power and the manner in which it is currently being exercised as a threat; increasingly, the threat is also being viewed as structural and potentially existential from the Communist Party’s perspective. Therefore, Beijing would prefer, among other outcomes, that the war weaken the appeal of the US as a partner for countries in Europe, the Indo-Pacific and the developing world at large. India, on the other hand, views American power as a net positive. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t differences and irritants in terms of policy and public discourse. But broadly, New Delhi views the US as a critical partner in shaping a favourable external environment in order to pursue its own developmental and security interests.
Prasar Bharati: Spokesperson of Afghanistan’s Taliban government has issued a warning to Pakistan after Pakistani military’s airstrikes killed at least 47 civilians and wounded two dozen people inside Afghanistan’s territory, triggering protests. He said this is paving the way for enmity between Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The Pakistani side should know that if a war starts it will not be in the interest of any side.” Do you have any comments on this warning by the Taliban to Pakistan? This is my first question. My second question is, experts say this is a setback to the Taliban government’s campaign seeking international recognition and also a setback to China’s efforts to engage with the Taliban. What is China’s response to this assessment?
Wang Wenbin: Afghanistan and Pakistan are both China’s traditionally friendly neighbors. We believe the two countries can properly resolve respective concerns through dialogue and consultation and jointly safeguard regional peace and tranquility. The opinions of the so-called “experts” you cited are purely deliberate denigration devoid of impartiality or professionalism.
Prasar Bharati: A follow-up on this. Reports also said that Pakistan’s attack on Afghanistan and the retaliatory remarks have increased the tension in the region. Is this a concern for China, especially when Chinese foreign minister has proposed to increase the cooperation between Pakistan and China, and take it to Afghanistan as well?
Wang Wenbin: We believe the two countries can properly resolve respective concerns through dialogue and consultation and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.
CNR: According to reports, the Japanese leader sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine today as its so-called spring festival begins on April 21. Some lawmakers visited the shrine in person. Does China have any comment?
Wang Wenbin: The Yasukuni Shrine is a spiritual tool and symbol of the Japanese militarism’s war of aggression. It honors convicted Class-A war criminals who shoulder grave responsibilities for that war. The negative moves by the Japanese side once again reflect its erroneous attitude toward that history of aggression. China firmly rejects and strongly condemns them and has lodged stern representations with the Japanese side. We urge Japan to earnestly honor its statement and commitment of facing up to and reflecting on its history of aggression, make a clean break with militarism, and win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community with concrete actions.