Inherit Jiang's Legacy, Uphold Xi's Thought - Shenzhou-14 Mission Concludes - Easing of Zero-COVID Policy - China's Human Rights Rationale
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Monday, December 05, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: Jiang Zemin’s death continues to dominate the front page of the paper. I guess this will be the case till Wednesday, given that his funeral is tomorrow. The only other report on the page is on the end of the Shenzhou-14 mission.
Xinhua reports: “Shenzhou-14's return capsule, carrying astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 8:09 p.m. Beijing Time, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The astronauts were all in good physical condition, and the Shenzhou-14 manned mission was a complete success, the agency announced.”
The report added:
The crew “completed multiple tasks during their mission, including overseeing five rendezvous-and-dockings, performing three extravehicular activities, giving a live science lecture, and conducting several sci-tech experiments. They carried out space station platform inspections and tests, equipment maintenance, as well as the management of materials and the space station. They also unlocked and installed scientific experiment cabinets in lab modules Wentian and Mengtian. The Shenzhou-14 astronauts helped accomplish many ‘firsts’ in China's space history, including the first rendezvous and docking between two 20-tonne-level spacecraft and the first in-orbit transposition of a space station module. They are the first crew to enter the space station’s two lab modules, and they set a record of making three spacewalks on a single flight mission. They also helped realize the world's fastest automated rendezvous and docking of the cargo craft Tianzhou-5 with the space station in about two hours. The trio conducted an in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-15 crew, a historic gathering that added the workforce at the in-orbit space station to six for the first time.”
The lead article on the page is about cadres and masses inheriting Jiang’s legacy and forging ahead with unity. No opportunity must be left to implement Xi’s thought, it seems.
“Everyone unanimously expressed that they should turn grief into strength, turn the mourning for Comrade Jiang Zemin into practical actions to implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress; under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, unite in thought and in action in order to build a socialist modern country in all respects and to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in an all-round manner.” 大家一致表示，要化悲痛为力量，把对江泽民同志的悼念转化为贯彻落实党的二十大精神的实际行动，在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，高举中国特色社会主义伟大旗帜，全面贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，心往一处想，劲往一处使，为全面建设社会主义现代化国家、全面推进中华民族伟大复兴而不懈奋斗.
After this, there are comments from people remembering Jiang. Towards the end, there’s also a call to unite behind the Party Central Committee with Xi as the core, reiterating the need to understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments.
Next, there’s an article with comments from overseas Chinese association members and friends, offering condolences following Jiang’s passing. Likewise, there’s an article about activities in and messages from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
On Page 2 also, there’s an article with condolence messages from foreign leaders and an interview with Robert Lawrence Kuhn. There’s an English version of the interview too. He says that “When I woke to the news of Jiang's death, I felt as if I had lost a member of my own family -- that's what happens when one dedicates years to writing a biography.”
Here’s more: “Establishing socialist market economy was made clear as China's guiding economic ideology at the 14th CPC National Congress in October 1992, setting the trajectory for a double-digit GDP growth in China, Kuhn added. In the face of high inflation in 1995 and 1996, the Asian financial crisis and other challenges, ‘Jiang kept China steady and stable and committed to reform and opening-up, and, working with then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, achieved the major milestone of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001,’ Kuhn said. ‘History will record that China's WTO accession was an economic triumph that set the irreversible trajectory of China's reform and opening-up and sustained economic growth,’ he added. ‘History will be kind to Jiang Zemin,’ Kuhn said.”
On Jiang’s legacy, if you haven’t been following him, I highly recommend looking at Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt’s Twitter feed. He has been sharing excerpts from Jiang’s speeches over the years, demonstrating the continuities in discourse from Jiang to Xi.
Here are a couple of examples:
Page 2: There’s an article by Alberto Lombardo, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Italy. He talks about China demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system. He adds that “through unremitting efforts, China has found a correct path that conforms to China's national conditions, conforms to the trend of the times, and has won the support of the people. This is not only a success for China, but also an important inspiration for other countries to explore development paths that are in line with their national conditions.” 经过不懈努力，中国找到了一条符合中国国情、顺应时代潮流、得到人民群众拥护支持的正确道路。这不仅是属于中国的成功，也对其他国家探索符合国情的发展道路具有重要启示意义.
“The superiority of the socialist system is constantly manifested in China. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China has made great achievements in many fields such as economic construction, livelihood security, scientific and technological innovation, etc. The people of China wholeheartedly support the Communist Party of China…” 社会主义制度的优越性在中国不断彰显。在中国共产党的领导下，中国在经济建设、民生保障、科技创新等许多领域都取得了巨大成就。中国人民衷心拥护中国共产党.
Second, there’s an article on China-Mozambique energy cooperation. This one talks about the Coral South Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project in the African nation. The project has a designed annual production capacity of more than 3.3 million tons per year. Since 2017, companies from Italy, China, the United States, Mozambique, Portugal and South Korea have jointly built and operated the Corral project. CNPC holds a 20% stake in the project. The specific companies involved are: ENI, ExxonMobil, CNPC, ENH, Galp from Portugal and KOGAS from South Korea.
Page 3: There are reports from Shenzhen, Ningbo and Hebei discussing the COVID-19 situation. Each of these basically paints a positive picture.
For instance, the story discussing the situation in Hebei province talks about efforts being made to meet the people’s daily needs. It says that the price, quality and supply of vegetables is being controlled. Likewise, an example is shared from Baoding City of a WeChat group being set up to coordinate requirements and supplies. Another example given is of Shijiazhuang where heating, water and gas are being provided for key areas and enterprises, etc.
Likewise, the report on Shenzhen talks about the support provided for enterprises. It talks about tax deferrals, corporate income tax and value-added tax refunds, and postponement of social insurance payments. In all, these policies benefited “more than 1 million enterprises, and the burden on market entities was reduced by more than 140 billion yuan.”
Finally, the report on Ningbo talks about efforts to guarantee the production of key enterprises. This discusses the establishment of the “closed-loop production management mechanism.” Basically, this ensures that employees continue to live within dormitories within the factory premises. It says that local officials have been working with enterprises to ensure the effective operation of the closed-loop mechanism.
Page 4: A report on 20th Party Congress spirit sessions being held at local levels in Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, and Hainan.
Page 8: A report informing that as of the end of November, Gansu’s transportation industry has completed a total of 101.86 billion yuan in fixed assets investment, breaking through 100 billion yuan for the first time.
Page 9: The lead article on the theory page is by Sun Laibin from the School of Marxism at Peking University. This is basically a call for China to adhere to Marxism as its guiding ideology, while continuing to sinicize and modernise Marxism.
Sun begins by unequivocally telling us that:
“In the decade of the new era, the cause of the Party and the country has made historic achievements and undergone historic changes. The fundamental reason for this lies in the fact that the General Secretary Xi Jinping has been at the helm as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party and in the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” 新时代十年，党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革，最根本的原因在于有习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心掌舵领航，在于有习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想科学指引.
Towards the end, he argues that “promoting the modernisation of Marxism in China is a process of pursuing truth, revealing truth, and practising truth.” He adds that China today faces “new strategic opportunities, new strategic tasks, new strategic stages, new strategic requirements, and a new strategic environment. The risks and challenges that need to be addressed, and the contradictions and problems that need to be resolved are more intricate than ever.” Therefore, one needs to adhere to Marxist thinking; use the arrow of Marxism to shoot the target of China’s cause in the new era. Also, one needs to strengthen historical and cultural self-confidence, and consolidate the historical and mass foundation for adapting Marxism to China’s conditions…
Other Stories:
Xinhua has just published a new report with the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, titled “For a life of contentment: The rationale for China’s Human Rights Development.” I have a feeling we will see this in the paper tomorrow in one way or the other. But you can read the English version today, if you are interested.
Some excerpts:
“The journey of China's human rights development is both rich and colorful, systematic and pragmatic. The country has formed a contemporary Chinese outlook on human rights with ‘people’ as the center, ‘development’ as the driving force and ‘a life of contentment’ as the goal through continuous progress, and has enriched the global human rights cause.”
The theoretical rationale:
“From an epistemological point of view, human rights are historical, concrete and realistic. Human rights are the product of certain economic, social and historical conditions, and they develop with the changes of historical conditions. In this sense, the content and level of human rights protection are constantly enriched and improved. There is no end to improving human rights. There is no fixed model of human rights protection in the world. Different countries have different national conditions, histories, cultures, social systems and economic and social development levels. A proper path of human rights development should be explored to suit national conditions and the needs of the people. From a practical point of view, human rights are promoted through development. Subsistence is the foundation for enjoying all human rights, and development is a must to guarantee subsistence and a foundation for the fulfillment of all other rights. Poverty is the greatest obstacle to human rights, and it must be shaken off through promoting economic development and social progress, so that common prosperity and well-rounded development are gradually achieved. This is China's key approach to advancing human rights protection. From a dialectical point of view, human rights are the integration of individual and collective rights. There is no collective progress without individual development, while individuals can only enjoy well-rounded development in a collective context. Individual and collective human rights must be integrated and progress side by side, in order to achieve optimal development of human rights.”
Towards the end, the report says:
“Given the differences in history, culture, social systems, and economic and social development, people from different countries of the world have different understandings of human rights and pursue different paths to seek human rights progress. China respects the diversity in the approaches to human rights development and holds that there is no such thing as a perfect ‘Utopia’ for human rights. It opposes double standards in human rights, rejects attempts to politicize and weaponize human rights, and objects to interventions in others' internal affairs in the name of human rights. China advocates enhanced exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations, addressing the ‘governance deficit’ of human rights, promoting fairer, more equitable, reasonable and inclusive global governance of human rights, and working together to build a human community with a shared future.”
Moving on, some reports on the easing of the zero-COVID policy. There’s a long way to go, but some useful updates from Reuters and SCMP below.
“Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region and where the protests first erupted, will reopen malls, markets, restaurants and other venues from Monday, authorities said, ending strict lockdowns after months. There was no sign of any significant unrest this weekend, although police were out in force in the Liangmaqiao area of Beijing and in Shanghai around Wulumuqi Road, which is named after Urumqi. Both sites saw protests a week ago…People in Zhengzhou, the central city home to the world's largest iPhone plant which was last month rocked by violent unrest, will no longer have to show COVID test results to take public transport, taxis and to visit "public areas", authorities said on Sunday. Karaoke bars, beauty salons, internet cafes and other indoor venues can reopen but must check for a negative 48-hour COVID test result. In Shanghai from Monday a negative COVID test will no longer be required to take public transport and visit parks, authorities announced on Sunday. Elsewhere both Nanning, capital of the southern region of Guangxi and Wuhan, the central city where the pandemic began in 2019, on Sunday cancelled a requirement for a negative COVID test to take the subway. Guangzhou's Haizhu district, which experienced violent clashes last month, said Sunday that henceforth it advises people with no COVID symptoms not to get tested for the virus unless they belong to certain special groups such as frontline workers, or those with a red or yellow code. On Saturday in Beijing, authorities said the purchase of fever, cough and sore throat medicines no longer required registration. The restriction had been imposed because authorities believed people were using the medication to hide COVID infections.”
“Zhou Jiatong, head of the Center for Disease Control in southwestern Guangxi region, said last month in a paper published by the Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine that mainland China faces more than 2 million deaths if it loosened COVID curbs in the same way Hong Kong did this year…
In May, scientists in China and the United States estimated that China risks just over 1.5 million COVID deaths if it drops its tough zero-COVID policy without any safeguards such as ramping up vaccination and access to treatments, according to research published in Nature Medicine. They forecasted that peak demand on intensive care would be more than 15 times capacity, causing roughly 1.5 million deaths, based on worldwide data gathered about the variant's severity.
China could see 1.3 million to 2.1 million people die if it lifts its zero-COVID policy due to low vaccination and booster rates as well as a lack of hybrid immunity, British scientific information and analytics company Airfinity said on Monday. The company said it modelled its data on Hong Kong's BA.1 wave in February, which occurred after the city eased restrictions after two years.”
I found it very insightful, thank you for you work 💪