IP Governance - Ecological Civilisation - Gutian Conference - US Gun Control Failures
Page 1: First up, a one-line report about Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin getting on a video call today to witness the opening ceremony of the two countries’ nuclear energy cooperation project. Next, we have the column on Xi’s red footprints. This one talks about Xi’s visit to Gutian township in Longyan city in Fujian Province in October 2014 and more. Recall that Xi had led a military political work conference at the revolutionary base in Gutian. Strong symbolism in that this was the place where the Red Army was formed after the 1929 Nanchang Uprising. Mao Zedong had chaired the meeting after being appointed the political commissar by the Comintern. (This is useful for context if you are unfamiliar with the events of 1929 and 2014.)
Anyway, the PD piece quotes Zeng Hanhui, director of the Gutian Conference Memorial Hall, as saying that “the general secretary has a very good understanding of the red background of western Fujian...” The piece later quotes Xi as saying “On the 85th anniversary of the Gutian Conference, we have come here again for the purpose of tracing our roots and thinking deeply about where and why we started...Insist on building troops ideologically and politically; this is a basic principle of building our army and is a political guarantee for being able to fight and win wars.”
Xi also spoke about ensuring development of the revolutionary base areas. And the story quotes the Party secretary of Longyan saying that they will be focusing on “red” and “green” development.
From there, we go to Caixi Township and talk about Mao’s interventions and investigations there through the early 1930s in building the local revolutionary base. The local official talks this up, before we get a quote from Xi saying that in-depth investigations and studying of issues to solve problems along provide one the “right to speak” and “decision-making power.” We then head to Changting County, where again the piece essentially talks about Mao’s views about addressing the needs of the masses and then Xi’s vision and actions with regard to development and poverty alleviation. The attempt is to draw a clear line connecting the views and actions of Mao and those of Xi. That is essentially what the piece is aiming to do, it seems.
Third, PSC member Han Zheng spoke about (English version) Xi’s thoughts on ecological civilisation at a symposium. He, of course, praised Xi's thought as having “been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people” and then discussed water pollution, air pollution, carbon neutrality, etc. Also useful to note that we now have a new research institute on Xi Jinping's thought on ecological progress under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Page 2: Just one piece to note, i.e., Sun Chunlan talking about the Healthy China initiative, while addressing the 26th National Congress of the Chinese Medical Association. She praised the CMA for its role in fighting the pandemic. She spoke about the need for continued efforts to contain the pandemic and the need for strengthening “research and development of new technologies, new materials, and new drugs.”
Page 3: First, a report about a forum on poverty alleviation, modernisation and governance was held in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan. The piece says that “a total of 150 Chinese and foreign guests from 18 countries and 4 international organizations including the United Nations” participated in the forum. The themes of discussions were: “exchanging poverty reduction experience and deepening common development, consolidating poverty reduction results and promoting rural revitalization, and promoting green poverty reduction and building ecological civilization.” Also a report on China’s poverty reduction experience was released.
Second, MoFA’s comments (English version) about envoys from Latin America and Caribbean countries being taken to Xinjiang for a visit. Zhao Lijian informed that “a total of 23 ambassadors and other senior diplomats from 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries took part.” Party Secretary Chen Quanguo was their guide. “He rebuked with specific cases and detailed data the blatant lies of ‘genocide’, ‘forced labor’ and ‘oppression of Muslims’ concocted by the US and Western anti-China forces. He expressed firm opposition and strong condemnation to the moves of the US and Western countries who use the so-called human rights issues to severely interfere in China's internal affairs and hurt the feelings of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng attended the meeting, as well as the meeting themed ‘Xinjiang is a wonderful land’. He also had an interview with Chinese and foreign media to debunk how anti-China forces painstakingly designed an ‘industrial chain’ to fabricate lies and launch attacks in an attempt to disrupt Xinjiang, instigate religious and ethnic conflicts, undermine China's stability and contain China's development.”
Zhao at the end talks about how the envoys praised developments in Xinjiang and spoke about terrorism being a global problem, etc.
Third, a Zhong Sheng commentary about gun violence in the US. So far, this series of commentaries on US democracy in PD, which has come after some time of calm following Biden’s election, tells me that:
First, Beijing is keen to push back on the Biden administration’s values agenda. This includes defensive actions like defending policies in Xinjiang and offensive actions like working with Russia and such pieces.
Second, these commentaries are primarily aimed at a domestic audience and they go hand-in-hand with pieces and propaganda about how China’s system works and is far more efficient.
Third, the fact that these pieces are about long-standing and systemic issues rather than specific actions or steps by the Biden administration (unlike the eventual situation in the second half of the Trump administration) perhaps indicates that despite skepticism about a reset in ties, Beijing does see room to work with Washington on certain issues.
Anyway, here’s what the commentary says:
“The frequent occurrence of gun violence is a serious challenge facing American society. According to US media reports, more than 1.5 million Americans have died of gun-related suicides, murders, and accidents since 1975, more than the total number of deaths caused by all wars in the United States since the Civil War...People are insecure because of gun violence, and they buy guns because of their lack of security. This is a vicious circle in the United States...”
The piece discusses “gun culture” in the US and then talks about the need for gun control.
“Since the founding of the United States, only 27 constitutional amendments have been passed. The most recently effective amendment was passed in 1789, but did not take effect until 1992. (It is a fact, and has been shrewdly used to indicate dysfunction; there were other amendments after 1789 which took much less time to go through of course.) It can be estimated from this that it is almost impossible to abolish or amend the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. At the legislative level, the Democratic and Republican parties have been in sharp confrontation for many years, and they often do not hesitate to ‘oppose for the sake of opposition.’ It is self-evident that a breakthrough in Congress on gun control legislation will be difficult. Of course, it is not so much about achieving a breakthrough in Congress, but rather breaking through the interest groups opposed to gun control. Interest groups gain influence through huge political contributions and are fully capable of restraining or even preventing gun control. Since 1994, the United States has basically not passed any meaningful gun control laws.”
Here’s how the commentary concludes: “Mass shootings in American society are not normal or inevitable. They are the product of inaction, cowardice, and greed and the result of degenerate political stagnation. These comments in the U.S. media reflect the pessimistic expectations of public opinion about the persistence of the gun scourge in the United States.”
Page 4: The two historical figures talked about today are Yang Jingyu and Zhao Yiman. Yang joined the Communist Youth League in 1925 and the Party in 1926. After the Mukden Incident, he headed the Party in Harbin. He continued to fight the Japanese thereafter. The piece talks about the different posts he held, but doesn’t provide a sense of danger and colour that Yang’s guerilla fighting lifestyle resulted in. Yang was eventually killed in action against the Japanese after having been encircled. Reports talk about his incredible marksmanship and the fear that he instilled in the enemy. The PD piece says: “Yang led the guard brigade to fight in the Mengjiang area, and finally dealt with the enemy alone for 5 days and nights. With unimaginable perseverance, he persisted in a tenacious struggle with the enemy until his ammunition was exhausted. On February 23, 1940, he died heroically in Mengjiang, Jilin. The cruel Japanese army cut his head and abdomen, and found that his stomach was full of dry grass, bark and cotton wool, but not a single grain.”
Zhao was also someone who ended up in the northeast of China to fight the Japanese after the Mukden Incident. She had joined the Party in 1926 and went to the Soviet Union the next year to study. She found herself in the northeast fighting in 1931. There she ended up becoming the political commissar of the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. In 1935, her forces were encircled, and she was captured. The PD piece tells us about the torture that was inflicted on Zhao by her captors; but they did see her as a politically important catch and she was later sent to a hosptial for recovery. She escaped from there in June 1936, but was arrested again and eventually executed.
Page 6: A few short stories to note. First, a movie-screening event was kicked off in Baoding, Hebei. This is essentially about 100 “red classics” that talk about the Party’s journey. Second, there’s a new national “red storyteller competition.” This is being held “under the guidance of the Central Propaganda Department, and hosted by the Central Radio and Television General Station in conjunction with the Veterans Affairs Department, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission...” Participants need to be telling stories about “the heroic deeds and red classic stories of the party in the past century.” There will be lots of publicity around the leading players in this competition, with live broadcasts on CCTV and other platforms planned. Finally, a bit more about red events and celebrations; this one’s about the All-China Women's Federation organising story-telling and reenactments I guess around Jinggangshan.
Page 7: First, the NPCSC is sending teams to Hebei, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong and other provinces from late May to mid-June to inspect the enforcement of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law. It has also asked people's congresses in Jiangsu, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi and other provinces (municipalities) to inspect the implementation of the corporate bankruptcy laws in their respective administrative regions. Based on the outcomes of this inspection in July, revisions will be considered.
Next, PD reports that “a study released by the team of Professor Li Jing from Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences showed that the Qingfei Paidu Decoction” reduces the risk of death among COVID-19 patients by 50%. This is a Chinese herbal treatment, which has reportedly been used in the country.
The story says that the study was published in Phytomedicine, a regional journal of plant science and pharmacy. It is based on “the largest multi-center clinical study on Qingfei Paidu Decoction so far. Of the 8939 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 29% received treatment with Qingfei Paidu Decoction. The hospital mortality rate of patients who did not receive Qingfei Paidu Decoction was 4.8%, compared with 1.2% of patients who received Qingfei Paidu Decoction. After excluding the influence of differences in clinical characteristics and other treatments between the two groups, the risk of death of patients treated with Qingfei Paidu Decoction is only half that of patients without Qingfei Paidu Decoction.”
Page 13: On the Theory page today, we have a piece by Yan Xiaofeng, Dean of the School of Marxism, Tianjin University. Yan writes about ensuring that the Party pursues the right development track. In this, he backs the idea of reform and opening up, Party control and drawing lessons from the past. He then talks about the need to keep in mind the changes that are taking place around the world and being good at “self-revolution.”
“From catching up with the times to leading the times, it is a great leap achieved under the leadership of the Party. It is a practical result of the continuous enhancement of the party’s political leadership, ideological leadership, mass organization power, and social appeal. Practice has proved that the party leading the people to carry out a great social revolution must have the courage to carry out self-revolution and build the party stronger...various factors that weaken the party's advanced nature and damage the party’s purity are everywhere, and all kinds of dangers that go against the original aspiration and mission and shake the foundation of the party are everywhere. From the perspective of party building, from catching up with the times to leading the times, not only is the situation more demanding, but also more difficult. The greater the risks, the greater the challenges, and the heavier the tasks, the more we must strengthen the party’s style of work, invigorate the spirit, inspire fighting spirit, establish an image, and win the hearts of the people with a good style, so as to gather strong momentum and provide a strong guarantee for leading the times.”
He then talks about the need to unify thoughts and actions, emphasising that “Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era is the ideological banner of the Communist Party of China in the new era. It is the fundamental guideline of the country’s political and social life. It is the contemporary Chinese Marxism and 21st century Marxism that leads China and influences the world.”
Next Wang Qian from East China University talks about China’s diplomacy related to intellectual property. The piece doesn’t really provide new ideas, but emphasises that this is a priority area. Wang calls IP as “an important resource for national development and an important manifestation of international competitiveness, as well as a key factor in innovation and creation.” He then talks about the need for China to engage in global IP governance. He ends by saying:
“it is necessary to properly handle major intellectual property disputes, effectively improve the ability to protect the overseas security and legal rights of Chinese citizens and enterprises, and promote the development of the global intellectual property governance system in a more just and reasonable direction.”