Li Dazhao & Wang Jinmei - Shandong Secretary Praising Xi - G7 on China

Here are the stories and pieces from the May 6, 2021, People’s Daily edition that I found noteworthy.

Page 1: We’re just back from the holidays, but it’s still a slow news day for the paper. I am covering what’s relevant but also doing a breakdown of the G7 statement on China at the end.

First let’s look at the holiday tourism data (English report). China saw a total of 230 million domestic tourist trips during the five-day May Day holiday, up 119.7 percent from last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Tourism revenue reached 113.23 billion yuan (about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 138.1 percent from last year, according to the ministry.

There’s a piece on the third page, which talks about this data arguing that it reflects the vitality of China’s domestic market, which is also something that international actors should keep in mind. “The vibrant Chinese market is bound to become a world market, a shared market, and a market for everyone.”

It adds: “From May 7 to 10, the first China International Consumer Goods Expo will be held in Haikou, with more than 2,500 brands from 69 countries and regions participating. From May 10 to 12, the 2021 China Brand Day event will be held in Shanghai with the theme of “Chinese brands, the world shares; will focus on gathering dual circulation and leading new consumption.”

Second, a photo story that tells us that the Nagqu to Yangbajing section of the Beijing-Lhasa expressway is set to open in June. 

Page 3: First, a 25-member Chinese team of medical experts has landed in Laos to help the country deal with the increasing number of cases. The country has extended its lockdown to May 20. This was decided after it registered 60 more positive infections, taking the overall tally of cases in the country to 1,026.

Second, in today’s feature on foreign political parties/actors praising CCP, there is an interview with Simon Compaoré from the People's Movement for Progress in Burkina Faso. According to this piece, he says he’s read Xi’s Governance of China and praises the CCP’s governance model and ability, and has a very positive view of China’s containment of COVID-19 and poverty alleviation. He also backs the idea that “every country should freely choose its development path and development thinking.”

Page 4: The page carries brief biographies of Li Dazhao and Wang Jinmei, and then a piece that provides the connecting thread between their stories. This says that they were people of different ages and professions, “but they shared the same identity and dedicated themselves to the same faith, and they will never die...The more ambitious the ideal, the stronger the spiritual power of people; the stronger the faith, the stronger the revolutionary will of people.”

The piece then quotes Xi’s comments: “‘Difficulties can destroy the flesh, and death can take away the lives of people, but no force can shake the ideals and beliefs of the Chinese Communists.’ The power of faith can travel through the barriers of time and space.”

Page 13: Liu Jiayi, Party Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee, writes about learning from the Party’s history and charting a course for the future. This is Liu praising Xi Jinping and expressing fealty. 

“From the practice of Shandong, the fundamental reason for economic and social development progressing and achieving new results and changes is the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued a series of important instructions and clear requirements for the work of Shandong, providing us with fundamental guidelines for the work.”

At another point, he writes:

“It is precisely because General Secretary Xi Jinping is the core of the CPC Central Committee and the core of the whole Party at the helm, and because the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups are united and tenacious, we have solved many difficult problems that we have been trying to solve for a long time, accomplished many major events that we wanted to do but failed to accomplish in the past, overcome a series of major risks and challenges, and promoted the continuous development of the cause of the party and the country.”

The first priority from Liu’s point of view: “Upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and centralized and unified leadership is an important experience in my country's revolution, construction, and reform. To uphold the leadership of the party, first of all, it is important to uphold the authority of the party central committee and centralized and unified leadership. This is the supreme principle of party leadership.” 

I’ve read similar statements so often that I’ve never thought twice about them. But for some reason, today when I read this, I was reminded of Yuen Yuen Ang’s work. She argues against the idea of a single China model, stating that “In reality, different parts of China have followed many different paths to economic and social development over the last several decades. The China model changes depending on where and when one looks for it. More important, it is inaccurate—and indeed misleading—to equate the China model with conventional authoritarianism.” Given this, how deeply damaging is this repeated emphasis on unified, centralised leadership as the fundamental learning from the Chinese development experience, when actually it was tremendous local experimentation that actually led to China’s growth.

Liu then talks about keeping in mind the original intention, keeping in mind history and pursuing “self-revolution.”

Finally, here’s what was covered on the international page, if you are interested.

G7 Communique: Indo-Pacific and China

• “We reiterate the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific which is inclusive and based on the rule of law, democratic values, territorial integrity, transparency, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, and underscore our intention to work together with ASEAN and other countries on these endeavours through a wide range of activities. As a priority, we underscore the importance of improving regional connectivity through quality infrastructure development and projects consistent with the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment, and the highest standards of transparency, green and digital transition. We recognise the need to incentivise private capital.”

• “We encourage China, as a major power and economy with advanced technological capability, to participate constructively in the rules-based international system. It is in all of our interests, including China’s, to take action that addresses global challenges including climate change and biodiversity loss, to promote economic recovery from COVID-19.”

• “We call on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.” In this context, the statement talks about Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.

• On HK, “We call on China and the Hong Kong authorities to end the targeting of those who defend rights and freedoms and democratic values, to uphold the independence of the judicial system and to ensure cases are not transferred to the mainland.”

• “We are united in our concern regarding practices that undermine such free and fair economic systems, including on trade, investment and development finance. We will work collectively to foster global economic resilience in the face of arbitrary, coercive economic policies and practices. We urge China to assume and fulfil obligations and responsibilities commensurate with its global economic role.” And this comes right when the NDRC has said this regarding Australia:

Recently, some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination. Based on the current attitude of the Australian Commonwealth Government toward China-Australia cooperation, the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China decides to indefinitely suspend all activities under the framework of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue jointly held by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China and relevant ministries of the Australian Commonwealth Government.

• They want China to “act responsibly in cyber space, including refraining from conducting or supporting cyber-enabled intellectual property theft.”

• “We support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in World Health Organisation forums and the World Health Assembly.”

An interesting aside is this objective with regard to Russia in the statement: “We reiterate our interest in stable and predictable relations with Russia.” This difference in the approach to China and Russia was also underscored in Antony Blinken’s dialogue with Dominic Raab.