Part II: Xi Thought Q&A Series: The Full Collection
Dear Subscribers,
On July 19, the People’s Daily began a special Q&A-based column on Xi Jinping Thought, drawn from a book. This was published on every weekday on Page 5.
The series comprised 50 pieces. Each article addressed two specific questions. I’ve covered all of them in this tracker as they were published. I then summarised the first 25 pieces in one post here, thinking that it might be helpful to have all the content in one place.
In this post, I am putting together my coverage of pieces 26 to 40, as I did them on the day. And then I’ll have a third post with pieces 40 to 50. I’ve had to divide these because of post size limitations on Substack.
Anyway, I hope you find all of the content compiled in three posts much more handy. If you have any feedback/thoughts, do please write to me. It’s always good to hear from subscribers on what’s going well and what can be done better.
Cheers,
Manoj
26. Socialist Basic Economic System
We have the 26th piece in the Xi Thought series today. If you are interested, I’ve put the previous 25 pieces in this post. I’ll add the new ones there too.
So today’s piece first talks about the socialist economic system. This was rather heavy on jargon and I did struggle. So if you think I’ve missed something significant, please do share your thoughts.
Nevertheless, I found this entire piece really interesting because it tells us that there is a certain broadly defined goal that the Party sees as an end that its governance is aimed towards. You can call this national rejuvenation, socialist modernisation, etc. But it sees the state-owned economy as critical in achieving those goals. In fact, I would go as far as to argue that there is a sense of ideological commitment to the public sector, while there is an instrumental approach to the private sector. The latter implies that policies will change regardless of whether these changes hurt growth of the private sector, distort markets or curb competition, if they are deemed as meeting a broader national objective.
Anyway, the piece begins by telling us that in 1978, 18 farmers in Xiaogang village, in east Anhui Province, signed an agreement (“按下红色手印” - Àn xià hóngsè shǒuyìn - pressing the red handprint) to divide communally owned farmland into individual pieces called household contracts. This historically has been termed as the beginning of China’s rural reforms.
We then get a bit of an explanation about the basic economic system, which is important because it “stipulates the basic principles of economic relations, clarifies people’s position and mutual relations in terms of production, distribution, exchange and consumption, and ensures the socialist nature of the economic system.” 它规定了我国经济关系的基本原则,明确人们在生产、分配、交换和消费中的地位及相互关系,确保经济制度的社会主义属性.
We are then told that the 15th Party Congress established ‘public ownership as the main body and multi-ownership economy developing together’ as China's basic economic system, and clearly stated that the ‘non-public ownership economy is an important part of China’s socialist market economy’. 党的十五大把“公有制为主体、多种所有制经济共同发展”确立为我国的基本经济制度,明确提出“非公有制经济是我国社会主义市场经济的重要组成部分”.
The 16th Party Congress came out with the view to “unwaveringly consolidate and develop the public economy” and “unwaveringly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public economy.” The 18th Congress said that "unwaveringly encourage, support and guide the development of non-public economy, and ensure that all systems of the economy have equal access to production factors, fair participation in market competition and equal protection under the law.” 党的十八大进一步提出“毫不动摇鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展,保证各种所有制经济依法平等使用生产要素、公平参与市场竞争、同等受到法律保护”. The third plenary of the 18th Central Committee said that “both the public and non-public sectors of the economy are important components of the socialist market economy, and they are both important foundations for my country's economic and social development.” Then we come to the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.
We then get to things as they are today, or the leadership perspective today.
“The dominant position of public ownership and the leading role of the state-owned economy are the institutional guarantee for the people of all ethnic groups in China to share the fruits of development, and also an important guarantee for consolidating the ruling position of the Party and adhering to the socialist system in China. For a long time, China's non-public economy has developed rapidly under the guidance of the party's principles and policies, and played an important role in stabilizing growth, promoting innovation, increasing employment and improving people's livelihood. The non-public economy is an important foundation for economic stability, an important source of national tax revenue, an important subject of technological innovation, an important support for financial development and an important force for sustained and healthy economic development. Public economy and non-public economy complement each other and bring out the best in each other.” 公有制主体地位、国有经济主导作用是我国各族人民共享发展成果的制度性保证,也是巩固党的执政地位、坚持我国社会主义制度的重要保证. 长期以来,我国非公有制经济在我们党的方针政策指引下快速发展,在稳定增长、促进创新、增加就业、改善民生等方面发挥了重要作用. 非公有制经济是稳定经济的重要基础,是国家税收的重要来源,是技术创新的重要主体,是金融发展的重要依托,是经济持续健康发展的重要力量. 公有制经济和非公有制经济,二者相辅相成、相得益彰.
We are then told that the system’s approach is to “give full play to the strengths of the market economy, but also the advantages of the socialist system.” Emphasising this is a quote from Xi that “we are developing the market economy under the premise of the Communist Party of China’s leadership and the socialist system. We must never forget the attribute of socialism.” 习近平总书记指出:“我们是在中国共产党领导和社会主义制度的大前提下发展市场经济,什么时候都不能忘了'社会主义'这个定语.” So while the market does have a “decisive role” in allocation of resources, what’s important is the “integration of effective markets and effective governments.”
The next question is about the role of the market and the government in the system.
“The market economy is essentially an economy in which the market determines the allocation of resources. To improve the socialist market economic system, we must follow this rule, focus on solving the problems of imperfect market system, excessive government intervention and inadequate supervision, and give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation. This requires actively and steadily pushing forward the market-oriented reform in breadth and depth, reducing the government's direct allocation of resources, reducing the government's direct intervention in microeconomic activities, handing over economic activities that can be effectively regulated by the market mechanism to the market, handing over things that the government should not manage to the market, allowing the market to give full play to its role in all fields where it can play its role, promoting resource allocation to maximize benefits and efficiency, and giving enterprises and individuals more vitality and more space to develop the economy and create wealth.” 市场决定资源配置是市场经济的一般规律,市场经济本质上就是市场决定资源配置的经济。健全社会主义市场经济体制必须遵循这条规律,着力解决市场体系不完善、政府干预过多和监管不到位问题,充分发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用。这就要求积极稳妥从广度和深度上推进市场化改革,减少政府对资源的直接配置,减少政府对微观经济活动的直接干预,把市场机制能有效调节的经济活动交给市场,把政府不该管的事交给市场,让市场在所有能够发挥作用的领域都充分发挥作用,推动资源配置实现效益最大化和效率最优化,让企业和个人有更多活力和更大空间去发展经济、创造财富.
With this said, do note that “the market plays a decisive role in the allocation of resources, but it does not do everything.” 市场在资源配置中起决定性作用,并不是起全部作用.
“China implements a socialist market economic system, so we must give full play to the superiority of the socialist system and the positive role of the party and the government. The decisive role of the market is from an overall perspective. We cannot blindly and absolutely say that the market plays a decisive role. In some areas, such as national defense, the government plays a decisive role. Some strategic energy resources should be firmly controlled by the government, but this can be done through market mechanisms. The duties and functions of the government are mainly to maintain macroeconomic stability, strengthen and optimize public services, guarantee fair competition, strengthen market supervision, maintain market order, promote sustainable development, promote common prosperity and make up for market failures. To give full play to the government’s role is not about the government taking a greater role, nor is it simply about issuing administrative orders. Rather it is to manage those things that the market cannot control or those that it manages poorly.” 我国实行的是社会主义市场经济体制,必须发挥社会主义制度的优越性、发挥党和政府的积极作用。市场起决定性作用,是从总体上讲的,不能盲目绝对地讲市场起决定性作用,有的领域如国防建设,就是政府起决定性作用。一些带有战略性的能源资源,政府要牢牢掌控,但可以通过市场机制去做。政府的职责和作用主要是保持宏观经济稳定,加强和优化公共服务,保障公平竞争,加强市场监管,维护市场秩序,推动可持续发展,促进共同富裕,弥补市场失灵。更好发挥政府作用,不是要更多发挥政府作用,也不是简单下达行政命令,而是要在保证市场发挥决定性作用的前提下,管好那些市场管不了或管不好的事情.
In this sense, the argument is that the role of the market and that of the government are organically linked, i.e. the “invisible hand” and “visible hand” need to work together.
27. High-Quality Growth & Supply Side Structural Reform
Today, we have the 27th piece in the Xi Jinping Thought series. The first question is about the shift from high growth to high-quality growth. After a bit of history that gets us past the 19th Party Congress, we get an explanation.
“High-quality development is development that can meet the people’s growing needs for a better life, development that embodies the new development concept, and development that has innovation as the driving force; it is development in which coordination becomes an endogenous feature, green becomes the universal form, the pathway adopted is openness, and sharing becomes the fundamental purpose.” 高质量发展,就是能够很好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的发展,是体现新发展理念的发展,是创新成为第一动力、协调成为内生特点、绿色成为普遍形态、开放成为必由之路、共享成为根本目的的发展.
“From the supply point of view, high-quality development should entail the realisation of a more complete industrial system, networked and intelligent production organization, strong innovation, demand capture, brand influence and core competitiveness, and high quality products and services. From the demand point of view, high-quality development should continue to meet the people’s individual, diversified and constantly increasing needs; this demand should lead to changes in the supply system and structure, and supply changes then continue to respond and adjust to new demand. From the input-output point of view, high-quality development should constantly improve labor efficiency, capital efficiency, land efficiency, resource efficiency, and environmental efficiency; constantly improve the contribution of scientific and technological progress, and constantly improve total factor productivity. From the perspective of distribution, high-quality development should realize return on investment, profit for enterprises, income for employees, and tax revenue for the government, and fully reflect the respective contributions according to market assessments. In terms of macroeconomic circulation, high-quality development should realize smooth circulation of production, circulation, distribution and consumption, a more reasonable proportional relationship and spatial layout of the national economy, and a relatively smooth economic development without major ups and downs. More specifically, high-quality development means changing from ‘having something or not’ to things ‘being good or not’.” 高质量发展,就是能够很好满足人民日益增长的美好生活需要的发展,是体现新发展理念的发展,是创新成为第一动力、协调成为内生特点、绿色成为普遍形态、开放成为必由之路、共享成为根本目的的发展。从供给看,高质量发展应该实现产业体系比较完整,生产组织方式网络化、智能化,创新力、需求捕捉力、品牌影响力、核心竞争力强,产品和服务质量高。从需求看,高质量发展应该不断满足人民群众个性化、多样化、不断升级的需求,这种需求引领供给体系和结构的变化,供给变革又不断催生新的需求。从投入产出看,高质量发展应该不断提高劳动效率、资本效率、土地效率、资源效率、环境效率,不断提升科技进步贡献率,不断提高全要素生产率。从分配看,高质量发展应该实现投资有回报、企业有利润、员工有收入、政府有税收,并且充分反映各自按市场评价的贡献。从宏观经济循环看,高质量发展应该实现生产、流通、分配、消费循环通畅,国民经济重大比例关系和空间布局比较合理,经济发展比较平稳,不出现大的起落。更明确地说,高质量发展,就是从“有没有”转向“好不好”.
Then we are told: “Promoting high-quality development is an inevitable requirement to maintain sustainable and healthy economic development, an inevitable requirement to adapt to the changes in the main contradictions of our society and the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country, and an inevitable requirement of following the laws of economic development...Since 1960s, only a dozen middle-income economies in the world have become high-income economies. Those countries and regions that have achieved success have realized economic development from quantitative expansion to qualitative improvement after experiencing high-speed growth. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and major changes have taken place in China’s social contradictions. The problem of insufficient and unbalanced development is more prominent, and the contradictions and problems in development are concentrated in the quality of development. At the same time, the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation around the world are redrawing the global innovation map and reshaping the global economic structure, which presents a rare historical opportunity for China to promote high-quality development.” 推动高质量发展,是保持经济持续健康发展的必然要求,是适应我国社会主要矛盾变化和全面建设社会主义现代化国家的必然要求,是遵循经济规律发展的必然要求。经济发展是一个螺旋式上升的过程,上升不是线性的,量积累到一定阶段,必须转向质的提升。20世纪60年代以来,全球100多个中等收入经济体中只有十几个成为高收入经济体。那些取得成功的国家和地区,就是在经历高速增长阶段后实现了经济发展从量的扩张转向质的提高。中国特色社会主义进入新时代,我国社会主要矛盾发生了重大变化,发展不平衡不充分的问题更加突出,发展中的矛盾和问题集中体现在发展质量上.
The next question is about why supply-side structural reform remains a key issue. We are told that supply and demand are dialectically linked.
“Demand-side management focuses on solving aggregate problems and short-term regulation, mainly by regulating taxation, fiscal spending, money and credit to stimulate or suppress demand and thus promote economic growth. Supply-side management focuses on solving structural problems and stimulating economic growth, mainly through optimizing factor allocation and adjusting production structure to improve the quality and efficiency of the supply system, and then promote economic growth.” 需求侧管理,重在解决总量性问题,注重短期调控,主要是通过调节税收、财政支出、货币信贷等来刺激或抑制需求,进而推动经济增长. 供给侧管理,重在解决结构性问题,注重激发经济增长动力,主要通过优化要素配置和调整生产结构来提高供给体系质量和效率,进而推动经济增长.
Then the piece tells us that China faces both demand and supply-side challenges, the main challenge is related to the supply side. For example, some industries have serious overcapacity, while a large number of key equipment, core technologies, and high-end products still rely on imports. It also says that “facts have proved that China's demand is not insufficient, but rather demand has changed, and the products supplied have not changed accordingly; the quality and service has not kept up. This is one of the key aspects of supply side reform.
The piece then talks about three structural imbalances facing the economy, namely, “the structural imbalance between supply and demand in the real economy, the imbalance between finance and the real economy, and the imbalance between real estate and the real economy.” 概括起来,主要表现为“三大失衡”,即实体经济结构性供需失衡、金融和实体经济失衡、房地产和实体经济失衡.
So what needs to be done with regard to supply-side structural reforms.
It talks about the eight-character policy of “consolidating, enhancing, upgrading and smoothing.” “巩固, 提高, 提升, 畅通”
It talks about the three eliminations, one reduction and one subsidy - 三比一, 一减, 一补 - this refers to the asks of eliminating excess capacity and inventory, deleveraging, along with cost reduction and making up for shortcomings in infrastructure and other fields.
Enhance the vitality of various market players, establish fair, open and transparent market rules and a business environment ruled by law, promote positive incentives and survival of the fittest, and develop more high-quality enterprises. 增强各类市场主体活力,建立公平开放透明的市场规则和法治化营商环境,促进正向激励和优胜劣汰,发展更多优质企业.
Improve the modernisation level of industrial chain and supply chain, pay attention to the use of technological innovation and scale effect to form new competitive advantages, and cultivate and develop new industrial clusters. 提升产业链供应链现代化水平,注重利用技术创新和规模效应形成新的竞争优势,培育和发展新的产业集群.
accelerate the construction of a unified, open and competitive modern market system, improve the ability of the financial system to serve the real economy, and form a virtuous circle of the domestic market as the main body…
We are then told that despite COVID-19-related pressures on the economy, there is no shift in the approach to supply side structural reform.
Finally, we have this:
“General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: ‘The supply-side structural reform we are talking about not only emphasizes supply but also pays attention to demand. It not only highlights the development of social productive forces but also pays attention to improving production relations. It not only gives play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, but also better plays the role of the government. Focus on the current and based on the long-term.’ This reveals the essential difference between our supply-side structural reform and western schools of thought.” 习近平总书记指出:“我们讲的供给侧结构性改革,既强调供给又关注需求,既突出发展社会生产力又注重完善生产关系,既发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用又更好发挥政府作用,既着眼当前又立足长远。”这揭示了我们的供给侧结构性改革同西方供给学派的本质区别.
28. Public & Private Sector
We have the 28th piece in the Xi Thought series. The first question today is about the public and private sector. In the first paragraph, we are told that anyone denying the role of either is basically doing a disservice to the socialist economic model.
The next bit tells us that adhering to public ownership as the mainstay is to adhere to the direction of socialism; and not wavering in consolidating and developing the public ownership of the economy. 坚持公有制为主体就是坚持社会主义方向,必须毫不动摇巩固和发展公有制经济. The piece tells us that the state-owned sector is an “important material and political foundation of socialism with Chinese characteristics” and an “important pillar” of the Party’s ability to rule and work towards rejuvenation.
“Without the important material foundation that state-owned enterprises have laid for China’s development over a long period of time, without the major innovations and key core technologies achieved by state-owned enterprises, and without state-owned enterprises’ long-term commitment to a large number of social responsibilities, there would be no economic independence and national security for China, no continuous improvement in people's lives, and no socialist China standing tall in the East of the world.” 如果没有长期以来国有企业为我国发展打下的重要物质基础,如果没有国有企业取得的重大创新成果和关键核心技术,如果没有国有企业长期承担大量社会责任,就没有我国的经济独立和国家安全,就没有人民生活的不断改善,就没有社会主义中国在世界东方的岿然屹立.
If the role of SoEs is reduced or corroded and if these are enfeebled and destroyed, then it would undermine the dominant position of public ownership, the leading role of state-owned economy, the leading position of the working class, the essential requirement of common prosperity, the ruling foundation and the ruling position of the party and thereby undermine the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 如果把国有企业搞小了、搞垮了、搞没了,公有制的主体地位、国有经济的主导作用、工人阶级的领导地位、共同富裕的本质要求、党的执政基础和执政地位就无从谈起,更谈不上坚持和发展中国特色社会主义了.
On the other hand,
“The private economy is the main form of economic organization of the non-public economy, an important achievement in the development of the socialist market economy, and an important force in promoting the development of the socialist market economy...the private economy has become the main space for entrepreneurship and employment, an important domain for technological innovation, and an important source of national taxation revenue.”
With that explanation provided, there’s then talk about maintaining the mainstay role of the public economy and not pursuing de-nationalisation or privatisation; “public sector enterprises must not only be run, but must be run well, the piece says. 国有企业不仅要办而且一定要办好. At the same time, “the status and role of the non-public economy in China’s economic and social development has not changed; private enterprises and private entrepreneurs are our own people; the private economy can only grow and cannot be weakened...rather, it must move to a broader stage.” 非公有制经济在我国经济社会发展中的地位和作用没有变,民营企业和民营企业家是我们自己人,民营经济只能壮大、不能弱化,不仅不能“离场”,而且要走向更加广阔的舞台.
So in the new era, stick to the two unwaverings; enhance the competitiveness, innovation, control, influence, and anti-risk capabilities of the state-owned economy; and with regard to the private sector, it is important to develop a “亲清政商关系” - my understanding of this is that it refers to a close yet clean government-business relationship. This should help explain more.
Quick Thought: This entire bit today only makes me more certain about the view that the approach to private sector being instrumental, which I wrote about yesterday.
The second question today is about improving core technology research.
“General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to adhere to self-reliance in science and technology, improve the new national system under the condition of socialist market economy, and lay a solid foundation for key core technologies. This reflects our party’s profound grasp and strategic plan of persisting in innovation-driven development and shaping new advantages in development in an all-round way, and is a major measure to accelerate the construction of a powerful country in science and technology.” 习近平总书记多次强调,要坚持科技自立自强,健全社会主义市场经济条件下新型举国体制,打好关键核心技术攻坚战. 这反映了我们党对坚持创新驱动发展、全面塑造发展新优势的深刻把握和战略谋划,是加快建设科技强国的重大举措.
The author says that the new nationwide system that’s being established is in line with China’s historic experiences and social realities. He quotes Xi as saying that the fact that China’s socialist system can bring together resources to focus on doing “great things” “is an important magic weapon.” And that this advantage must not be lost.
Then we are told:
“At present, China’s overall gap with developed countries in the development of core technologies is narrowing. Major innovative achievements are emerging. In some frontier technologies, China is beginning to enter the leading stage. On the whole, China’s scientific and technological strength is shifting from the accumulation of quantity to achieving a qualitative leap, from breakthroughs in specific domains to the improvement of system capability. However, the shortcomings of China's basic scientific research are still prominent, and there are obvious gaps when compared to advanced countries. There are still many institutional barriers in the chain of scientific and technological innovation, and the links between innovation and transformation are not close enough. We also need to see that a new round of scientific and technological revolution is taking shape, wherein science and technology competition is more intense. If scientific and technological innovation is not carried out, the driving force for development cannot be changed, and we will be at a disadvantage in the global economic competition. In order to make up for the shortcomings of scientific and technological development and grasp the first opportunities of the scientific and technological revolution, we must break through the institutional barriers, build a collaborative mechanism for key core technologies in line with the laws of the market economy, so that the hand of the market and the hand of the government can complement each other…” 建立健全关键核心技术攻关的新型举国体制,是实施创新驱动发展战略的必然要求。实施创新驱动发展战略,必须把重要领域的科技创新摆在更加突出的地位。当前,我国在发展核心技术方面同发达国家总体差距在缩小,重大创新成果竞相涌现,一些前沿领域开始进入并跑领跑阶段,科技实力正在从量的积累迈向质的飞跃,从点的突破迈向系统能力提升。但是我国基础科学研究短板依然突出,同国际先进水平的差距还很明显,科技创新链条上还存在诸多体制机制关卡,创新和转化各个环节衔接不够紧密。还要看到,新一轮科技革命方兴未艾,科技竞争更加激烈,如果科技创新搞不上去,发展动力就不可能实现转换,我们在全球经济竞争中就会处于下风。补齐科技发展短板、把握科技革命先机,必须突破体制机制障碍,构建符合市场经济规律的关键核心技术协同攻关机制,让市场之手和政府之手相互配合、优势互补,充分调动各类科技创新主体的积极性、主动性、创造性,形成集中力量攻克关键核心技术难关的强大创新合力.
The piece again emphasises independent innovation and says “we cannot be controlled by others in key core technology fields.” It talks about chips and core equipment such as lithography machines that are key dependencies. It then says that such technologies are chokepoint technologies and these cannot be bought by money as countries regard these as linked to national security; one, therefore, needs to focus on independent innovation. It calls for using China’s systemic advantages of focussing on “great things,” using the market size as a demand driver, and being demand-oriented and problem-oriented, realizing that science and technology innovation is the main ge-economic “battlefield.” It talks about the national laboratory system as the starting point and promoting interdisciplinary research.
Think of this in the context of the recent deliberations regarding changes to the law on science and technology progress. GT tells us that:
“The draft proposes establishing an investment mechanism for stable support of basic research and increasing the proportion of basic research funding in the total social research and development (R&D) funding, in order to enhance the capacity of original innovation for basic research. Moreover, the draft law also makes it clear that support for national strategic science and technology should be established and strengthened as the revision prioritizes promoting breakthroughs in key areas and core technologies. The support is expected to include helping national laboratories, science and technology research and development institutions, high-level research universities and leading enterprises in the science and technology field.”
29. Regional Development & Rural Revitalisation
Today we have the 29th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about the regional development strategies that have been adopted. After a quick bit of history, we are told that since the 18th Party Congress,
“the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has with foresight put forward new regional development strategies, such as the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, and the construction of the Shuangcheng Economic Circle in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. With the implementation of these regional development strategies, the total economic volume of each region in China has been rising continuously, the economic structure has been continuously optimized, and the regional coordinated development has achieved remarkable results.” 党的十八大以来,以习近平同志为核心的党中央高瞻远瞩、审时度势地提出了京津冀协同发展、长江经济带发展、粤港澳大湾区建设、长三角一体化发展、黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展、成渝地区双城经济圈建设等新的区域发展战略. 随着这些区域发展战略的实施,我国各区域经济总量不断攀升,经济结构持续优化,区域协调发展成效显著.
The next paragraph explains why this policy shift was needed. The argument is that growth and development are increasingly taking place in big cities and urban clusters, with the “national economic center of gravity” further shifting south. What this means is there is a greater “polarization of development power,” which, although the piece doesn’t say so, will entail political implications too. The piece says that there are specific challenges of development in northeast and northwest China; in addition, “some cities, especially resource-exhausted cities and traditional industrial and mining areas, lack vitality in development.”
Now in the new era, therefore, what’s needed is new thinking. Coordinated regional development will, the piece says, “adjust and improve the regional policy system in accordance with objective economic laws, give full play to the comparative advantages of each region, promote the reasonable flow and efficient concentration of various factors, enhance the power of innovation and development, accelerate the construction of the driving force for high-quality development, enhance the economic and population carrying capacity of central cities and urban clusters and other areas with economic development advantages, and enhance the functions of other regions in ensuring food security, ecological security and border security…” 新时代需要新思维,新形势呼唤新布局。做好区域协调发展大文章,总的思路是按照客观经济规律调整完善区域政策体系,发挥各地区比较优势,促进各类要素合理流动和高效集聚,增强创新发展动力,加快构建高质量发展的动力系统,增强中心城市和城市群等经济发展优势区域的经济和人口承载能力,增强其他地区在保障粮食安全、生态安全、边疆安全等方面的功能,形成主体功能明显、优势互补、高质量发展的区域经济布局。这一思路,适应了我国经济进入高质量发展阶段对区域协调发展提出的新要求。习近平总书记强调:“不能简单要求各地区在经济发展上达到同一水平,而是要根据各地区的条件,走合理分工、优化发展的路子。”要尊重客观规律、发挥比较优势、完善空间治理、保障民生底线,推动形成能够带动全国高质量发展的新动力源,促进区域协调发展.
Broadly for the different parts of China, the goal is this:
promote a new pattern of development in the West
revitalise the northeast
accelerate the rise of the central region
encourage the eastern region to accelerate modernization
要推动西部大开发形成新格局,推动东北振兴取得新突破,促进中部地区加快崛起,鼓励东部地区加快推进现代化.
Also, support the accelerated development of old revolutionary base areas and ethnic minority areas and strengthen the development of border areas, and promote prosperity there.支持革命老区、民族地区加快发展,加强边疆地区建设,推进兴边富民、稳边固边.
The next question is about rural revitalisation. Once again, after a quick sweep of history, we are told that the “rural revitalization strategy is a major strategic deployment.”
“In this strategy, modernization of agriculture and rural areas is the general goal, adhering to the priority development of agriculture and rural areas is the general policy, ensuring prosperity of industry, ecological livability, a civilized countryside, effective governance and affluent lifestyles are the general requirements, and establishing a sound institutional mechanism and policy system for integrated development of urban and rural areas is the institutional guarantee.” 在这一战略中,农业农村现代化是总目标,坚持农业农村优先发展是总方针,产业兴旺、生态宜居、乡风文明、治理有效、生活富裕是总要求,建立健全城乡融合发展体制机制和政策体系是制度保障.
Here we get a number put to the rationale that Xi had given earlier in the paper on the front page: “Even if China’s urbanization rate reaches 70%, there will still be more than 400 million people in rural areas. If more than 400 million people are left behind in the process of modernization, China will find itself in a position wherein ‘on the one side, there is the bustling city; on the other side will be the languid countryside.’ This is not in line with the ruling purpose of our party and the essential requirements of socialism.” 即便我国城镇化率达到70%,农村仍将有4亿多人口. 如果在现代化进程中把农村4亿多人落下,到头来“一边是繁荣的城市、一边是凋敝的农村”,这不符合我们党的执政宗旨,也不符合社会主义的本质要求.
30. Dual Circulation & Political System
The 30th piece in the Xi Thought series today. The first question is about dual circulation. We are told that this is an important decision made by the party taking into account “the changes in China’s development stage, environment and conditions, especially based on the changes in China's comparative advantages, which makes clear the choice of path for China's economic modernization, and has great and far-reaching significance for promoting China's high-quality development and promoting global economic prosperity.” 这是我们党根据我国发展阶段、环境、条件变化,特别是基于我国比较优势变化,审时度势作出的重大决策,明确了我国经济现代化的路径选择,对于推动我国高质量发展、促进世界经济繁荣,具有重大而深远的意义.
We get a quick wrap of history, i.e., pre-reform, China’s economy was domestically oriented; post-reform, the focus was on the international market. This focus expanded significantly after China joined the WTO; and then after the 2008 financial crisis, the Party began focussing on expanding domestic demand. Since then, “the role of domestic circulation in the economy began to rise significantly,” the piece says.
Now the focus for some time has been on supply-side structural reforms and high-quality growth, and the strategic approach is that development is driven by domestic demand, especially consumer demand, the piece says. That last bit is useful, because one could technically classify the extensive infrastructure investment after 2008 also as demand expansion. But now the argument is that this must be consumer driven. Makes sense?
The piece also reiterates that externally, the environment has changed over the past decade, with globalisation under pressure and protectionism on the rise. In addition, China’s dependence on foreign trade dropped from 64.2% at the peak in 2006 to 31.8% in 2019. Also, the domestic market is huge, with a middle class of 400 million. And amid all this, the focus is now on domestic demand.
“From the supply point of view, China’s strong production capacity based on the formation of a large domestic market, can promote the integration and innovation of global factor resources, so that the scale effect and agglomeration effect are maximized.” 从供给看,我国基于国内大市场形成的强大生产能力,能够促进全球要素资源整合创新,使规模效应和集聚效应最大化发挥.
And then the piece goes on to address some key questions/doubts about dual circulation.
“Some people have asked whether the new development pattern is a helpless and passive move of China forced by the external situation. Does it mean that China's opening-up policy will change? Does it mean that all localities should engage in self-circulation? The answer to all these is no.” 比如,有人提出,新发展格局是否是中国迫于外部形势的无奈之举、被动之举?是否意味着中国扩大开放政策将发生改变?是否意味着各地都应该搞自我小循环?
The piece says that the decision on dual circulation was about grasping the initiative on development to ensure sustainability and not a matter of expediency. In saying so, however, the author does accept that the instability of the international environment has a significant role to play in this decision. On opening up, the answer is that dual circulation does not imply closing.
Rather, “by giving full play to the potential of domestic demand, the domestic market and the international market can be better connected, global resources can be attracted by the domestic circulation, the domestic and international markets and resources can be better utilized, the ability to allocate resources globally can be improved, and one can more effectively strive for strategic initiative in open development.” 以国内大循环为主体,绝不是关起门来封闭运行,而是通过发挥内需潜力,使国内市场和国际市场更好联通,以国内大循环吸引全球资源要素,更好利用国内国际两个市场、两种资源,提高在全球配置资源的能力,更好争取开放发展中的战略主动.
The logic is to build a more competitive economic model by leveraging the international cycle with the aim being to “improve the quality and allocation level of China’s production factors, and promote China’s industrial transformation and upgrading.” 要科学认识国内大循环和国内国际双循环的关系,建设更高水平开放型经济新体制,实施更大范围、更宽领域、更深层次的对外开放,塑造我国参与国际合作和竞争新优势,重视以国际循环提升国内大循环效率和水平,改善我国生产要素质量和配置水平,推动我国产业转型升级. -- I don’t understand how this is happening through the policies currently being implemented.
The next paragraph criticises internal protectionism in favour of nurturing a big domestic market. This is something that doesn’t get much attention. But it requires a massive change in the political economy of the Chinese system. The regional development strategies covered earlier in the week are part of this. If you are aware of any interesting research/papers covering this domain, please do share them with me.
The next question is about why is it that one should not think of moving to the “飞行峰” Fēixíng fēng - soaring heights of political systems when following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The answer is that when one thinks about political systems, “it is necessary to proceed from the national conditions and reality.” So one must keep in mind history, accumulated experience, political principles, practical issues and conditions, etc.
Summarising a bit below:
“When it comes to political systems, when one sees something that other countries have that we do not, one shouldn’t simply view it as a deficiency; likewise, when we have something that others do not, it shouldn’t be viewed as a redundancy. This is simplistic and incorrect thinking. 在政治制度上,看到别的国家有而我们没有就简单认为有欠缺,要搬过来;或者,看到我们有而别的国家没有就简单认为是多余的,要去除掉。这两种观点都是简单化的、片面的,因而都是不正确的.
We then get a bit of history to make the point that socialism with Chinese characteristics was a historical choice. In two paragraphs, we are told that the CCP’s system inherited and improved on the goals of the self-strengthening movement and it is a “combination of the basic principles of Marxism and China's specific reality.”
“The political system of a country is determined by the economic and social foundation of the country, and at the same time reacts to the economic and social foundation of the country. The political system is used to regulate political relations, establish political order, promote national development and maintain national stability, and cannot be abstractly judged in isolation from specific socio-political conditions...Different countries have different national conditions, and each country's political system is unique, which is the result of long-term development, gradual improvement and endogenous evolution on the basis of its historical inheritance, cultural tradition and economic and social development.”一个国家的政治制度决定于这个国家的经济社会基础,同时又反作用于这个国家的经济社会基础. 政治制度是用来调节政治关系、建立政治秩序、推动国家发展、维护国家稳定的,不可能脱离特定社会政治条件来抽象评判...各国国情不同,每个国家的政治制度都是独特的,都是在这个国家历史传承、文化传统、经济社会发展的基础上长期发展、渐进改进、内生性演化的结果.
And socialism with Chinese characteristics is viable and feasible because it has roots within China.
“Evaluating whether a country's political system is democratic and effective primarily depends on whether orderly transfer of power can take place according to law, whether the people as a whole can manage state and social affairs, economic and cultural undertakings according to law, whether the people can express their interests freely, whether all sectors of society can effectively participate in the political life of the country, whether state decision-making can be scientific and democratic, whether talents from all sectors can enter the leadership and management system of the country through fair competition, whether the ruling party can lead the country's affairs according to the constitution, and whether the use of power can be effectively restrained and supervised.” 评价一个国家政治制度是不是民主的、有效的,主要看国家领导层能否依法有序更替,全体人民能否依法管理国家事务和社会事务、管理经济和文化事业,人民群众能否畅通表达利益要求,社会各方面能否有效参与国家政治生活,国家决策能否实现科学化、民主化,各方面人才能否通过公平竞争进入国家领导和管理体系,执政党能否依照宪法法律规定实现对国家事务的领导,权力运用能否得到有效制约和监督.
And then the author gives a glowing review to the CCP-led system on all of this: “After long-term efforts, we have made decisive progress in solving these key issues.” The author also subsequently tells us that the leadership of the CCP is the fundamental guarantee of the system, adding:
“Any ideas and practices that separate, oppose or replace the leadership of the Party, the people being the masters of the country and governing the country according to law do not conform to the fundamental nature, core concepts and practical requirements of socialist democratic politics.” 任何把党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国割裂开来、对立起来或者相互取代的主张和做法,都不符合社会主义民主政治的根本性质、核心理念和实践要求.
In addition, the author also says that the socialist democratic system is still new and evolving, so political reform is to be expected. In this, “it is necessary to continue to promote the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of socialist democratic politics.” And while this is being done, “we need to learn from the useful achievements of foreign political civilizations, but we must never abandon the fundamentals of China's political system.”
31. China’s Socialist Democracy
We have the 31st piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics being a new and good thing. The piece tells us that adhering to CCP leadership does not imply abandonment of democracy, rather it implies adopting a “broader and more effective democracy,” whose aim is to “embody the people’s will, protect people’s rights and interests, stimulate people’s creativity, and ensure that the people are the masters of their own affairs.” — How terribly convenient, isn’t it?
The next few paragraphs talk about different aspects of the governance system.
First, it backs the people’s congress system as the “fundamental political system” that embodies, the Party’s leadership, people being the masters and rule of law.
Second, the next paragraph talks about the “multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party.” It says that this system “is the product of the combination of Marxist party theory and China’s reality.” The argument is also that this system is actually better than multi-party representative systems, because those result in parties representing certain sets of people and interests; in contrast, the Chinese system “unites all political parties and non-partisan people closely for a common goal.” In essence, the argument is not just about the particularity of the system, i.e., that it originated from Marxist ideology and China’s realities; it is also about the superiority of the system.
Third, the focus is on the system of ethnic regional autonomy; you’ve got a good gist of this from my earlier coverage of the ethnic work conference. Fourth, it talks about the system of grassroots autonomy. This talks about the functioning of urban residents committees, deliberative institutions for coordination, hearings, and evaluation; it also talks about village committees, etc.
The next question is about the concept of the “whole-process democracy.”
So this tells us that when one looks at the history of political civilisation, the bourgeoisie must be commended for “opposing feudal autocracy, banning feudal privileges and striving for democracy.” But this was done to merely replace “personal privileges and hereditary privileges with monetary privileges.” In that sense, what’s been created is a “false democracy,” which is nothing but a “tool for the bourgeoisie to maintain its rule.” Of course, this is “Western-style democracy.” In comparison, socialist democracy “is the first democracy in human history that serves the masses and labourers.” The argument is that this socialist democracy goes beyond the performative aspects of Western-style democracy, wherein people turn up to vote and then remain dormant in the governance process. In comparison, socialist democracy “guarantees the people’s role in democratic consultation, decision-making, management, and supervision.” 社会主义民主是一种新型的民主,是人类历史上第一次为群众、为劳动者服务的民主. 新中国的成立,使中国人民得到彻底解放,各族人民实现了政治上的完全平等,开启了人民民主的新纪元。从此,中国人民掌握了国家的权力,成为国家的主人。人民依照法律规定通过各种途径和形式,管理国家事务,管理经济和文化事业,管理社会事务。如果人民只是在投票时被唤醒、投票后就进入休眠期,那就是在搞“民主秀”, 民主就成了装饰品,就成了摆设。有比较才有鉴别,我国人民民主有效防止了西方民主选举时漫天许诺、选举后无人过问的现象,既保证了人民进行民主选举的权利,也保证了人民在民主协商、决策、管理、监督等方面的权利,是全过程的民主.
“The people of our country practice democratic election, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision according to law. These five links expand people’s orderly political participation and reflect the concrete forms of democracy in the whole process.” 我国人民依法实行民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督,这五个环节扩大了人民有序政治参与,集中反映了全过程民主的具体形式.
And then this, which brings me back a full circle to say: How terribly convenient, isn’t it?
“The most crucial reason why people’s democracy is a full process democracy is that there is always the fundamental political guarantee of the Party’s leadership. The Communist Party of China always adheres to the people as the center, the dominant position of the people, and the working line of coming from the masses for the masses. 人民民主之所以是全过程民主,最为关键的是始终有党的领导这一根本政治保证。中国共产党始终坚持以人民为中心,坚持人民的主体地位,坚持从群众中来到群众中去的工作路线.
This entire piece made me think of a comment that Rogier Creemers made about “isomorphic mimicry” during an episode of the Pekingology podcast.
32. Deliberative Democracy & Cultural Confidence
We’ve got the 32nd piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about the “uniqueness” of “deliberative democracy.” We are told that:
“Deliberative democracy means that under the leadership of the CPC, people from different sectors and segments of society conduct extensive consultations before and during policy decisions on major issues and practical issues that affect their vital interests, and strive to reach a consensus.” 协商民主,就是在中国共产党领导下,人民内部各方面围绕重大问题和涉及群众切身利益的实际问题,在决策之前和决策实施之中开展广泛协商,努力形成共识. --- I guess the tech sector feels deeply consulted in what’s going on.
It tells us that deliberative democracy has emerged from the “excellent political culture of the Chinese nation,” and developments over time have shown that this system “has a profound cultural, theoretical, practical and institutional foundation.”
We then get to the notion of democracy itself:
“Democracy comes in many forms. For a long time, some people have simply equated democracy with electoral democracy and have even worshiped Western-style electoral democracy. In fact, in the so-called Western democracies, people often have only the right to vote but not the right to participate widely. Such democracy is formalistic. In China, the people exercise their rights through elections and voting, and the people conduct full consultation across all segments of society before major decisions are two important forms of Socialist democracy...Practice has proved that deliberative democracy can effectively overcome the problems of political parties and interest groups competing with each other for their own interests, the problems of different political forces rejecting those who disagree in order to safeguard their own interests, the problems of unclear and self-righteous decision-making, the problems of the people being unable to participate in the country’s political life and social governance and the disadvantages of low consensus and lack of implementation of various policies.” 实现民主的形式是丰富多样的。长期以来,一些人把民主简单等同于选举民主,甚至膜拜西式选举民主。事实上,在西方所谓的民主国家里,人民往往只有投票的权利而没有广泛参与的权利,这样的民主是形式主义的。在我国,人民通过选举、投票行使权利和人民内部各方面在重大决策之前进行充分协商,是中国社会主义民主的两种重要形式...实践证明,协商民主能够有效克服党派和利益集团为自己的利益相互竞争甚至相互倾轧的弊端,有效克服不同政治力量为了维护和争取自己的利益固执己见、排斥异己的弊端,有效克服决策中情况不明、自以为是的弊端,有效克服人民群众在国家政治生活和社会治理中无法表达、难以参与的弊端,有效克服各项政策和工作共识不高、无以落实的弊端. -- Some of this is just wow, given that citizen journalists are in jail for reporting on Wuhan and that political loyalty is the first principle in just about everything now.
The next question is about cultural self-confidence and why is it more basic, broader and deeper?
“The rejuvenation of a nation requires enhancing material strength as well as spiritual strength. Without the active guidance of advanced culture, without the great enrichment of the people’s spiritual world, and without the continuous enhancement of the spiritual strength of the nation, no country or nation can stand tall among the nations of the world.” 一个民族的复兴需要强大的物质力量,也需要强大的精神力量。没有先进文化的积极引领,没有人民精神世界的极大丰富,没有民族精神力量的不断增强,一个国家、一个民族不可能屹立于世界民族之林.
“Owing to a history of being bullied, many places have remained underdeveloped to others; many people have low national self-confidence, and there is even an extreme argument calling for ‘total Westernization’. Comrade Mao Zedong once said, some people have been slaves for a long time, feel inferior to others in everything, in front of foreigners, they cannot even stand straight, like Jia Gui in the ‘Famen Temple,’ even when asked to sit, they say that they are used to standing and do not want to sit. The founding of New China allowed the Chinese people to stand up. Since the reform and opening up, especially since the 18th Party Congress, the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics has created great achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. Great changes have taken place in the power gap between China and the West. The Chinese people have moved away from spiritual passivity, which has greatly enhanced the self-confidence of the Chinese nation.” 由于一直受人欺负,很多地方不如人家,许多人民族自信心不足,甚至出现了“全盘西化论”的极端论调. 毛泽东同志曾经讲过,有些人做奴隶做久了,感觉事事不如人,在外国人面前伸不直腰,像《法门寺》里的贾桂一样,人家让他坐,他说站惯了,不想坐. 新中国的成立,使中国人民真正站立起来了. 改革开放以来特别是党的十八大以来,中国特色社会主义实践创造了举世瞩目的伟大成就,中西力量对比发生了巨大变化,中国人民从精神上的被动转化为完全主动,极大增强了中华民族的自信心.
Just for reference: “In the Peking opera ‘Famen Temple’, the harlequin Jia Gui is a ridiculously classic character. He doesn't make many appearances, but his servile image can be called a classic.”
Next we are told that cultural confidence is:
Basic because it comprises the power of the core values. “The core values of freedom, equality and fraternity formed in the West for hundreds of years have defined the development direction of capitalist culture. The values put forward by our ancestors with ‘benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith’ as the main content are the spiritual core of Chinese traditional culture, and also the steady spiritual force for maintaining and consolidating the development of traditional society...Core socialist values are the quintessence of advanced socialist culture, the embodiment of the spirit of contemporary China and the common value pursuit of all people...Cultural self-confidence is related to the direction and value orientation of the path, theory and system, and it is associated with whether the path, theory and system can garner the people’s faith and their identification with it as their foundation.” 西方几百年来形成的自由、平等、博爱的核心价值观念,规定了资本主义文化的发展方向. 我们的先人提出的以“仁义礼智信”等为主要内容的价值观念,是中华传统文化的精神内核,也是维护巩固传统社会发展的稳定精神力量...社会主义核心价值观是社会主义先进文化的精髓,是当代中国精神的集中体现,凝结着全体人民共同的价值追求...文化自信关乎道路、理论、制度的前进方向和价值取向,关乎道路、理论、制度能否在人们的精神领域获得信念根基与牢固认同.
Broader because culture is ubiquitous and ever-present and penetrates all aspects of life.
Deeper because culture is rooted in history and historical experience.
The piece ends by saying:
“To strengthen cultural self-confidence, we must develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and unswervingly follow the development path of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to adhere to the guiding position of Marxism, develop socialist culture facing modernization, the world and the future, and promote the coordinated development of socialist spiritual civilization and material civilization.” 坚定文化自信,必须发展中国特色社会主义文化,坚定不移走中国特色社会主义文化发展道路。要坚持马克思主义指导地位,发展面向现代化、面向世界、面向未来的,民族的科学的大众的社会主义文化,推动社会主义精神文明和物质文明协调发展.
33. Marxism & Values for a New Generation
Today, we have the 33rd piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about the guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology.
“General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that Marxism is like a magnificent sunrise, illuminating the path for mankind to explore historical laws and seek their own liberation. Marxism is a scientific theory, a people’s theory, a practical theory and an open theory. It profoundly reveals the universal law of the development of nature, human society and human thinking, and points out the direction for the development and progress of human society. It is a theory of ‘right’, in that it adheres to the stand of realizing people’s liberation and safeguarding people’s interests, and takes the free and comprehensive development of human beings and the liberation of all mankind as its own mission, which reflects the beautiful vision of human beings for an ideal society. It is a theory of ‘good’; in that it has a distinct practical character; it was founded to transform the historical destiny of the people, and has provided a powerful ideological weapon for the people to understand and transform the world. It is a theory of ‘action’; in that, it always stands at the forefront of the times, constantly explores new issues raised by the times and practical developments, and responds to new challenges faced by human society. It is a ‘living’ theory, in that no matter how the times change and how science progresses, Marxism still shows the great power of scientific thought and still occupies the commanding heights of truth and morality. Under any circumstances, at any moment, we must never waver in our adherence to the fundamental system of guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field.” 习近平总书记指出,马克思主义犹如壮丽的日出,照亮了人类探索历史规律和寻求自身解放的道路。马克思主义是科学的理论、人民的理论、实践的理论、开放的理论。它深刻揭示了自然界、人类社会、人类思维发展的普遍规律,为人类社会发展进步指明了方向,是“对”的理论;它坚持实现人民解放、维护人民利益的立场,以实现人的自由而全面的发展和全人类解放为己任,反映了人类对理想社会的美好憧憬,是“好”的理论;它具有鲜明的实践品格,为改变人民历史命运而创立,为人民认识世界、改造世界提供强大思想武器,是“行”的理论;它始终站在时代前沿,不断探索时代和实践发展提出的新课题、回应人类社会面临的新挑战,是“活”的理论。无论时代如何变迁、科学如何进步,马克思主义依然显示出科学思想的伟力,依然占据着真理和道义的制高点。坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位这一根本制度,必须坚定不移,任何时候任何情况下都不能有丝毫动摇.
We are then told that Marxism is the “true scripture” 真经 of the Communists and it is precisely because of Marxism that the Party has been able to achieve so much and continued to flourish. The next bit tells us that Marxism is the Beidou 北斗 of the cause of socialism; this makes it all the more important to adhere to Marxism in the ideological field, given China’s current situation, i.e., being in a critical period on the path to achieving national rejuvenation. Then we are told that “Marxism is the soul of contemporary Chinese cultural development.” Given this, non-adherence to Marxism could lead to “ideological and cultural chaos and damage the cause of the party and the people.” 否则,就会造成思想文化上的混乱,给党和人民事业带来损害.
What makes this all the more important is that China is “undergoing extensive and profound changes, and the social and cultural ecology has become more complex”; there is an intermingling between the advanced and backward, the positive and negative are animating each other, and the national and foreign are in a tussle. We must, therefore, adhere to the fundamental system of guiding position of Marxism in the field of ideology, and ensure that China's cultural development always advances in the correct direction. 当代中国正在发生广泛而深刻的变革,社会文化生态更加复杂,先进的和落后的相互交织,积极的和消极的相互激荡,民族的和外来的相互碰撞. 必须坚持马克思主义在意识形态领域指导地位的根本制度,确保我国文化建设始终沿着正确方向前进.
The piece dismisses the foreign origin of Marxism by arguing that it is a universal theory. It also says that “we must not lose our ancestors” 老祖宗不能丢 and “we must speak new words” 又要讲新话. In other words, do not deviate from the basic tenets of Marxism but continue to evolve through practice. For instance, the piece says, Xi Thought is 21st Century Marxism.
The next question is about cultivating a new generation that will carry the responsibility for national rejuvenation. The piece tells us that “cultivating and practicing socialist core values is, in the final analysis, the construction of the human mind and soul, focusing on the creation of socialist builders with a correct world outlook on life and values.” The piece talks about the emphasis on core socialsit values at the 18th Party Congress and the decision on cultivating a new generation to carry forward national rejuvenation at the 19th Party Congress. The piece calls this effort a “major strategic task.”
Just to remind us, the piece mentions all the 12 core socialist values.
National values: prosperity, democracy, civility and harmony;
Social values: freedom, equality, justice and rule of law;
Individual values: patriotism, dedication, integrity and friendship.
It’s really useful to think about why these are graded at different levels and how these, therefore, impact the Party’s governance, regulation and evolution of law. Because, as the piece tells us, “this summary actually answers the major questions of what kind of country we want to build, what kind of society we want to build, and what kind of citizens we want to cultivate.”
Some of the traits then highlighted for the new folks is that they must have self-confidence, respect for morality, display dedication, engage in hard work and be enterprising (自信、尊道德、讲奉献、重实干、求进取). There’s an explanation for each of these.
Self-confidence relates to having pride in being Chinese, cultural pride, loving the party, the country and socialism.
Respect for morality implies “inheriting traditional Chinese virtues, carrying forward socialist morality” etc.
Dedication refers to having a sense of national consciousness, fulfilling “duties to the collective, serving the society and contributing to the country.”
Hard work refers to “putting practice first, integrating knowledge with action, being realistic and pragmatic” working hard to create a better life and being industrious.
Being enterprising refers to always striving for progress; maintaining a youthful spirit and openness to innovation; or that one should be diligent in learning and brave in pioneering new things.
Towards the end the piece also emphasizes that the new generation must possess “ability and political integrity” and that’s the goal in their development into “pioneers” who are “devoted” and not afraid of hardships and obstacles.
34. Pandemic Spirit & Saying No to Universal Values
We have the 34th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about the great anti-epidemic spirit. It tells us that this spirit is “the latest crystallization of the Party’s spiritual pedigree and the most shining spiritual symbol in the new era.” In a nutshell, what this spirit entails is daring to fight and win, putting life first, uniting the whole nation, sacrificing one’s life without fear, respecting science and sharing a common destiny. 在这场同严重疫情的殊死较量中,中国人民和中华民族以敢于斗争、敢于胜利的大无畏气概,铸就了生命至上、举国同心、舍生忘死、尊重科学、命运与共的伟大抗疫精神. The rest of the piece elaborates on these points.
If you are interested in the handling of the pandemic, the development of this spirit, and the geopolitics of it, may I recommend my new book Smokeless War, which offers a deep dive into all this.
The next question is about taking a clear stand against the so-called “universal values” of the West.
For me, this is really important to read and understand. There is much debate about what sort of global order China desires. And while the vision might be hazy, there is clearly a vision that is evolving. In part, this is evolving as a negation of the values framework underpinning what has come to be known as the liberal international order. Of course, this was liberal depending on who you were, and it was underpinned by American military power. But, in part, there’s also an effort to frame an alternative narrative of order. And the bit below gives us some sense of this.
The piece says that:
“for a long time, the United States and other Western countries have preached their own values as so-called ‘universal values’, cleverly packaging them, and promoting them globally, confusing many people. Some people regard Western theories and Western discourse as golden rules and unwittingly become the trumpeters of Western capitalist ideology. They believe that the ‘universal values’ of the West have been around for hundreds of years...In this regard, we need to clear up the ideological fog and understand its essence and harm.” 长期以来,美国等西方国家把他们自己的价值观鼓吹为所谓的“普世价值”,巧加包装,在全球推销,迷惑了不少人。有的人奉西方理论、西方话语为金科玉律,不知不觉成了西方资本主义意识形态的吹鼓手,认为西方“普世价值”经过了几百年,为什么不能认同?为什么非要拧着来?对此,我们需要廓清思想迷雾,认清其实质和危害.
The author writes that it is important to understand the “specific connotation and political intention” behind the notion of “universal values.” “The values of ‘freedom’, ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ advocated by the modern Western bourgeoisie played a historic role in the process of opposing feudal autocracy. However, as the bourgeoisie gained dominance, these values increasingly became tools to maintain the rule of capital. The Western bourgeoisie tries its best to beautify these values as ‘universal values’ and export them everywhere in order to realize their global hegemonic designs.” Quoting Huntington, the author then says that the notion of “universalism” basically is the ideological tool of the West to deal with non-Western societies. This design and implication must be understood. “普世价值”作为西方资本主义意识形态的强势话语,有其特定内涵和政治用意。近代西方资产阶级倡导的“自由”、“民主”、“人权”等价值观,在反对封建专制过程中发挥过历史性作用。随着资产阶级取得统治地位,这些价值观越来越成为维护资本统治的工具。西方资产阶级极力将这些价值观美化成“普世价值”,并到处输出、贩卖,为实现他们的全球霸权图谋张目。美国学者塞缪尔·亨廷顿就曾经说过,“普世文明”的概念是西方文明的独特产物,“普世主义”是西方对付非西方社会的意识形态。因此,面对“普世价值”的各种论调,我们一定要认清其“弦外之音”、“醉翁之意”.
The next paragraph tells us that these universal values are not really universal even in the West. To make this point, the author cites, racism, the influence of money in politics, labour rights, inequality, Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, police brutality, cyber attacks, election interference and so on as examples of double standards. The next paragraph tells us that the “so-called universal values are neither universal nor a beacon that illuminates the world.”
“For a long time, some Western countries have been peddling ‘universal values’ and promoting ‘peaceful evolution’ for their own political and economic interests and hegemonic ambitions. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe, the ‘colour revolutions’ and the ‘Arab Spring’ were all caused by the intervention of the United States and the West. There are plenty of examples of countries being torn apart into pieces, some have raging conflicts and some are in turmoil all day long”. 长期以来,一些西方国家为了自己的政治经济利益和霸权野心,四处兜售“普世价值”,推行“和平演变”苏联解体、东欧剧变、“颜色革命”和“阿拉伯之春”都是美国和西方的干预造成的. 在西方价值观的影响下,有的国家被撕成了碎片,有的国家被撕成了碎片,有的国家战火纷飞,有的国家整天动荡不安。这样的例子比比皆是.
Once again, we get a reference to Xiang Zhuang's sword dance to say that the real purpose behind the West’s advocacy for democracy, freedom and human rights “is to compete with us for status/standing (地位) and hearts and minds, and ultimately overthrow the leadership of the Communist Party of China and China’s socialist system.” The author says that this effort has never stopped. He argues against tailoring China’s practices on the basis of the Western capitalist value system and measuring China's development based Western capitalist evaluation system. The idea is that using the West as a yardstick to criticise China that can lead to unimaginable consequences. 西方国家对中国的价值渗透、西化分化也从来没有停止过,而且不断翻新花样、变本加厉。“项庄舞剑,意在沛公。”他们的真实目的就是要同我们争夺阵地、争夺人心、争夺群众,最终推翻中国共产党领导和我国社会主义制度。如果我们用西方资本主义价值体系来剪裁我们的实践,用西方资本主义评价体系来衡量我国的发展,认为符合西方标准就行,不符合西方标准就是落后的陈旧的,就要批判、攻击,那后果不堪设想.
The next paragraph makes the point that this rejection of “universal values” does not mean that there aren’t common values that humanity shares. Xi’s speech at the UNGA in 2015 is then quoted to say that “peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom are.common values of all mankind.” The argument is that humans live in a shared global village and this means that some “objective common interests and common values are inevitably required.” So the common values that the author argues for are “seeking common ground while reserving differences, making peace while being different, fully respecting the diversity of civilisations and respecting the right of each country to choose its own social system and development path. This is fundamentally different from the ‘universal values,” which are self-serving and are imposed on others with the aim of promoting capitalist political ideas and institutional models. 反对西方所谓的“普世价值”,并不是说人类社会不存在共同价值。2015年9月28日,在第70届联合国大会一般性辩论上,习近平总书记掷地有声地指出:“和平、发展、公平、正义、民主、自由,是全人类的共同价值,也是联合国的崇高目标。”人类生活在同一个地球村里,越来越成为你中有我、我中有你的命运共同体,客观存在共同利益,必然要求共同价值。我们所主张的共同价值,不是要把哪一家的价值观奉为一尊,而是倡导求同存异、和而不同,充分尊重文明的多样性,尊重各国自主选择社会制度和发展道路的权利。这与唯我独尊、强施于人、旨在推行资本主义政治理念和制度模式的所谓“普世价值”根本不同.
The final paragraph emphasises the need to understand the above and being prepared to fight while strengthening strategic confidence.
35. Media Control & Culture as Spiritual Lifeline
We have the 35th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about the Party’s control over news and public opinion work. The response begins with Xi’s February 2016 visit to the offices of the People’s Daily, Xinhua and CCTV. He had then termed news and public opinion work as an important part of the Party’s work, and underscored its importance for governing the country, ensuring stability and security. 习近平总书记强调,党的新闻舆论工作是党的一项重要工作,是治国理政、定国安邦的大事。
He talked about ensuring political direction and maintaining Party control over publicity, ideology, and the media. He talked about political control over running of news platforms so that the “Party’s ideas become the strongest voice of the times.” 做好党的新闻舆论工作,要始终把政治方向摆在第一位,坚持党性原则,坚持党管宣传、党管意识形态、党管媒体,坚持政治家办报、办刊、办台、办新闻网站,让党的主张成为时代最强音.
Then we get a clear statement with regard to the view on journalism; the point begins with the argument that China is a socialist country and the Party is a Marxist party.
“As an integral part of the Party’s cause, journalism must unconditionally accept the Party’s leadership and must fully reflect the Party’s will and propagate the Party’s ideas. Our media is the media of the Party and the people, the mouthpiece of the Party and the people, not a private media, not is it a newspaper run by co-workers, which is essentially different from the media in Western countries.” 新闻事业作为党的事业的组成部分,必须无条件接受党的领导,必须充分体现党的意志、宣传党的主张. 我们的媒体是党和人民的媒体,是党和人民的喉舌,不是私人媒体,不是同仁办报,这与西方国家的媒体有着本质区别. -- The entire paragraph that houses this bit basically talks about the media serving the party.
The next paragraph talks about upholding Marxist standpoints; it ends by saying “we must recognise the essence of the so-called ‘freedom of the press’ in the West, and consciously resist the influence of the western news view and other erroneous views.” 在这里要特别强调的是,必须认清西方所谓“新闻自由”的本质,自觉抵制西方新闻观等错误观点的影响. This provides fodder for the next argument that for a long time, a “small number people” have been using the argument of press freedom to speak about “major political principles and openly attack the leadership system” of the Party and the socialist system of China.
The author then says that if one examines Western press, one will find that while there are some negative reports about events there, these are superficial in nature. This is because there is little “discussion on serious topics related to the capitalist system” in these negative reports. “However, if street protests or even violent terrorist activities occur in other parts of the world, particularly those parts of the world that do not share the Western ideology, Western media will spare no effort to term them as fights for ‘democracy’, ‘freedom’, ‘human rights’, and ‘resistance against tyranny’. 表面上,西方媒体也有很多负面报道,但仔细看看,这些负面报道中涉及资本主义制度根本的严肃话题报道和讨论微乎其微. 但如果世界其他地方特别是同西方意识形态不同的地方发生街头抗议事件,甚至暴力恐怖活动, 西方媒体就会将其描绘为争取“民主”、“自由”、“人权”、“反抗暴政”的行动,不惜版面、时间进行渲染.
This is meant to “discredit” and “demonize” China; therefore, it is important to understand that all “news and opinion has distinct ideological attributes, and there is no abstract absolute freedom.” 所以说,任何新闻舆论都有鲜明的意识形态属性,没有什么抽象的绝对的自由. Statements claiming objectivity, neutrality, and the non-partisan nature of news are nothing but “beautiful lies” 美丽谎言.
Then we get into what is good and bad public opinion work:
“Good public opinion can become a propeller of development, a barometer of public opinion, a glue that binds society and a weathervane of morality, while bad public opinion can become 迷魂汤-Míhúntāng for the people, a separator of society, a soft knife killing the people and the catalyst for unrest.” 好的舆论可以成为发展的“推进器”、民意的“晴雨表”、社会的“黏合剂”、道德的“风向标”,不好的舆论会变成民众的“迷魂汤”、社会的“分离器”、杀人的“软刀子”、动乱的“催化剂”
Towards the end of the answer, we are told that profound changes are taking place in the public opinion ecology, which requires that: “We must uphold the correct direction on public opinion, adhere to the basic principle of unity, stability, encouragement and positive publicity...infuse positive energy, expand and strengthen mainstream ideological and public opinion, and improve the dissemination, guidance, influence and credibility of media and public opinion.” 要坚持正确舆论导向,坚持团结稳定鼓劲、正面宣传为主的基本方针,唱响主旋律,弘扬正能量,做大做强主流思想舆论,提高新闻舆论传播力、引导力、影响力、公信力.
The next question is about Chinese culture and preserving it as a spiritual lifeline. The basic argument is that despite the many changes over time and despite the many hardships faced by the Chinese people, “Chinese culture has provided strong spiritual support for the Chinese nation to overcome difficulties and thrive.” The argument here is that there are certain “basic cultural genes” which have evolved over time that distinguish the “Chinese nation and the Chinese people” from others. 这些最基本的文化基因,是中华民族和中国人民在修齐治平、尊时守位、知常达变、开物成务、建功立业过程中逐渐形成的有别于其他民族的独特标识.
We are then told that Chinese traditional culture is an important source of the core values of socialism, and that culture also provides a key “soft power” tool and “unique advantage.” The piece ends by saying that cultural fate is linked closely to the destiny of the nation.
36. Socialist Art & Cyberspace as a 'Battlefield'
We have the 36th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series today. The first question is the impact of the market economy on literature and art. It’s uncanny how this bit comes today when we are in the midst of an upheaval in the culture and entertainment industries.
This piece goes back to October 15, 2014, with Xi attending a Forum on Literature and Art in Beijing. The piece tells us that as the crowd grumbled about works of art and literature earning big money but not serving social benefits, Xi spoke to say: “Literature and art cannot lose direction as they are absorbed into the market economy; they cannot deviate on the fundamental question for whom they are; otherwise, literature and art will have no vitality.” 有与会者直言:“有些作品,观众一边看一边骂,创作者一边挨骂一边还挣着大钱。这样的作品是有经济效益了,但是社会效益呢?”针对文艺领域存在的问题,习近平总书记明确指出:“文艺不能在市场经济大潮中迷失方向,不能在为什么人的问题上发生偏差,否则文艺就没有生命力。”字字铿锵,掷地有声,振聋发聩. ---- Doesn’t this sort of come across like a mic drop moment in the way it’s presented?
The next paragraph emphasises the importance of literature and art and generally says that since reform and opening up the “majority of literary and art workers have kept up with the times and devoted themselves to the times.” And many of these pioneers of socialist literature and art were celebrated in 2018, as the Party marked the 40 years of Reform and Opening up. But, and there’s always a but, there are problems that persist.
These include quantity but lack of quality, and “high plateaus” but no “high peaks”, plagiarism, imitation and stereotypes, mechanistic production and fast-food-style consumption. Some works are purely driven by financial motives; some are like 摇头丸 Ecstasy aimed at sensory stimulation; and some are simply 文化“垃圾” cultural trash. 有的把作品当作追逐利益的“摇钱树”,当作感官刺激的“摇头丸”;有的胡编乱写、粗制滥造、牵强附会,制造了一些文化“垃圾”...These developments inform about the need to be careful that literature and art do not deviate owing to the market, “must not be a slave to the market” and must maintain “correct direction.”
The next paragraph tells us that “socialist literature and art are essentially people's literature and art...The people are the source of literary and artistic creations, and once literature and art are distanced from the people, they will be akin to rootless duckweed, groans without disease (无病的呻吟), and bodies without souls.” 人民是文艺创作的源头活水, 一旦离开人民,文艺就会变成无根的浮萍、无病的呻吟、无魂的躯壳.
Useful little thing I learned today: So 无病的呻吟 - wú bìng de shēnyín - is an idiom that implies pretentiousness of literary works; or works that lack meaning or feeling behind them; just like someone groaning or moaning without actually being unwell.
Anyway, the piece tells artists to “adhere to the people-centered creative orientation.” They should “follow the people's footsteps...let their hearts beat with the people's hearts forever, pour the people’s joys and sorrows into their works, and aspire to create excellent masterpieces…”文艺工作者要坚持以人民为中心的创作导向,始终追随人民脚步,走出方寸天地,阅尽大千世界,让自己的心永远随着人民的心而跳动,把人民的喜怒哀乐倾注在自己的作品中,立志创作出在人民中传之久远的精品力作.
Socialist literature, meanwhile, must emphasise social benefit, which must be prioritised over economic benefits, although the latter cannot be ignored. “When two benefits and two values conflict, economic benefits should be subordinated to social benefits and market values should be subordinated to social values.” 然而,同社会效益相比,经济效益是第二位的,当两个效益、两种价值发生矛盾时,经济效益要服从社会效益,市场价值要服从社会价值.
“Literary and artistic workers should adhere to the social benefits in the first place, establish a correct view of history, ethnicity, country and culture...they should conscientiously abide by state laws and regulations, improve moral standards, resolutely reject vulgarity and kitsch…” 文艺工作者要坚持把社会效益放在首位,树立正确的历史观、民族观、国家观、文化观,自觉讲品位、讲格调、讲责任,自觉遵守国家法律法规,加强道德品质修养,坚决抵制低俗庸俗媚俗,用健康向上的文艺作品和做人处事陶冶情操、启迪心智、引领风尚.
Towards the end, the response bemoans the dominance of market values; it tells us that art is hard work -- one needs perseverance and determination. It talks about artists being impetuous and chasing fame, which leads to “vulgar” creations; it also bemoans that market standards have replaced artistic standards with the logic of capital overriding the logic of creation. In the end it says that rather than focussing on these things, artists must focus on virtue and “integrate artistic ideals into the cause of the party and the people.”
The answer ends with:
“Literary and art workers should adhere to the Marxist outlook on literature and art, consciously practice advanced culture and guide social trends, create literature and art that is worthy of our great nation and great era, and strive to create a peak in literature and art in the era of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 广大文艺工作者要坚持马克思主义文艺观,自觉做先进文化的践行者、社会风尚的引领者,进行无愧于我们这个伟大民族、伟大时代的文艺创造,努力筑就中华民族伟大复兴时代的文艺高峰.
The next question is about harnessing the power of the Internet and governance of cyberspace.
The response tells us that the internet and cyberspace are the frontlines of ideological warfare and a “battlefield without smoke of gunpowder,” and that winning in this context is directly related to the long-term governance of the Party and the long-term stability of the country. “History and reality have repeatedly proved that efforts to disrupt a society and overthrow a regime usually begin with engineering cracks in the field of ideology...When the ideological line of defense is breached, the other lines are hard to hold. Anti-China forces in the West have been trying to take advantage of the Internet as the biggest variable to ‘bring Down China’.” The examples given in this context are trade frictions with the US, Hong Kong, and COVID-19-related issues. 互联网是意识形态交锋的最前沿。历史和现实反复证明,搞乱一个社会、颠覆一个政权,往往先从意识形态领域打开缺口,先从搞乱人们思想入手。思想防线被攻破了,其他防线就很难守住。西方反华势力一直妄图利用互联网这个最大变量来“扳倒中国”,一些西方政客直言不讳地称“有了互联网,对付中国就有了办法”,“社会主义国家投入西方怀抱,将从互联网开始”。在香港修例风波、中美经贸摩擦、新冠肺炎疫情等问题上,西方国家利用网络混淆是非、颠倒黑白、上下其手,企图抹黑中国、扰乱人心。这些都说明,互联网是一个没有硝烟的战场,我们能否顶得住、打得赢,直接关系到我们党能否长期执政,关系到国家能否长治久安.
The next paragraph talks about the fact that the Internet is an “amplifier of public opinion.” This is evident, so I don’t want to go into details. But the objective in this paragraph is to make the point that given this challenge, focusing on positivity is important. Also this little principle is very useful to note:
网络空间同现实社会一样,既要提倡自由,也要保持秩序.自由是秩序的目的,秩序是自由的保障. “In cyberspace, just like in the real world, we should uphold both freedom and order. Freedom is the purpose of order, and order is the guarantee of freedom.” -- So when you see core socialist values or Chinese leaders talking about freedom being a common value, do keep this context in mind.
What must, therefore, be ensured is that “the Party supervises the Internet and new media.” Also, what must be done is to “strengthen positive online propaganda” and “strengthen the development of Internet content.” The piece calls for carrying out intensified “online public opinion struggles” and uniting the hundreds of millions of Internet users around Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. 要坚持党管网络、党管新媒体,落实“两个所有”要求,做强网上正面宣传,加强互联网内容建设,深入开展网上舆论斗争,用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想团结、凝聚亿万网民,构建网上网下同心圆.
The next bit talks about enhanced cyberspace governance according to law, with the aim to strengthen the construction of network ethics and network civilization. An interesting part of the piece is the emphasis on core technologies.
It refers to core Internet technologies as the biggest “lifeline”, the control of which by others is the “biggest hidden danger.” No matter how big a company is, if it has core technology vulnerabilities in terms of heavy dependence on external actors, it is like building a home on someone else’s foundation. Such a structure will not be able to withstand the vicissitudes of wind and rain, regardless of how beautiful it may be, the piece tells us. --- No prizes for guessing what this is referring to.
Anyway, then the piece talks about the Huawei and ZTE examples before there’s a call to head into the ‘deep water’ zone, venture into the ‘no man's land’, tackle issues related to basic technologies, general technologies, asymmetric technologies, ‘trump card’ 杀手锏 technologies, frontier technologies, disruptive technologies, and strive to achieve leapfrog development in certain domains and make breakthroughs in the core technologies at the earliest. 过好互联网这一关,必须直奔“深水区”,勇闯“无人区”,扭住基础技术、通用技术、非对称技术、“杀手锏”技术、前沿技术、颠覆性技术,争取在某些领域、某些方面实现“弯道超车”,尽快在互联网核心技术上取得突破.
Elsa Kania is my go to scholar for military-technology issues; and in this piece she tells us that 杀手锏 shashoujian “translated ‘trump card’ or ‘assassin’s mace’, is generally used to refer to asymmetric capabilities that could target U.S. vulnerabilities. The term also alludes to a Chinese folktale in which such a weapon was used for unexpected incapacitation of a stronger enemy through a trick.”
37. Discourse Power & Livelihood Priorities
The 37th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about telling China’s stories well. This starts with Edgar Snow and the impact of Red Star over China. Then there’s this warning: “If you lag behind or are backward, you will suffer/get a thrashing; if you are poor, you will starve; and losing the ability to speak will lead to you getting scolded” - 落后就要挨打,贫穷就要挨饿,失语就要挨骂. And then the piece says that after many years of efforts, the problems of thrashing and starving have been solved, but the scolding issue has yet not been adequately addressed.
This gets to the heart of the issue of discourse power, which if I may plug, is a key concept discussed in my book Smokeless War.
So the piece says that while China’s position in this regard is weak, the trend is not irreversible. While steps have been taken to strengthen “international communication capabilities,” it is worth keeping in mind that China’s image in the world is still to a large extent “shaped by others” rather than “shaped by ourselves,” and “we are sometimes still in a passive position in the international arena where we often cannot communicate effectively.” In addition, there is “a ‘contrast’ between China’s true image and the West’s subjective impressions;’ there is a ‘gap’ between soft and hard power’ and the phenomenon of ‘being scolded’ still exists significantly.” 同时也要看到,中国在世界上的形象很大程度上仍是“他塑”而非“自塑”,我们在国际上有时还处于有理说不出、说了传不开的被动境地,存在着信息流进流出的“逆差”、中国真实形象和西方主观印象的“反差”、软实力和硬实力的“落差”,“挨骂”现象还大量存在.
Ergo, it is important to tell China’s story well, the piece says. The story that needs to be told is why the CPC ‘can’/has been able to deliver, why Marxism ‘works’, and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is ‘good’. 中国故事最精彩的主题,是讲清楚中国共产党为什么“能”、马克思主义为什么“行”、中国特色社会主义为什么“好”. Also it calls for publicising Xi Jinping Thought; Chinese governance, culture, China’s positions on issues, Chinese wisdom, and Chinese values, etc.
Of course, for all of this, storytelling is important. The piece tells us that storytelling is about “facts, images, emotions, reasoning”’ facts are used to convince people, images to move people, emotions to infect (感染) people, and reasoning to influence people.讲故事就是讲事实、讲形象、讲情感、讲道理,讲事实才能说服人,讲形象才能打动人,讲情感才能感染人,讲道理才能影响人. The next bit talks about tailoring messages for effectiveness. For instance, Zhou Enlai had introduced The Butterfly Lovers 梁山伯与祝英台 as China’s Romeo and Juliet. This is an example of tailoring messages within a context that foreign audiences can grasp. The next paragraph talks about media development, highlighting CGTN, think tank collaboration and cultural exchanges. It then says that in order to tell China’s stories well, it is important to strengthen the right to speak (话语权), and although there has been important progress in this context, the West is still dominant, the piece says in a nutshell.
The next question is about focussing policy to address livelihood issues. So we are told that:
“In 2019, spending on people’s well-being accounted for 68 percent of government spending, 282 million students were enrolled in schools of all kinds, 13.52 million new jobs were created in urban areas, and 5.6 million housing units were renovated in rundown areas. These figures vividly reflect the tremendous efforts made by the Party and the government to enhance the people's sense of gain, happiness and security.” 2019年,民生支出占财政支出的比例达到68%,各级各类学历教育在校生总规模2.82亿人,城镇新增就业人口1352万人,改造棚户区住房560万套……这一组组数据,生动反映了党和政府为增强人民获得感、幸福感、安全感所作出的巨大努力.
With that said, there are still challenges. China is still a “developing country;” it is also still in the primary stage of socialism, the piece says. There are regional gaps in development and shortcomings when it comes to issues of livelihood. Therefore, it is most important to focus on areas like “education, employment, income distribution, social security, medical and health care,” the piece argues.
Education is fundamental to people’s wellbeing. We should give high priority to developing education and ensure that it meets with people’s satisfaction. Employment is the biggest project to improve people’s wellbeing, the people’s livelihood, and the foundation of our work. We need to create more jobs of higher quality. Income distribution is the source of people’s wellbeing. We need to make income distribution more rational and orderly. We need to establish a fairer and more sustainable social security system. People’s health is an important part of improving wellbeing. We need to improve our national health policy and provide people with a full range of health services.” The author warns against engaging in extravagance or chasing ostentatiousness in favour of improving the people’s livelihood security system in urban and rural areas as a whole. 教育是民生之基,要优先发展教育事业,努力办好人民满意的教育;就业是最大的民生工程、民心工程、根基工程,要实现更充分和更高质量就业;收入分配是民生之源,要促进收入分配更合理、更有序;社会保障是普惠托底的民生问题,要建立更加公平更可持续的社会保障制度;人民健康是增进民生福祉的重要内容,要完善国民健康政策,为人民群众提供全方位全周期健康服务. 要坚持多谋民生之利、多解民生之忧,不搞“花架子”、“空壳子”,不能“垒大户”、“造盆景”,坚持和完善统筹城乡的民生保障制度,努力织就幼有所育、学有所教、劳有所得、病有所医、老有所养、住有所居、弱有所扶的民生保障网.
38. Virtue Cultivation via Education & Public Welfare in Health
Today, we have the 38th piece in the Xi Thought series. The first question asks why is it said that the fundamental task of education in the new era is to cultivate virtue? The piece begins by telling us the story of Zhang Boling, the man who founded Nankai University, having posed the “three patriotic questions” to students in 1935: “Are you Chinese? Do you love China? Do you want China to be great?” We are then told that Xi retold this story in September 2018 at the National Education Conference, emphasising that these are not questions of history but also questions of the future that must be asked of each generation. And that these “three patriotic questions” are the essence of the primary question of what kind of individuals education should cultivate.
We are then told that only when morality, not just individual but also social, is firmly established can talents be useful and serve the country, and what the Party and country needs are “socialist builders and successors.” These are the people who “must embrace the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Xi is quoted to have said: “Our education must never produce socialist saboteurs and grave diggers, and must never produce people who have a Chinese face, but do not have a Chinese heart, or lack Chinese sentiment and Chinese flavor!” 我们的教育绝不能培养社会主义破坏者和掘墓人,绝不能培养出一些'长着中国脸,不是中国心,没有中国情,缺少中国味'的人! This “original intention” when it comes to education must not be forgotten, the piece says. We are then told that since the 19th Party Congress, fostering virtue through education has been a fundamental task. 落实立德树人根本任务, and that effort has been put in this direction.
The next paragraph is interesting. I am summarising largely. It talks about people being particularly impressionable during adolescence, with values still evolving. We are told that this generation of China has experienced peace for a long time, without having endured the hardships that folks fighting for national survival did; they have “not experienced the test of blood and fire.” And now with a China that has developed a market economy and is open to the wider world, the impact of values like consumerism, money worship (拜金主义) and utilitarianism cannot be underestimated. And then there are those pesky external powers who seek to launch “colour revolutions;” “One of their biggest endeavors is to compete for our youth. Such a struggle will be long-term and severe. Without proper guidance and long-term education, teenagers will find it difficult to establish correct ideals and beliefs, and may even go astray.” Therefore, “cultivation of morality” must be a “fundamental task” with the focus on the young establishing “belief in Marxism and socialism with Chinese characteristics, gaining confidence of the Chinese nation in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese dream, and being able to better shoulder the important task of national rejuvenation.” 特别是要看到,各种敌对势力对我发动“颜色革命”的企图从来没有消停过,他们下功夫最大的一个领域就是争夺我们的青少年,这样的斗争是长期的、严峻的. 如果不加以正确引导和长期教育,青少年就难以树立正确理想信念,甚至可能走偏. 必须把立德树人作为根本任务,着力教育引导广大青少年牢固树立马克思主义信仰、中国特色社会主义信念、实现中华民族伟大复兴中国梦信心,更好地肩负起民族复兴的时代重任.
Quick thought: I guess all men get this grumpy-old-fellow, killjoy vibe with age. But on a serious note, this bit underscores the logic behind the patriotic education effort as much as it does censorship and cyberspace governance. Also, often one tends to reduce the emphasis on Xi Thought and its inclusion in textbooks to this business of common prosperity or culture sector crackdowns, etc, as merely the creation of personality cult, a simple power play by Xi, or the Party cutting down alternative power bases. But that’s a very narrow, dare I say unambitious interpretation of this effort. This is about restructuring society and forging a new set of values. In that sense, it is a revolutionary effort.
The next paragraph reiterates the bits above while adding that while there must be modernisation of education, “we must always adhere to the socialist orientation in running schools.” It calls to “strengthen and improve ideological and political education in schools” and take the effectiveness of moral education as the “fundamental criterion” for judging the work of schools and universities. -- I guess this also suggests that when it comes to cadre selection the balance is clearly moving far more in favour of reds as opposed to experts.
“We will continue to educate people for the Party and the country, and guide young people to integrate their love of the country, their ambition to strengthen the country, and their devotion to the country into their efforts to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics.”坚持为党育人、为国育才,引导青少年把爱国情、强国志、报国行融入坚持和发展中国特色社会主义事业的奋斗之中...
The next question is about the need to ensure that public welfare is writ large on the banner of medical and health services. The response begins with the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that while countries in the West spoke about human rights, often elderly patients were abandoned and many couldn’t afford medical care, leading to scenes of tragedy. In contrast, in China, the Party mobilised resources to ensure care to the young and old alike. In other words, while the West functioned on the capitalist principle of “capital first and money first,” China functioned on the principle of “people first and life first.”
“Adhering to public welfare means focussing government spending on basic medical and health services, constantly improving the system, expanding services and improving the quality, so that the broad masses of the people have equitable and continuous access to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and health promotion services.” 坚持公益性意味着要将政府投入重点用于基本医疗卫生服务,不断完善制度、扩展服务、提高质量,让广大人民群众就近享有公平可及、系统连续的预防、治疗、康复、健康促进等健康服务.
The next bits talk about expansion of healthcare services and security nets. The final paragraph talks about combining Western medicine and TCM with “equal emphasis,” along with paying particular attention to key groups like women and children, the elderly, the disabled, the migrant population (流动人口), low-income groups and the poor.
39. The Fengqiao Experience
We have the 39th piece in the Xi Thought Q&A series. The first question is about strengthening and innovating social governance. The answer begins by telling us about the Fengqiao Experience of the 1960s. It says that this refers to the experiment in Fengqiao Township, which is part of Zhuji in Zhejiang, to “rely on the masses to resolve contradictions on the spot.” Mao had then seen this as an example worth emulating. The piece tells us that Xi Jinping views this experience as the “金字招牌” - gold standard I guess - of grassroots social governance. To him, it provides an important model, the piece says. With this said, it’s important to reiterate what Fengqiao Experience entailed and implies under Xi:
Here’s an excerpt from China Media Project’s detailed piece on this:
“In understanding the so-called ‘Fengqiao experience’, there are two key points of background that must first be understood. The first is that in 1962, during the Tenth Plenary Session of the 8th CCP Central Committee, Mao Zedong again raised the prospect of ‘class struggle’ (阶级斗争). It was at that meeting, in fact, that Xi Zhongxun (习仲勋), the father of General Secretary Xi Jinping, was purged after being falsely charged with leading an anti-Party clique. The second point is that it was in 1963 that Mao Zedong launched his Socialist Education Movement (社会主义教育运动), also known as the Four Cleanups Movement (四清运动). This was essentially a ploy to root out elements within the Party that Mao regarded as ‘reactionary’....Until recently, no top Chinese leader since Mao Zedong had ever been quoted publicly in the People’s Daily or other state media making remarks on the “Fengqiao experience.” Not Deng Xiaoping. Not Jiang Zemin. Not Hu Jintao. But in 2013, marking the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s written instructions, Xi Jinping broke this pattern by issuing “important instructions on the development of the ‘Fengqiao experience’.
Ever since the 2013 anniversary, China’s Party-state media have emphasized that ‘the vitality of the Fengqiao experience lies in its following of the mass line’. The concept was only ever about class struggle, and never about, as Party-state media have reported, ‘employing legal thinking and legal methods to resolve problems and tensions concerning the vital interests of the masses.’ And Mao Zedong’s mass line was always about organizing the masses to control evildoers, about the exercise of a “dictatorship of the masses” (群众专政). These ideas are poles apart from modern ideas of rule of law. So why is Xi so interested in renewing them and showcasing them? Why is there talk of a ‘Fengqiao experience for the New Era’ (新时代”枫桥经验”)?...Much of the CCP’s language about public security and social management in the Xi era now emphasizes the ‘mass line,’ propagating the idea, essentially, that the masses, or the public, must be involved in the process of being governed by the Party. This is not about involving the public in governance, an idea that is anathema to a ruling Party that spurns a robust civil society or more independent media. Rather, it is about mobilizing the public – including through new digital tools – in order to better achieve the Party’s governance objectives, including public security.”
Anyway, back to the piece in PD. The next paragraph says that after food and clothing what people need the most is peace, and the Party’s effort under Xi has been to “reduce the problems affecting social harmony and stability at the source, thereby increasing the sense of security and satisfaction of the broad masses of the people.” Some of the efforts highlighted are the “fight against black and evil,” the anti-corruption crackdown targeting “tigers and flies,” and the targeting of “protection umbrellas.” The piece also tells us that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, grassroots governance has undergone a centralised review.
The piece says that social governance is an important part of national governance and the party’s approach has moved from social management to social governance. The piece quotes Xi as having said that “contradictions among the people should be handled through the rule of law, democracy and consultation.” In addition, the piece says: “In a socialist system, the people are the masters of the country, and problems at the community level (i.e., grassroots contradictions) must be solved through democracy at the community level (i.e., grassroots democracy).” In this context, the piece talks about “paying more attention to social collaborative governance.” -- Refer back to CMP’s explanation above at this point.
The next bit tells us that “safeguarding rights is the foundation of maintaining stability. As for safeguarding stability, we must first address the reasonable and legitimate interests of the people. Maintaining stability without addressing the issue of interests would put the cart before the horse, and it would be difficult to achieve stability in the end.” In order to do all this, it is important to innovate the mechanism for organising and mobilising the masses. It is important that people feel that their interests and rights have been safeguarded with fairness. And in this context, Xi believes that the Fengqiao Experience is useful, the piece informs.
The piece informs that:
“The COVID-19 prevention and control experience has demonstrated the important role of rule of law and science and technology in social governance at the grassroots level. We need to make social governance more socialized, law-based, intelligent, and professional. We need to make full use of advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, foster law-based thinking, and give play to the rule of virtue. We need to enhance the predictability, accuracy and efficiency of grassroots social governance.” 这次新冠肺炎疫情防控,更让我们看到法治、科技等手段在基层社会治理中的重要作用。要着力提高社会治理社会化、法治化、智能化、专业化水平,充分运用大数据、人工智能等先进技术,树立法治思维、发挥德治作用,切实增强基层社会治理的预见性、精准性、高效性.
The next question is about the importance of environmental protection. So this taps into Chinese history and tradition to make the point that “ecological prosperity leads to prosperity of civilization; ecological decline leads to the decline of civilization.” 生态兴则文明兴,生态衰则文明衰. “The decline of ancient Egypt and Babylon were directly related to the decline of the ecological environment, especially the serious issue of desertification.” 古代埃及、古代巴比伦的衰落与生态环境衰退特别是严重的土地荒漠化直接相关.
The piece says that the industrial revolution not only expanded people’s material wealth but also led to “accelerated the grabbing of natural resources,” damaging the balance that existed in the earth’s ecosystem and causing tensions in the relationship between man and nature. “Since the 1930s, some Western countries have experienced the ‘eight major environmental pollution incidents’...these shocked the world, triggering profound reflection about the capitalist development model.” 人类进入工业文明时代以来,传统工业化迅猛发展,在创造巨大物质财富的同时也加速了对自然资源的攫取,打破了地球生态系统原有的循环和平衡,造成人与自然关系紧张。从20世纪30年代开始,一些西方国家相继发生了“八大环境公害事件”,很多人患病、死亡,损失巨大,震惊世界,引发了人们对资本主义发展模式的深刻反思.
What’s, therefore, needed is to respect, adapt to and protect nature. We are then told that “China's ecological civilization construction is in a critical period.” It is important to follow Xi Thought in this regard. This entails adhering to the basic state policy of resource conservation and environmental protection, adhering to the policy of giving priority to saving, protecting and restoring nature, firmly following the path of civilized development of production and forming a modern development pattern of harmonious coexistence of man and nature.