'Peaceful Development' Redux - Party History Narrative - Tibet Media Junket
Here are the stories and pieces from the People’s Daily’s June 7, 2021, edition that I found noteworthy.
Page 1: There’s only one piece on the page, a 宣言 proclamation, that I found worth going into. It talks about the Party history learning campaign, beginning with Xi’s comments during the speech that began all of this. It talks about Xi emphasising that:
“belief in communism and socialism with Chinese characteristics are the political soul of the Communists and the spiritual pillar for the Communists to stand any test. Emphasizing the party’s hundred years of struggle and great achievements is the most solid foundation for us to enhance our road self-confidence, theoretical self-confidence, institutional self-confidence and cultural self-confidence.” 习近平总书记在党史学习教育动员大会上深刻指出，对共产主义的信仰，对中国特色社会主义的信念，是共产党人的政治灵魂，是共产党人经受住任何考验的精神支柱，强调党的百年奋斗历程和伟大成就，是我们增强道路自信、理论自信、制度自信、文化自信最坚实的基础。总书记的话语，掷地有声、坚定豪迈，深刻揭示了社会主义、共产主义与百年求索、百年奋斗的内在关系，彰显了中国共产党人沿着中国特色社会主义这条唯一正确道路前进的坚毅和执着.
This is a recitation of the Party’s version of history. The first section begins with the gunboat diplomacy of the 1840s and laments China’s weakness and the desire for a new path. The author argues that Western theories and doctrines were introduced but repeatedly turned out to be futile. WWI then shattered the “beautiful illusion of capitalist civilization.” At the same time the October Revolution brought Marxism-Leninism to China; Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu and Mao are mentioned as the key early protagonists and then voila there was a Party with a cause. Oh, and Chen Wangdao also gets a mention in part one for translating the Communist Manifesto. Of course, the key point here is that “China, which was once hopeless, (now) had a direction!”
Section two talks about the civil war, the Japanese invasion, and all the internal churn in China that went on from 1921 to 1949 in a rather interesting manner. First, the emphasis is on how CCP members were unique because of the nature of the doctrine they followed and the faith that they had in their doctrine. There is a certain zealotry about them if you read the piece. In fact, if you read through this section, the CCP comes across as a persecuted, militarised religious group driven by revelation. Second, there’s nothing about the internal churn within the Party. The narrative tells us that everything was hunky dory and that Mao was primarily the leader. Of course, this is far from the truth. Finally, the “reactionaries” and “Japanese militarism” get mentioned, and with their defeat, we have this change that takes place.
“After 28 years of bloodshed and 28 years of hard work, our country transformed from the ‘Sick Man of East Asia’ who was humiliated by others to the ‘Awakened Lion of the East’ who impressed the world, and our people transformed from slaves who worked as cattle and horses to masters who raised their eyebrows. The victory of the Chinese Revolution is the great practice of the Chinese Communists in using Marxism to save China…” “批判的武器当然不能代替武器的批判，物质力量只能用物质力量来摧毁。”28年浴血奋战，28年砥砺前行，我们的国家从任人欺辱的“东亚病夫”变成令世界刮目相看的“东方醒狮”，我们的人民从做牛做马的奴隶变成扬眉吐气的主人。中国革命的胜利，就是中国共产党人运用马克思主义挽救中国的伟大实践，就是科学真理彰显力量的伟大历程!
The third section talks about Mao’s rule after the founding of the PRC. It talks about socio-economic development, basically painting a picture of a harmonious country on the road to prosperity despite the challenges. Interestingly, it ends with this line: “We have also suffered such serious setbacks as the ‘Cultural Revolution’ on the road to discovery, a painful lesson worth learning forever.” 我们也曾在摸索探求的路上，遭受“文化大革命”这样严重的挫折, 惨痛教训值得永远汲取.
The next section focuses on the reforms that began after the Third Plenary of the 11th Central Committee. The piece talks about Deng’s proclamation that “poverty is not socialism” and the coining of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
“Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s total economic output has surpassed Italy, France, Britain, Germany and Japan, ranking second in the world; the living standards of our people have continued to improve and have entered the ranks of middle-and high-income countries; the land of China is changing with each passing day, with roads networked, railways densely distributed, west-east gas transmission, south-to-north water transfer, high dams being built, towering bridges, and natural barriers being scaled; China has also overcome major natural disasters such as floods, freezing rain and snow, earthquakes and major epidemics such as SARS, which are rare in history. It has withstood the severe test of the Asian financial crisis and the international financial crisis. After the storm, it is more calm and upright.” 改革开放40多年来，我国经济总量一路超过意大利、法国、英国、德国、日本，稳居世界第二；我国人民生活水平持续提升，已经进入中高收入国家行列；神州大地面貌日新月异，公路成网、铁路密布、西气东输、南水北调、高坝矗立、大桥巍峨，天堑变通途；中国还战胜了历史罕见的洪涝、雨雪冰冻、地震等重大自然灾害和非典等重大疫病，经受住了亚洲金融危机和国际金融危机严峻考验，风雨过后更见气度从容、身姿挺拔.
The final section then talks about how “the magnificent cause of socialism is the result of the hard work and dedication of generations of communists” and is imbued with the aspirations of “pioneers” and “martyrs.” 雄伟壮丽的社会主义事业，凝结着一代代共产党人的艰苦卓绝和付出奉献，负载着多少先哲英烈的寄托与热望.
And how in the new era, “the Chinese people’s faith in Marxism and communism has become stronger, their belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics has become more solid, and their confidence in achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has never been higher.” 中国人民对马克思主义、共产主义的信仰更加坚定，对中国特色社会主义的信念更加牢固，对实现中华民族伟大复兴的信心空前高涨.
This then ties with other key current talking points for the Party, i.e., the new development stage, the “original intention” of putting people first, technological achievements, and unity.
Interesting line amid all this:
“In the face of bullying and suppression, we never gave in. The whole party and the whole country has dared to fight and win, and they gathered together and twisted together to form a single rope.” 面对霸凌和打压，我们从未屈服，全党全国敢于斗争、勇于胜利，攒成一股劲、拧成一股绳.
The piece ends with Xi’s April 2021 visit to the Xiangjiang Battle Memorial Park, talking about how the revolutionary ideals and sacrifice had shaped the “eternal gene of a party,” and how all this continues to inspire the party.
Page 2: The above piece runs on here, but another piece worth noting is the CCDI putting out six typical cases of the violations of the 8 central regulations. So we have a senior employee of the China Railway Shanghai Group, Jiang Hao, being accused of misappropriating project funds for food and wine expenses over years. Wang Zhida, the former director of the West Lake Scenic Area Management Office of the Hangzhou Municipal Road Transportation Administration, siphoned money by falsifying allowances of subsidies that are applicable for employees. Wang Xiaoning, secretary of Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, was chastised for spending money on infrastructure works like two city gates, statues, etc, instead of focussing on livelihood issues.
Highlighting the Yuzhong county case is interesting. Perhaps a message for local governments on the usual GDP growth tactic.
Anyway, the other three cases are about misuse of official funds, assets, etc.
Page 3: We have a short report telling us that the State Council Information Office took journalists on a junket to Lhasa and Nyingchi “to learn more about the rapid development and changes in Tibet since the peaceful liberation of Tibet 70 years ago.” It says that reporters from Xinhua, AP, Reuters, AFP, RT, and Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation were part of the tour.
Then we have a report (English version) about the inaugural meeting of the China-Indonesia high-level dialogue cooperation mechanism, which was held on Saturday in Guiyang. Wang Yi met with Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesian president's special envoy and Indonesia's coordinator for cooperation with China. Xinhua reports that Wang said “both sides should set the long-term goal of jointly building a China-Indonesia community with a shared future, focus on political security, trade and investment, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, maritime cooperation and anti-epidemic and public health cooperation.”
They also signed two documents:
Memorandum of Understanding between China and Indonesia on Establishing a High-Level Dialogue and Cooperation Mechanism.
Memorandum of Understanding between China and Indonesia on Strengthening Maritime Cooperation.
Page 6: The Central Propaganda Department and the Central Civilisation Office (中央文明办) have released a new report on the Party’s 100 years, and there’s going to be a campaign “publicizing the iconic achievements of spiritual civilization construction.” Another report tells us that the publicity campaign around the 2022 Winter Olympics is being kicked off now.
Page 7: We have the full list of the nominees for the outstanding Party committees secretaries awards shared on the page. These folks are to be awarded during the centenary celebration, unless there are any objections.
Page 13: On Page 13, we have a piece by Amb. Xu Bu 徐步. He is currently the director of the Xi Jinping Center for Diplomatic Thought. This was the one established within the Foreign Minister last year, if I am correct. The tone and approach of the piece is very different from what we’ve read for a while. It’s calmer and emphasises “peaceful development.” I wonder if this is a product of the Politburo meeting last week with Xi talking about international communication?
Xu spends some time talking about Chinese foreign policy being “peaceful” during Mao and Deng’s years. Then he comes to Xi.
“With a broad global vision, a deep insight into the general trend of the times, and a strong mission, the Communist Party of China is actively transforming world opportunities into Chinese opportunities and Chinese opportunities into world opportunities. Actively developing global partnership and striving to expand the intersection of interests with other countries, China has always been a staunch force for safeguarding world peace and development, and China continues to make great strides on the road of peaceful development.”
He then doubles down on the peaceful development bit: “In March 2018, the ‘Amendment to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China’ officially included ‘adherence to the path of peaceful development’ into the Constitution. This fully demonstrates the firm determination and strong will of the Communist Party of China to take the path of peaceful development.”
He then argues that “a peaceful and stable international environment is indispensable for achieving the grand goal of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation...China is willing to work with other countries in the world to maintain peace and create favorable conditions for common development.” Amb. Xu then tells us that “The Chinese nation has always been a peace-loving nation, and the Chinese people advocate ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’, and there is no gene in the blood to claim hegemony and militarism.” Of course.
Anyway, I thought this was useful to note:
“Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's comprehensive national strength and international influence have been continuously enhanced, its ability to participate in international competition and resist external risks has been further enhanced, its ability to shape the external environment has been significantly improved, and its resources and means for managing foreign relations have become more abundant, and all parties have increased their reliance and cooperation with China.” 特别是党的十八大以来，我国综合国力和国际影响力不断增强,参与国际竞争、抵御外部风险的能力进一步增强，塑造外部环境的能力显著提高，运筹对外关系的资源和手段更加丰富，各方对我国的借重与合作不断增多.
His then lists some priorities:
Work hard to manage the relationship between major powers
Consolidate good-neighbourly and friendly relations with neighbouring countries and strengthen solidarity and cooperation with developing countries
Actively participate in leading the reform and construction of the global governance system, and play the role of a responsible major country
He ends the piece talking about being tough on core interests. But this is worth noting.
“We should combine China's path of peaceful development with that of other countries and unify adhering to peaceful development with safeguarding China's legitimate rights and core interests, so as to promote China's pioneering progress in terms of its positive interaction and mutual benefit with other countries in the world and make greater contributions to the lofty cause of peaceful development of mankind.” 我们要把中国走和平发展道路与推动各国共同走和平发展道路结合起来，把坚持和平发展与维护我国正当权益和核心利益统一起来，推动我国在与世界各国良性互动、互利共赢中开拓前行，为人类和平发展的崇高事业作出更大贡献.