'People’s Leader' Xi at Two Sessions - Paralympics Closing - Yang-Sullivan Meeting - He Yiting on Xi Thought & Two Establishments
Sunday’s paper carried a long article about 10 years of Xi Jinping’s participation in meetings at the Two Sessions. It said that Xi has participated in 53 deliberations and discussions of delegations, and listened to the speeches of about 400 representatives, and as you can imagine, there are some details of engagements, with the article basically being full of praise for Xi Jinping – the person and the leader.
In the past, Chinese media coverage used to showcase the Two Sessions as an example of China’s deliberative legislative process and a mechanism for maintaining harmony amid diversity. And to be fair, these aspects are still highlighted – for instance in this article on Page 3. But this narrative has clearly played second fiddle this time around to the narrative of emphasising the leadership of Xi Jinping.
For instance, the piece uses people’s leader (人民领袖) to describe Xi Jinping on 8 different occasions. At one point, it says:
“Over the past 10 years, the Two Sessions have witnessed the sincere feelings of the people’s leader’s love for the people; and the sincere feelings of the people’s love for the people’s leader. The people’s leader loves the people; the people love the people’s leader. 十年全国两会，见证人民领袖爱人民、人民领袖人民爱的真挚情怀人民领袖爱人民，人民领袖人民爱.
The piece also later endorses the Two Establishments:
“Time will continue to prove that establishing Comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, and establishing the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, are the call of the times, the choice of history, and the aspiration of the people, and it is of decisive significance to the development of the cause of the party and the state in the new era and to the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 时间必将继续证明：确立习近平同志党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，确立习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的指导地位，是时代呼唤、历史选择、民心所向，对新时代党和国家事业发展、对推进中华民族伟大复兴历史进程具有决定性意义.
Anyway, here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Monday, March 14, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: The big story on the front page today is about the closing of the Beijing Paralympic Games. Xi Jinping attended the ceremony. I am not covering the related reports.
The only other piece on the page is a new sub-series called 伟大变革 - Great Transformations - under the theme of forging ahead and striving to make new contributions in the new era. This will shine the light on how select grassroots and front-line cadres are implementing the central leadership’s policy initiatives and priorities in various fields since the 18th Party Congress. The first piece in the series talks about poverty alleviation and building a moderately prosperous society. The objective of this series is clear enough; it’s to argue for top-level design.
Page 2: There’s a brief report about the upcoming meeting between Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi in Rome later today, saying that the two men will meet to exchange views on China-US relations and international and regional issues of common concern. There’s also this bit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Q: Yang Jiechi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, will meet with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Rome, Italy. I hope you could share the key issue of the upcoming meeting.
A: The key issue of this meeting is to implement the important consensus reached by the Chinese and US heads of state in their virtual summit in November last year. The two sides have been in contact on the matter since late last year, stayed in communication about the meeting and set a time for the meeting according to their schedules. They will exchange views on China-US relations and international and regional issues of common concern.
Next, there’s a report about Sun Chunlan’s visit to Jilin. Sun said that the situation in Jilin was “severe and complex.” She said that it was necessary to speed up the screening of infected persons and to use a combination of nucleic acid and antigen tests in order to improve detection capabilities. She also warned about preventing the emergence of clusters, particularly in places like schools, nursing homes, factories and enterprises. In addition, she talked about treating patients based on severity of infections. For instance, asymptomatic patients should be admitted to makeshift hospitals to prevent the cases from worsening. She also called for carrying out precise community management and control at different levels.
This is essentially all the COVID-related reportage in the paper. Nothing about different clusters in the mainland or say the shutting down of Shenzhen.
From Page 3 onwards, the paper has printed:
The full text (English Version) of the report on the implementation of the 2021 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2022 draft plan for national economic and social development, which was approved at the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 11.
The full text (English Version) of the report on the execution of the central and local budgets for 2021 and on the draft central and local budgets for 2022, which was approved at the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 11.
These, of course, run through multiple pages.
Page 6: On the theory page, the lead piece is by He Yiting. He talks about the “three leaps” in the sinicization of Marxism, which have not only focused on the “theme of realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, but also exploring and answering the issues of the times faced by the Party during different historical periods.” So he talks about Mao Zedong Thought, the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
In the first section of the article, He talks about the evolution of all three leaps. It’s fascinating that Deng Xiaoping does not even get named when discussing the third plenum of the 11th Central Committee.
On Xi Thought, he says that “Contemporary China is experiencing the most grand and unique practical innovation in human history. The task of reform, development and stability are heavy; there are many contradictions, risks and challenges, and most of the challenges regarding the governance of the are unprecedented. The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and a large number of theoretical and practical issues need to be answered. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core insisted on emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, being upright and innovative, accurately grasping the trend of the times, scientifically answering the questions of China, the world, the people and the times, putting forward a series of original new ideas and new strategies for governing the country, creating Xi Jinping Thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, realising a new leap in the sinicization of Marxism, and promoting historic achievements and changes in the cause of the party and the country.”当代中国正在经历人类历史上最为宏大而独特的实践创新，改革发展稳定任务之重、矛盾风险挑战之多、治国理政考验之大都前所未有，世界百年未有之大变局深刻变化前所未有，提出了大量亟待回答的理论和实践课题。以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚持解放思想、实事求是、守正创新，准确把握时代主题，科学回答中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问，提出一系列原创性治国理政新理念新思想新战略，创立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，实现了马克思主义中国化新的飞跃，推动党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革.
The next section talks about grasping the principal contradiction and the main tasks facing the Party. In this, he praises the revamping of the principal contradiction in 2017, calling it an important aspect of Xi Jinping thought. He then writes:
“In the face of complex situations, complex problems, and onerous tasks, we must grasp the relationship between major contradictions and minor contradictions, major aspects of contradictions and minor aspects, and give priority to solving major contradictions and major aspects of contradictions, so as to promote the resolution of other contradictions. On the new journey, in order to achieve the goal of the second century, we must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, have a deep understanding of the new features and requirements brought about by the major contradictions and changes in our society, have a deep understanding of the new contradictions and challenges brought about by the profound changes in the international environment, consistently adhere to the economic development as the central task; consistently focus on development, the top priority for the Party to govern and rejuvenate the country, focus on solving the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development, and strive to achieve higher-quality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable, and more secure development…” 社会矛盾错综复杂，面对复杂形势、复杂矛盾、繁重任务，必须把握好主要矛盾和次要矛盾、矛盾的主要方面和次要方面的关系，优先解决主要矛盾和矛盾的主要方面，以此带动其他矛盾的解决。在实现第二个百年奋斗目标的新征程上，必须坚持以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，深刻认识我国社会主要矛盾变化带来的新特征新要求，深刻认识国际环境深刻变化带来的新矛盾新挑战，一以贯之坚持以经济建设为中心，一以贯之抓好发展这个党执政兴国的第一要务，着力解决好发展不平衡不充分问题，努力实现更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续、更为安全的发展，朝着全面建成社会主义现代化强国的奋斗目标不断前进。
In the next section, He talks about learning from history. This is basically about supporting the latest history resolution. The final section talks about the importance of a strong core.
“The historical experience of sinicization of Marxism has fully proved that having a strong leadership core and scientific theoretical guidance is a key marker of a mature Marxist political party and the secret of our Party’s success in creating great historical achievements. At the sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, the CPC emphasised the ‘Two Establishments,’ which essentially establishes the Communist Party of China’s leading position and ruling position as the highest force of political leadership in China, and establishes the position of Marxism as the guiding ideology in order to build and strengthen the country. This reflects the common aspiration of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnic groups in China, and is of decisive significance to the development of the Party and the country in the new era and the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We should constantly deepen our understanding of the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments’, constantly strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, ‘four self-confidences’ and achieve the ‘two safeguard’, constantly improve our political judgement, political understanding and political execution, learn from history, create the future, work hard and bravely, and make unremitting efforts to realise the goal of the second century and the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 马克思主义中国化的历史经验充分证明，拥有坚强的领导核心、科学的理论指引，是成熟马克思主义政党的显著标志，是我们党创造历史伟业的成功秘诀。党的十九届六中全会强调“两个确立”，本质上是确立中国共产党作为中国最高政治领导力量的领导地位和执政地位，确立马克思主义立党立国、兴党强国的指导思想地位，反映了全党全军全国各族人民共同心愿，对新时代党和国家事业发展、对推进中华民族伟大复兴历史进程具有决定性意义。我们要不断加深对“两个确立”决定性意义的认识，不断增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，不断提高政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力，以史为鉴、开创未来，埋头苦干、勇毅前行，为实现第二个百年奋斗目标、实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦不懈奋斗. —
(Quick thoughts: First, the obvious fact that Deng Xiaoping did not get named at all in this piece. Second, the last paragraph is probably the most direct pitch that I’ve seen in PD equating Xi Jinping’s leadership with the rule of the Party. The message, the way I understand it, is that challenging Xi Jinping's right to rule is akin to challenging the Party’s right to rule.)
