Religious Work Review - Understanding China Conference - BRI's Transport & Connectivity Gains - Xiao Jie on Development Direction
Here are the stories and pieces from the December 03, 2021, edition of the People’s Daily that I found noteworthy.
Page 1: Let’s begin with Xi Jinping’s comments (English report) at the 2021 Understanding China Conference taking place in Guangzhou. His core point was that “to understand China today, one must learn to understand the CPC.” There’s little new that he said. Xinhua reports:
The Party will always put the people first, commit to its fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people, follow a people-centered philosophy of development, promote well-rounded human development and common prosperity for all, and better meet the Chinese people’s aspiration for a better life, Xi said, adding that the CPC will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and opening-up to the world, work for a community with a shared future for mankind, and promote humanity’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. “The CPC will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, and strive to make new and greater contributions to the progress of human civilization and to world peace and development.”
Next, a report informing that Li Keqiang will host the sixth “1+6” Roundtable with heads of key international agencies. This includes President David Malpass of the World Bank Group, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva of the International Monetary Fund, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organization, Director-General Guy Ryder of the International Labor Organization, Secretary-General Mathias Cormann of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Chairman Klaas Knot of the Financial Stability Board.
Third, the China Manned Space Agency has announced that Chinese astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station will deliver their first lecture from space. The ‘Tiangong Class’ will see them become the “teachers in space.”
Fourth, Li Zhanshu addressed (English report) a national symposium on local legislation in Beijing. He said that it is necessary to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the 6th Plenum. He reiterated the importance of the four consciousnesses, four self-confidences and two safeguards. He also talked about the importance of implementing Xi’s instructions.
Summary of Li’s comments:
“Li called for upholding the Party’s leadership over the legislative work; focusing on local realities and enriching forms of legislation; and giving full play to the whole-process people's democracy, building consensus on legislation, and reflecting the people's will in lawmaking. Legislative work should be carried out in accordance with statutory mandates and due procedures, and safeguard the unity of the national rule of law.”
Fifth, there’s a story about transport connectivity and infrastructure development under BRI. In the first 10 months of this year, there have been 12,605 train trips and a transport of 1.216 million TEU of goods between China and Europe, up 26 percent and 33 percent respectively. The China-Laos railway was put into operation on December 3. Technical consultations have been completed but financing negotiations are underway for Pakistan’s Ml-1 railway. The feasibility study of China-Nepal cross-border railway is “progressing smoothly.” The Piraeus Port has completed the second phase of equity delivery. COSCO now has 67% equity. Ports such as Gwadar, Hambantota and Djibouti are operating well.
Also, since BRI was launched, COSCO Shipping has apparently invested 64.2 billion yuan in BRI partner states and invested in and built 20 container terminals. Since April 2019, China has signed international road transport agreements with Georgia, Belarus, Laos and other countries, signed a transit transport protocol with Nepal, and opened six routes stipulated in the Agreement on Facilitation of International Road Transport among SCO members. At present, China has signed 22 international road transport facilitation agreements with 19 countries under the BRI framework. It has signed 70 bilateral and regional maritime agreements with 66 countries and regions. It has signed bilateral intergovernmental air transport agreements with 100 countries, maintained regular passenger and cargo flights with 54 countries, and signed regional air transport agreements with ASEAN and the European Union. It has also signed postal cooperation documents with 22 countries.
Finally, a long piece that summarises religious work since the 18th Party Congress. It says that since then, the Central Committee “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to religious work, made a series of major decisions and plans, and continuously promoted theoretical and practical innovation in religious work in the new era.”
The piece talks about Xi’s visit to Lhasa and has him saying that the law of religious development lies in harmony. The survival and development of any religion requires it to adapt to the society in which it belongs. This is the universal law governing the development and spread of religions in the world. “宗教要和顺、社会要和谐、民族要和睦。”习近平总书记强调，宗教的发展规律在于“和”. 任何宗教的生存发展，都必须同所在社会相适应，这是世界宗教发展传播的普遍规律.
At the April 2016 National Conference on Religious Work, Xi Jinping had reportedly pointed out that religious work is of “special importance in the overall work of the party and the state. It is related to the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the people, social harmony, national unity, national security and the reunification of the motherland.” Some of the key points after the 2016 conference were; I am relying on this readout:
Religious groups must adhere to the leadership of the CPC, and support the socialist system and socialism with Chinese characteristics. They should “merge religious doctrines with Chinese culture, abide by Chinese laws and regulations, and devote themselves to China’s reform and opening up drive and socialist modernisation in order to contribute to the realisation of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.”
“We should guide and educate the religious circle and their followers with the socialist core values, and guide the religious people with ideas of unity, progress, peace and tolerance.”
Politics and religions must be separated: “In no way should religions interfere with government administration, judiciary and education.”
“We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement by extremists.”
Authorities should also focus on religious issues on the Internet and disseminate the Party's religious policies and theories online.
After this, the piece points to key work conferences regarding ethnic unity, Tibet and Xinjiang, which have clarified policy direction. It also talks about the March 2018 plan on deepening reform of Party and state institutions, which saw the United Front Works Department taking charge of all religious work. This reform was one part of and an example of the effort to strengthen Party control over religious work. The next couple of paragraphs talk about how religious work has become more perfect.
“Party committees at all levels have included religious work as an important part of their agendas, including theoretical learning and cadre training, inspection tours and party building work, the responsibility system for ideological work, performance appraisal, and effectively put into practice the major decisions and deployments of the Central Committee on religious work.” 党的十八大以来，各级党委把宗教工作纳入重要议事日程，纳入理论学习和干部培训内容，纳入巡视巡察和党建述职，纳入意识形态工作责任制，纳入绩效考核，切实把党中央关于宗教工作的重大决策部署落到实处.
The piece then has some details about the progress made:
policies and regulations has been gradually improved
capacity to govern religious work has improved - this emphasizes the use of legal tools, standardising religious work, resisting infiltration, and strengthening the management of places for religious activities
education and publicity around rule of law - this entails shaping correct views among religious believers with regard to the relationship between state law and religious rules and constantly raise awareness of the state, rule of law, and citizenship.
The outcomes of all these efforts have been:
Ideological and political guidance have been strengthened. These are aimed at to “guiding religious figures and believers to continuously enhance their recognition of the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China and socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Sinicisation of religions is deepening. “All national religious organizations have formulated work plans to adhere to the orientation of Chinese religion; Guided by core socialist values, religious circles should interpret their doctrines and rules in accordance with the development and progress of contemporary China and the fine traditional Chinese culture. The requirement of adhering to the orientation of Chinese religion should gradually run through the whole process of education in religious colleges and universities, and the action consciousness of adhering to the orientation of Chinese religion should be constantly strengthened.” 宗教中国化逐渐深入。各全国性宗教团体制定了坚持我国宗教中国化方向工作规划；宗教界以社会主义核心价值观为引领，对教义教规作出符合当代中国发展进步要求、符合中华优秀传统文化的阐释；把坚持我国宗教中国化方向的要求逐步贯穿宗教院校教育教学全过程，不断增强坚持我国宗教中国化方向的行动自觉。
“Religious relations are increasingly healthy and harmonious. Citizens’ right to freedom of religious belief is being fully respected, and the legitimate rights and interests of religious figures and believers are effectively protected. 宗教关系日益健康和谐。公民的宗教信仰自由权利得到充分尊重，宗教界人士和信教群众的合法权益得到有效保护.
Self-management of religious groups has been strengthened. National religious organizations have further strengthened the establishment of their own rules and regulations, strictly observed the precepts of teaching style, formulated codes of conduct, and severely punished unhealthy teaching styles and other behaviors. The Party wants to train religious talents that are “politically reliable, religiously accomplished, morally convincing, and effective when it matters.” 按照“政治上靠得住、宗教上有造诣、品德上能服众、关键时起作用”要求，加大宗教人才培养力度.
Page 2: Just one report to note. Hu Chunhua spoke at a forum in Beijing, urging improved service and better business environment for foreign-funded firms to facilitate their investment and business in China.
Xinhua reports that he urged more efforts to respond to the concerns of foreign firms and forge a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment. In this context, he talked about the need to align to high-standard international economic and trade rules.
He also added that measures should be taken to facilitate the entry of personnel into China and promote the smooth flow of international logistics to help these firms stabilize supply chains, while ensuring implementation of epidemic prevention and control...He also underlined expanding market access for foreign capital, streamlining review and approval, and shoring up supply of such production factors as land, electricity and labor.
Page 3: A bunch of news reports on the page. First, Yang Jiechi’s meeting with ROK National Security Advisor Suh Hoon. The PD report is terribly limited. Xinhua reports:
China and ROK should work together to ensure the stability of the global supply chains and industrial chains, strengthen communication and coordination on regional cooperation, multilateral frameworks and global issues, and jointly promote the construction of a more just and reasonable global governance system, Yang said. Yang also said that China is willing to work with all relevant parties to play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and realizing long-term stability on the peninsula. Suh Hoon said that the ROK attaches great importance to developing relations with China, and looks forward to strengthening high-level exchanges and deepening practical cooperation in various fields. ROK will actively support China in hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, the top security advisor added.
Yonhap reports that “Yang was quoted as saying, ‘(We) support the push for the end-of-war declaration and believe that the end-of-war declaration will contribute to promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula’.” -- This has been something that South Korea has been pushing for, from what I understand.
Second, Wang Yi met with (English report) Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son. Wang said that:
“this year is very important for the development of bilateral relations, and the two sides should follow the consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries and work together to promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation. Bui Thanh Son said Vietnam has always supported China to play a greater role in international affairs. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields and reached important consensus. They agreed to strengthen political leadership, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and enhance cooperation on fighting against the pandemic.”
Third, Wang Yi’s meeting with the Ethiopian foreign minister. Xinhua reports:
“Noting that China pursues the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, Wang said that China does not interfere in Ethiopia’s internal affairs and opposes the intervention by external forces, let alone their attempt to exert pressure on Ethiopia to achieve their own political purposes. Wang said the current conflicts in Ethiopia is, in essence, its domestic affairs, expressing confidence that Ethiopia has the ability and wisdom to resolve them through political means in accordance with the law to achieve inclusiveness and stability. Peace talks are the only way out and the only correct choice, he noted. The United Nations General Assembly will consider and adopt an Olympic truce resolution on Thursday, which reflects the common aspiration of people of all countries to pursue peace, Wang said, expressing his hope that all parties in Ethiopia will respond actively, stop the conflicts as soon as possible and work for lasting peace.”
Fourth, a report on dialogue between the CPC and British political parties. ILD’s Song Tao was the lead representative from the CPC. Xinhua reports:
“Noting that the leaders of both countries recently reached an important consensus and mapped out the future development of China-Britain relations, Song said that political parties and politicians of both countries should earnestly implement the consensus, step up strategic communication, support and contribute to China-Britain friendship and cooperation, and push forward bilateral relations on the right track.”
“Participants from the British side said that Britain and China share broad common interests and the British side attaches great importance to relations with China. They said that the British side is willing to deepen cooperation with China in fields including COVID-19 response, tackling climate change, trade, technology and innovation via channels like the party dialogue for greater development of Britain-China relations.”
Finally, comments by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (English report) on Shinzo Abe’s recent comments about Taiwan. Spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang said that “Abe preached containment of China and instigated ‘Taiwan independence’, which reflected his entrenched erroneous stance on historical and Taiwan-related issues...Ma urged the Japanese side to adhere to the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and keep its solemn commitment with the Chinese side on the Taiwan question.
Page 4: A couple of stories to note. First, Huang Kunming’s comments at the Understanding China conference. In a nutshell, he said that over the past 100 years, the “party has not only sought happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation but also progress for mankind. In this context, he talked about how “Chinese style modernisation and the creation of a new form of human civilisation” aid in the firm pursuit of promoting the construction of a better world and community of shared future for mankind. “On this new journey, the CPC will always embrace the world, stand on the right side of history and human progress, and make greater contributions to world development.”
Second, 6th Plenum propaganda in Yunnan. Li Shulei did the honours, talking about the importance of the “two establishments.” Finally, a report about the party history education campaign in the armed forces. This began with a notice being issued by the CMC on March 2.
Page 5: A piece by Feng Zhengyu, the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Jilin University. Feng writes about ideological and political work in universities. He writes that last year, the Ministry of Education and other eight departments issued ‘Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Ideological and Political Work System in Colleges and Universities’, which defined seven key reform directions, including theoretical arming, subject teaching and daily education.
He talks about the need to “run ideological and political work through the whole chain of education and teaching and the whole process of students’ development.” Feng talks about placing ideological and political work into all aspects of college work, including enrolment, education, teaching, employment and entrepreneurship. He talks about Jilin University being among the 10 universities chosen by the Ministry of Education. He says that practice has shown that strengthening ideological and political education is helpful to better cultivate high-quality talents that meet the needs of the new era.
Feng calls to guide students to learn history for a deeper understanding, for them to gain faith in history, worship morality, learn from practice of history, etc. He wants to enrich “the ideological and political connotation of professional courses and constantly expand the methods and approaches of curriculum ideological and political construction.” He talks about building “a system of ideological and political work that integrates general education, ideological and political courses, and daily ideological and political work, so as to optimise the overall layout.” To do any of this, Feng talks about strengthening “overall leadership of the Party.”
Page 6: Today’s post-6th Plenum piece is by Xiao Jie. The first section of the piece talks about persisting in the people-centered development philosophy and strengthening social development with the focus on ensuring and improving people’s wellbeing.
Xiao argues that over the period of reform and opening up, today, people’s yearning for a better life is greater, and their demands for democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, security, environment and other aspects are increasing day by day. Therefore, the Central Committee has “emphasised that the people’s yearning for a better life is our goal, and improving people’s livelihood and welfare is the essential requirement of our adherence to building the Party for the public and governing for the people. It is the starting point and foothold of all our work to make up for the shortcomings in people's livelihood security and solve the people’s problems that people are anxious about, which is the urgent task of social construction.” 党中央强调，人民对美好生活的向往就是我们的奋斗目标，增进民生福祉是我们坚持立党为公、执政为民的本质要求，让老百姓过上好日子是我们一切工作的出发点和落脚点，补齐民生保障短板、解决好人民群众急难愁盼问题是社会建设的紧迫任务.
In the next paragraph, he talks about improving people’s livelihood, strengthening social construction, and doing the best in terms of what can be done. He quotes Xi as saying that it is important to “grasp the most direct and realistic interests of the people,” address the needs of the “people who need the most attention,” “do what you can and do under realistic conditions,” and “let the people enjoy tangible benefits.” He adds that safeguarding and improving people’s livelihood is a “long-term” and “continuous” task. In this context, he quotes this paragraph from the history resolution:
“We must, therefore, strengthen social development by laying stress on ensuring and improving people’s wellbeing. We must do everything within our capacity and keep working year by year to tackle one issue after another. In particular, we need to make steady progress in ensuring people’s access to childcare, education, employment, medical services, elderly care, housing, and social assistance, and we need to strengthen social governance by developing new practices, so that the people will have a more robust, solid, and sustainable sense of fulfilment, happiness, and security.”
In the second section, he praises the achievement of Xiaokang and the poverty alleviation campaign. In particular, he emphasises Xi’s personal leadership of this effort. In the third section, he talks about achieving “major strategic results in the fight against COVID-19.” Again, here he emphasises Xi Jinping’s “personal command.” He says that China will “continue to coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development.” In essence, there will be no change to the current direction of opening amid the pandemic.
Xiao praises China’s economic development amid the pandemic and argues that “in the face of unprecedented challenges, on the basis of doing a solid job of stabilising employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, investment and expectations, we made it clear that we will fully implement the tasks of ensuring people’s employment, ensuring basic living standards, ensuring market players, ensuring food and energy security, ensuring the stability of industrial and supply chains, and ensuring the operation of community-level communities.” He ends this review of economic performance by stating that this work has “greatly enhanced the self-confidence and pride, cohesion” between the Party and the people of all ethnic groups.
In the fourth section, Xiao talks about improving livelihood and better distribution of fruits of development. Since the 18th Party Congress, there have been great efforts to tackle shortcomings and solve problems in regard to people’s livelihood and ensure that the fruits of development benefit all the people in a more equitable manner, thereby enhancing their sense of gain, happiness, and security. 党的十八大以来，着力补齐民生短板，破解民生难题，使发展成果更多更公平惠及全体人民，不断增强人民群众获得感、幸福感、安全感.
The next paragraph talks about the income and wealth gaps. Since the 18th Party Congress, we have adhered to the principle of distribution according to work, further improved the system and mechanism of distribution according to other factors, worked hard to build an income distribution system that reflects efficiency and promotes fairness, regulated excessive income, banned illegal income, increased the income of low-income people, steadily expanded middle-income groups, and promoted the formation of olive distribution pattern. The income growth of residents and economic growth are basically synchronised, and the income growth of rural residents is faster than that of urban residents. In 2020, the per capita disposable income of national residents was 32,189 yuan, double that of 2010, forming the largest and fastest growing middle-income group in the world, with a total of over 400 million people. 党的十八大以来，坚持按劳分配原则，进一步完善按要素分配的体制机制，努力建设体现效率、促进公平的收入分配体系，调节过高收入，取缔非法收入，增加低收入者收入，稳定扩大中等收入群体，推动形成橄榄型分配格局，居民收入增长与经济增长基本同步，农村居民收入增速快于城镇居民。2020年全国居民人均可支配收入32189元，比2010年增长1倍，形成了世界上规模最大、成长最快的中等收入群体，总量超过4亿人.
In the next paragraph, he talks about the focus on employment. He says that the Party will “ensure employment for key groups such as college graduates, rural migrant workers, and retired military personnel, and increase assistance to those who have difficulty finding jobs. We will promote entrepreneurship to promote employment, promote flexible employment through multiple channels, and support and standardise the development of new forms of employment. We will carry out actions to upgrade vocational skills and speed up the training of skilled personnel to meet the needs of development. From 2013 to 2019, more than 13 million urban jobs were created in China for seven consecutive years. In 2020, despite multiple severe shocks, 11.86 million urban jobs were created, maintaining overall employment stability.” 完善就业服务体系，扎实做好高校毕业生、农民工、退役军人等重点群体就业工作，加大对就业困难人员帮扶力度。促进创业带动就业，推动多渠道灵活就业，支持和规范发展新就业形态。实施职业技能提升行动，加快培养适应发展需要的技能人才。2013—2019年，全国城镇新增就业连续7年超过1300万人, 2020年面对多重严重冲击，仍实现城镇新增就业1186万人，保持了就业大局稳定.
The next paragraph talks about education. Government spending on education should be kept at least 4 percent of GDP. In 2020, the consolidation rate of nine-year compulsory education in China was at 95.2%, the gross enrolment rates of high school and higher education was at 91.2% and 54.4%, respectively, and the average number of years of education for the new workforce was at 13.8 years. China, therefore, ranks among the middle and upper middle countries in terms of universal education. 2020年我国九年义务教育巩固率达到95.2%，高中阶段和高等教育毛入学率分别达到91.2%和54.4%，新增劳动力平均受教育年限达到13.8年，教育普及水平稳居世界中上国家行列.
The next paragraph talks about old-age insurance, medical insurance and social security. This is followed by a paragraph on public health, emergency management, medical costs, sports, etc. The next paragraph talks about elderly care, population policy, protecting rights and interests and women, children and disabled persons. In the next paragraph, Xiao argues that since the 18th Party Congress, “we have adhered to the position that houses are for living, not for speculation.” He adds that “we will continue to adopt policies tailored to specific cities to promote the steady and sound development of the real estate market.” 坚持因城施策，促进房地产市场平稳健康发展.
He concludes with two broad points:
Xiao talks about work done to continuously improve “the urban and rural grass-roots governance system that combines autonomy, rule by law and rule by virtue under the leadership of party organizations…” He says “we will improve the institutionalised channels for the masses to participate in grassroots social governance, speed up the construction of a social governance system of co-construction, co-governance and sharing…”
He talks about balancing development and security. This hits some of the key points from Guo Shengkun’s article yesterday. At one point, Xiao writes, “we will strengthen comprehensive measures to improve public order, launch a campaign to root out organised crime, and resolutely punish Party members and officials who indulge and shield evil forces or even act as protective umbrellas, and prevent and combat violent terror, new cyber crimes and transnational crimes.” 加强社会治安综合治理，开展扫黑除恶专项斗争，坚决惩治放纵、包庇黑恶势力甚至充当保护伞的党员干部，防范和打击暴力恐怖、新型网络犯罪、跨国犯罪.
On the new journey, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, we should adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, practice the people-centered development philosophy, safeguard and improve people’s livelihood, safeguard social fairness and justice, constantly realise, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of people, and make people's sense of gain, happiness and security more substantial, secure and sustainable. 新的征程上，我们要在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，坚持以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，践行以人民为中心的发展思想，在发展中保障和改善民生，维护社会公平正义，不断实现好、维护好、发展好最广大人民的根本利益，使人民获得感、幸福感、安全感更加充实、更有保障、更可持续.
Other Stories:
On the theory page, the lead piece is by Zhang Donggang and Liu Wei from Renmin University of China. They emphasise the “decisive significance of the ‘two establishments,’” as China embarks on the new journey. They call this the choice of the people. And they want the two establishments to be “assimilated into blood and put into action.” 迈上新征程，我们要更加深刻理解“两个确立”的决定性意义，把“两个确立”融入血脉、付诸行动.
Gan Rongkun, former member of the Standing Committee of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, has been expelled from the party and public office for serious violations of discipline and law. Yang Fulin, former deputy commander of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, has been expelled from the Party for “grave violations of party discipline and law.”