Studying 'Governance of China' - Wang Yi's ASEAN Speech - Auto Sales - He Lifeng on Xi's Economic Thought - Li on Work Safety - RMB Loans - Beijing's Consumption Support - Fu Zhenghua Trial
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Tuesday, July 12, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily
Page 1: The lead story on the page is a report about the Propaganda Department and Organisation Department issuing a notice calling on all CPC members to study the fourth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. The notice says that:
“Since the 18th Party Congress, the Chinese communists with comrade Xi Jinping as their main representative, have insisted on combining the basic principles of Marxism with China’s concrete reality and excellent Chinese traditional culture, and adhered to Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of ‘Three Represents’ and the scientific development concept, thereby creating Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is contemporary Chinese Marxism, 21st century Marxism, and the essence of the times of Chinese culture and Chinese spirit, and has achieved a new leap in the sinicisation of Marxism. The Party has established comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, and established the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. This is of decisive significance for the development of the cause of the Party and the country in the new era and the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，坚持把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合，坚持毛泽东思想、邓小平理论、“三个代表”重要思想、科学发展观，创立了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想。习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想是当代中国马克思主义、二十一世纪马克思主义，是中华文化和中国精神的时代精华，实现了马克思主义中国化新的飞跃。党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，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.
It adds that the publication of the first three volumes of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China have “played an important role in publicising the Party’s innovative theory and inspiring the practice of the people’s struggle.” They have opened an important ‘window of ideas’ for the international community to understand and understand China, and effectively displayed China’s image.” More than two years since the publication of the third volume of Governance of China, in the great practice of leading the Party and the people in responding to circumstances and in opening up new avenues, General Secretary Xi Jinping has persisted in emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, maintaining integrity and innovating, and has put forward a series of original new concepts, new ideas and new strategies for governing the country, and has further scientifically answered the questions facing China, the world, the people and the times.《习近平谈治国理政》第一卷至第三卷出版以来，在宣传党的创新理论、激发人民奋斗实践方面发挥了重要作用，也为国际社会了解中国、读懂中国打开了重要“思想之窗”，有力展示了中国形象。《习近平谈治国理政》第三卷出版两年多来，习近平总书记在领导党和人民应变局、开新局的伟大实践中，坚持解放思想、实事求是、守正创新，又提出一系列原创性的治国理政新理念新思想新战略，进一步科学回答了中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问.
The notice then talks about the new publication, explaining that it will “help the majority of party members, cadres and the masses to thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, deeply understand the decisive significance of the Two Establishments, and enhance the four consciousnesses, strengthen the four self-confidences, achieve the two safeguards, unite in struggle and forge ahead bravely in the new era and new journey; it is also of great significance in helping the international community keep abreast of the latest development of this important thought, enhance the understanding of why CPC and Chinese people have succeeded in the past and how they can continue to succeed in the future. It will deepen their understanding of China’s path, China’s governance and China’s principles.” 《习近平谈治国理政》第四卷的出版发行，对于推动广大党员、干部和群众深入学习贯彻习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，深刻领会“两个确立”的决定性意义，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，在新时代新征程上团结奋斗、勇毅前行；对于帮助国际社会及时了解这一重要思想的最新发展，增进对中国共产党和中国人民过去为什么能够成功、未来怎样才能继续成功的认识，加深对中国之路、中国之治、中国之理的理解，具有重要意义.
The final paragraph says that “earnestly studying the volume is a major political task to equip Party members and educate the people with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” 认真学习《习近平谈治国理政》第四卷，是用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想武装全党、教育人民的重大政治任务. Party organisations at all levels should carefully organise and arrange for the study of all four volumes in the series as a whole. The theory study centres of Party committees should include the fourth volume in their study plans and work hard to understand, improve political judgement, comprehension and execution, and effectively transform the learning outcomes into work measures and practical results. Party schools and colleges and universities should also include it as part of their study material.
At the top of the page is a report with data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, which says that in June automobile production and sales hit 2.499 million and 2.502 million, respectively, an increase of 29.7% and 34.4% from the previous month, and an increase of 28.2% and 23.8% from the same period last year.
In terms of passenger vehicles, production and sales were at 2.239 million and 2.222 million, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 43.6% and 41.2%, respectively. In the first half of this year, both production and sales of passenger vehicles exceeded 10 million units, up 6.0% and 3.4% year-on-year, respectively. Among them, Chinese brand passenger vehicles sold 4.891 million units, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%, accounting for 47.2% of the total passenger vehicle sales, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from the same period of the previous year.
In the first half of this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 2.661 million and 2.6 million, respectively. They occupy a market share of 21.6%. Among them, the sales of new energy passenger vehicles accounted for 24.0% of the total sales of passenger vehicles. It is estimated that the annual sales of new energy vehicles is expected to reach 5.5 million, a year-on-year increase of more than 56%.
In June, auto companies exported a total of 249,000 vehicles, climbing 1.8 percent from a month earlier. 198,000 of these were passenger vehicles. In the first half, China’s auto exports rose 47.1 percent year on year to nearly 1.22 million units. Exports of new energy vehicles came in at 202,000 units in the first six months, accounting for 16.6% of the total vehicle exports.
Third, there’s a report about Li Keqiang’s comments at a national video teleconference held by the Work Safety Committee of China's State Council. Xinhua reports:
“Emphasizing that accidents have occurred in some regions and industries this year, Li urged local governments and related authorities to coordinate development and safety, and implement work safety responsibilities and measures at all levels to effectively eliminate grave safety risks. He also stressed the need to strengthen safety supervision further. Solid steps should be taken to address any potential safety risks related to self-built commercial housing and the use of gas in urban areas, and the special administration of key industries such as transportation, mining, construction, hazardous chemicals, water vessels and fire protection should be strengthened.”
Liu He, Wang Yong and Zhao Kezhi also attended the meeting. The PD report talks about the key being to prevent risks and ensure safety in the context of the upcoming 20th Party Congress. It says that the “prevention and resolution of major safety risks should be regarded as a major political responsibility.” 会议强调，将防范化解重大安全风险作为重大政治责任，严格落实安全生产十五条硬措施.
It calls the period heading into the 20th Congress a “special and critical period,” which requires one to “have a sense of responsibility, be careful, be proactive and act quickly.” 在这个特殊、关键时期，一定要有责任心、一定要细心、一定要有主动性、一定要行动快，共同做好下半年安全生产工作，不辜负党中央的信任和重托.
Finally, a report with data lending data from the PBoC. Xinhua and Reuters also have the details:
China’s new yuan-denominated loans totaled 2.81 trillion yuan (about 419.65 billion U.S. dollars) in June. The figure increased by 686.7 billion yuan from the same period last year.
In the first half of the year, 13.68 trillion of new yuan loans were added. This is the highest first-half number on record.
The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 11.4 percent year on year to 258.15 trillion yuan at the end of last month. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the figure seen at the end of May, and was 2.8 percentage points higher than that during the same period last year.
The M1, which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, stood at 67.44 trillion yuan at the end of June. It was up by 5.8 percent year on year.
The M0, the amount of cash in circulation, went up by 13.8 percent from a year ago to 9.6 trillion yuan at the end of last month.
In the first six months of 2022, the central bank injected a total of 518.6 billion yuan of net cash into the market.
Total new social financing in the first half of the year amounted to 21 trillion yuan, up 3.2 trillion yuan from the same period a year ago. Loans to the real economy accounted for 64.6 percent of the total social financing in the first six months of the year.
China's new yuan deposits hit 18.82 trillion yuan in the January-June period, up by 4.77 trillion yuan from the same period a year earlier.
In the first half of the year, RMB settlements for cross-border trade totaled 4.58 trillion yuan.
Household loans, including mortgages, rose to 848.2 billion yuan in June from 288.8 billion yuan in May, while corporate loans jumped to 2.21 trillion yuan from 1.53 trillion yuan in May
Page 2: A report about NDRC chief He Lifeng’s comments at a symposium in Beijing to mark the publication of the study outline for Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought. The event was organised by the Central Propaganda Department and the NDRC. He praised Xi for having demonstrated the profound insight, keen judgement and theoretical creativity of a Marxist politician, thinker and strategist and for profoundly answering the questions of the times, the people and history of China’s economic development, thereby providing a scientific theoretical guide for China's high-quality economic development and building a comprehensively modern socialist country. 何立峰表示，党的十八大以来，习近平总书记以马克思主义政治家、思想家、战略家的深刻洞察力、敏锐判断力、理论创造力，提出了有关经济发展的一系列新理念新思想新战略，形成和发展了习近平经济思想，深刻回答了我国经济发展的时代之问、人民之问、历史之问，是我国经济高质量发展、全面建设社会主义现代化国家的科学理论指南.
He then talked about six aspects of understanding and implementing Xi’s economic thought:
First, strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over economic work is the fundamental guarantee for China’s economic development.
Second, adhering to the people-centred development philosophy is the fundamental position of China’s economic development.
Third, deeply understand the important theoretical and practical significance of ‘grasping the new development stage, implementing the new development concept, building a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development’.
Fourth, deeply understand the practical requirements of major measures such as adhering to and improving the basic economic system, implementing the major national development strategy, persisting in innovation-driven development, vigorously developing manufacturing and real economy, and comprehensively expanding opening up.
Fifth, deeply understand that security is the premise of development, and development is the guarantee of security, and strive to achieve benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security.
Sixth, deeply understand that adhering to correct work strategies and methods is the methodology for doing a good job in economic work, and maintain stable and healthy economic development with scientific and powerful measures.
何立峰结合《学习纲要》主要内容，就学习领会贯彻习近平经济思想谈了六方面认识体会：第一，要深刻领会党是总揽全局、协调各方的，加强党对经济工作的全面领导是我国经济发展的根本保证。第二，要深刻领会坚持以人民为中心的发展思想是我国经济发展的根本立场，在发展中保障和改善民生。第三，要深刻领会“把握新发展阶段、贯彻新发展理念、构建新发展格局、推动高质量发展”的重要理论和现实意义。第四，要深刻领会坚持和完善基本经济制度、实施国家重大发展战略、坚持创新驱动发展、大力发展制造业和实体经济、全面扩大开放等重大举措的实践要求。第五，要深刻领会安全是发展的前提，发展是安全的保障，努力实现高质量发展和高水平安全良性互动。第六，要深刻领会坚持正确工作策略和方法是做好经济工作的方法论，以科学有力的举措保持经济平稳健康发展.
Second, a report informing us that in the first half of the year, 14,000 new water conservancy projects were started across China. These projects have an investment scale of 609.5 billion yuan. In the first half of the year, the national investment in water conservancy construction was 748 billion yuan, an increase of 49.5% over the same period last year.
Third, a report on new steps announced by the Beijing government to support enterprises and boost consumption. The measures will support sectors like automobiles, digital economy, services and home decor. The report says that as of July 4, Beijing's implementation of the state-owned housing rent reduction and exemption policy has benefited 55,500 small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households, with a cumulative reduction of 8.08 billion yuan.
Some of the subsidies include:
Support of no more than 10,000 yuan per unit to individual consumers who replace passenger cars with new energy vehicles.
From June to October 2022, the Beijing government will provide green coupons for consumers every month. The total value of these can be up to RMB 1500. These can be used for purchase of products across 21 categories of green, energy-saving products, including mobile phones, tablet computers, projectors, refrigerators, and washing machines, etc.
There will be a Beijing Digital Economy Experience Week and Beijing Digital Consumer Festival that will be launched.
Average broadband and private line tariffs for small, medium and micro enterprises by another 10%.
Some 100 million yuan of catering consumption coupons, which will be funded by the government and platform companies, will be issued for consumers.
Consumption coupons will be issued for tourism accommodation reservation in suburban Beijing districts. The overall value of the coupons will be no more than 30 million yuan
Page 3: There’s a report about Wang Yi’s meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widido. Xinhua reports:
“Widodo appreciated China for its strong support to Indonesia as the Group of 20 (G20) rotating presidency, and spoke highly of the outcomes achieved at the Second Meeting of China-Indonesia High-level Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism. Indonesia hopes to deepen cooperation with China in such areas as trade and economy, investment, digital economy and green development, he noted. Both sides should strengthen coordination and integration so as to jointly push forward major Belt and Road projects, including the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, said the president. Indonesia encourages more Chinese enterprises to invest and open businesses in the country, and will provide convenience and facilitation for them, he said.”
Wang congratulated Indonesia on successfully hosting the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali, which highlighted the significant role Indonesia plays as a representative of major developing countries and emerging economies, and sent a positive signal of tackling global challenges in solidarity. China will fully support Indonesia in hosting the G20 summit, and jointly bring Asia's role into play and contribute Asia's power to global recovery.”
While in Jakarta, Wang also delivered a speech at the ASEAN Secretariat, and took questions. The full speech is not covered in the paper. But I think it’s important to do a breakdown of this. You can watch the full engagement here, with Wang’s comments starting at around the 13-minute mark.
A quick summary of some of the key points:
He talked about expanding trade, investment and infrastructure construction, before saying that the “most gratifying achievement” is the fact that China-ASEAN security cooperation has been making “steady progress.” “The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea has been fully implemented, consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea have been actively advanced, differences and disputes have been effectively managed and controlled, the maritime situation has remained generally stable, and there has been no problem with the freedom of navigation and overflight.” He also talked about fruitful results in terms of “counter-terrorism, response to climate change, cyber security, combating transnational crimes, and disaster prevention and mitigation” cooperation.
Wang then talked about how Asia is “becoming a model for global governance” and that the current moment was the “Asian moment” considering key meetings like BRICS, the G20 and APEC, and how now the “international community needs to listen to the ‘Asian voice’.”
“At present, Asia is standing at a new historical starting point and faces unprecedented development opportunities. At the same time, we must also see that the world today is not peaceful, and two completely different trends have emerged around the future of Asia. One advocates open regionalism, true multilateralism, a development-first approach and mutually beneficial cooperation, while the other pursues a relapse into the obsolete Cold War mentality and closed group politics, and classifies countries in the region based on their values. The choice we make today determines where the path will take us from now on -- openness or isolation, cooperation or confrontation, solidarity or division, progress or regression.”
He said that “China chooses to join hands with ASEAN members and other regional countries to adhere to the vision of peace, development, independence and inclusiveness, unswervingly practice open regionalism, and at the same time draw experience and wisdom from Asian civilizations and practices and constantly inject new era connotations into open regionalism.” In this context, he talked about the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
“At present, the frequent occurrence of international security crises is a wake-up call to the world. It is a stark reminder that peace should never be taken for granted and needs to be carefully preserved and cherished. We should never allow any attempt to extend geopolitical conflicts and bloc confrontations to Asia; nor do we never want to see any sanctions, blockades, and humanitarian crises take place in Asia. Not long ago, President Xi Jinping put forward a Global Security Initiative, which provided a Chinese solution for bridging the global peace deficit and the global security dilemma. It is necessary that we unequivocally adhere to the vision of a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept. We must uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, pay attention to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, resolve differences and disputes peacefully through dialogue and consultation, protect our common home, and safeguard the bottom line of peace and stability.” 当前，国际安全危机频发给世人敲响警钟，告诫我们和平绝非一劳永逸，需要悉心呵护，备加珍惜。我们绝不允许把地缘冲突、集团对抗引入亚洲，绝不希望制裁封锁、人道危机发生在亚洲。不久前，习近平主席提出了全球安全倡议，为弥补全球和平赤字、破解全球安全困境提供了中国方案。我们有必要旗帜鲜明地坚持共同、综合、合作、可持续的安全观。坚持维护各国主权和领土完整，坚持重视各国的合理安全关切，坚持通过对话协商以和平方式解决分歧和争端，守护好我们的共同家园，守护住和平稳定的底线.
Wang later warned that the Asian economy was facing growing risks in the form of challenges to the stability of the regional industrial and supply chains and the threats of decoupling and severing supply chains. In this context, he talked about the GDI and said that “it is necessary for us to continue to adhere to the development orientation, view each other's development in a correct way, share development opportunities, jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system based on the WTO, maintain the free and open global market, and promote economic integration and development.” 我们有必要继续坚持发展导向，正确看待彼此发展，共享发展机遇，共同维护以世界贸易组织为基石的多边贸易体制，确保全球市场自由开放，促进经济融合发展.
“We should always adhere to the principle of independence. Since modern times, China, ASEAN countries and those in other regions have suffered from colonial aggression, achieving national independence and national liberation after arduous struggles. Just as we cherish life, we cherish our hard-won independence, and hope that we can independently choose our political system and development path, independently promote our foreign and national defence policies, and independently grasp the path and rhythm of participating in economic globalisation and promoting regional integration. ASEAN countries have created and dominated the Asian regional cooperation mechanism, and its independent status and central role have been widely respected by countries inside and outside the region. At present, many countries in the region, including ASEAN members, are under the pressure to take sides, and the regional strategic environment is facing the risk of being reshaped by political needs. It is necessary for us to continue to adhere to independence, respect each other's sovereignty and core interests, and respect the integrity, autonomy and leadership of ASEAN as a community, to keep our region away from geopolitical calculations, from the trappings of the law of the jungle, from becoming chess pieces in the game of great powers, remain free from coercion and bullying, and firmly hold our own destiny and that of the region in our own hands.” 我们要始终坚持独立自主的原则。近代以来，中国、东盟等地区各国普遍遭受殖民侵略之苦，经过艰苦卓绝的斗争，终于实现了国家的独立和民族解放。我们像珍惜生命一样，珍惜得来不易的独立自主，希望能自主选择政治制度和发展道路，自主推进外交和国防政策，自主把握参与经济全球化和推进区域一体化的路径和节奏。东盟国家创建和主导了亚洲区域合作机制，其独立地位、中心作用得到域内外国家的广泛尊重。当前，包括东盟在内不少地区国家受到选边站队的压力，地区战略环境面临被政治需要重塑的风险。我们有必要继续坚持独立自主，相互尊重各自的主权和核心利益，尊重东盟作为共同体的完整性、自主权和领导力，让我们这个地区远离地缘政治的算计，远离丛林法则的陷阱，不当大国博弈的棋子，不受霸凌霸道的胁迫，把自己的命运和地区的命运牢牢把握在自己手中.
Wang then harked back to the Bandung Conference and talked about the spirit of “seeking common ground while reserving differences,” and how since the end of the Cold War, the countries in the region have stood at the forefront of globalisation and become leaders in free trade. The point he was making is that this is what led to Asia’s economic boom. He added that despite “temporary headwinds,” globalisation is still the trend.
“It is necessary for us to adhere to the principle of harmony without uniformity and coexistence in diversity. We must oppose narrow partisanship, while alienating those with differing views, and confining oneself within a narrowly defined circle; adhere to true regional cooperation that promotes unity among regional countries and is inclusive to those outside the region. Fake regional cooperation excluding or targeting a certain country must be opposed. 当前，全球化潮流尽管遭遇一时的逆风，但奔腾向前仍是大势所趋。封闭和孤立只会导致僵化和落后，包容和开放将带来普惠和共赢。我们有必要坚持和而不同、多元共生，反对党同伐异、画地为牢，坚持团结域内国家，包容域外国家的真区域合作，反对排斥特定国家、针对特定一方的伪区域合作。我们相信，亚太地区足够大，容得下地区国家各自发展、共同发展，做得到各美其美、美美与共.
The final section of the speech then focuses on China’s policies. Xinhua English summarises this well:
China will continue to support ASEAN centrality and promote solidarity and cooperation in the region. China firmly supports ASEAN's role in the "driver's seat", supports ASEAN community-building, and supports the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture,
China will continue to call for settling differences in the Asian way and uphold regional peace and stability, Wang said. China will work with other countries in the region to implement the Global Security Initiative, hoping to blaze a new path of security that chooses dialogue over confrontation, partnerships over alliances, and win-win over zero-sum game, and put into practice principles for how neighbors may get along: trust as the basis, the greater good as priority, and sincerity in interaction.
China and ASEAN countries are expediting the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea consultations and will continue to support ASEAN's efforts in building a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
China will continue to firmly pursue its open strategy for development and promote regional economic integration, Wang said. China will speed up the implementation of the import of $150 billion of agricultural products from ASEAN, and is also willing to import more high-quality products from ASEAN countries, and encourage more Chinese enterprises to make ASEAN their first investment destination.
China is ready to launch a new round of upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area as soon as possible, and implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) across the board and promote its upgrade in due course. China is ready to sign high-standard free trade agreements with more countries, and it looks forward to closely integrating the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and China-ASEAN cooperation.
China's determination to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership and Digital Economy Partnership Agreement is firm.
China will continue to resolutely advance cooperation in science, technology and innovation to stimulate new drivers of development in the region, Wang said. China stands ready to strengthen digital connectivity, explore cooperation on low-carbon, circular and green economy. China will advance barrier-and discrimination-free scientific and technological innovation that transcends borders. China will well implement the China-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Enhancing Program, and accelerate regional transformation and development.
In PD, the only part of the engagement at the ASEAN Secretariat that is carried is Wang’s response to a question on Taiwan. Here’s the English version of the response:
“History and past experience prove that when the one-China principle is fully recognized and followed, there will be able to achieve peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait. And when the one-China principle is challenged or even undermined, there will be tension in the Taiwan Strait, Wang said. The current tension in the Taiwan Strait is caused by the fact that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authority abandoned the 1992 Consensus which embodies the one-China principle, undermined the important foundation for the peaceful development of the cross-Strait relations, and are still going farther down the "Taiwan independence" path, Wang added. Meanwhile, the U.S. is constantly distorting and hollowing out the one-China principle, in an attempt to play the "Taiwan card" and interfere with and obstruct China's development process, he pointed out.”
Wang added that “nowadays everyone is talking about maintaining the ‘status quo". What is the ‘status quo’ on the Taiwan issue? The true status quo of the Taiwan question is that Taiwan is part of China and China's sovereignty and territory have never been divided, though there is political antagonism between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Wang said, the status quo has never been changed and will not change. Wang Yi emphasized that the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interests, and any individual, any force or any country should not harbor the illusion that they have chances of separating Taiwan from China. Wang stated that the one-China principle is also the key cornerstone of China's diplomatic relations with other countries and forms an integral part of the international order after World War II. China hopes and believes that all countries can fully understand the harm of the "Taiwan independence", and work with China to safeguard the one-China principle. The United States has repeatedly stressed the need to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country recently, Wang said, China attaches importance to this U.S. statement. He urged the U.S. not to engage in double standards in the Taiwan question. He emphasized that China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan issue should also be respected and safeguarded, which is also a test of the international credibility of the United States as a big country.”
Another response that’s caught media attention is Wang’s comment on his meeting with Secretary Blinken.
“Wang said when he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Bali the other day, he suggested that China and the United States explore establishing rules for healthy interactions between the two sides in Asia-Pacific in order to practice open regionalism. The core element of the rules is to support ASEAN's central position and maintain the existing regional cooperation framework; to respect the legitimate rights and interests of China and the United States in Asia-Pacific, and do not take hostility or containing the other party as purpose; to play the role of a responsible major country, promote regional stability and development, and provide more public goods for all countries, he said…It remains to be seen how the U.S. side will respond, said Wang, adding that this will also test whether the United States can let go of its hegemonic mentality, overcome the Cold War mentality, abandon the zero-sum logic, and truly play a constructive role in peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Also on the page is an interview with Mike Roman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of 3M. The piece basically has him talking about 3Ms scale of business in China and includes a comment about the company looking to expand investment in the country.
Page 4: A report with Hu Chunhua’s comments at a seminar on promoting rural revitalisation for provincial-level officials.
Hu said that “it is a major political task to study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on the ‘three rural’ work.” He also achieves a amazing feat of mentioning Xi Jinping thrice in one sentence. Hu said that General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on ‘agriculture, rural areas and farmers’ are rooted in General Secretary Xi Jinping’s ‘three rural’ feelings based on ‘knowing deeply and loving deeply’; this stems from General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound practical foundation, theoretical thinking and far-reaching strategic considerations….” 胡春华指出，习近平总书记关于“三农”工作的重要论述，根植于习近平总书记“知之深、爱之切”的“三农”情怀，源自于习近平总书记深厚的实践基础、深邃的理论思考和深远的战略考量，是被实践证明了的正确的理论结晶和经验升华，为做好新时代新阶段“三农”工作提供了总纲领、总依据、总遵循.
Xinhua English adds that Hu encouraged the officials to adhere to the law of rural and agricultural development, improve work methods, strengthen systematic and overall planning for work, and promote rural revitalisation in a gradual and steady manner in light of local conditions. Efforts should be made to oppose formalism and bureaucracy, he said, stressing the need to take active measures and implement the measures creatively based on reality to achieve tangible results.
Second, there’s a report on comments by You Quan on ethnic and religious affairs work during a seminar held for provincial and ministerial-level cadres in Beijing. “He said that Xi Jinping’s important thoughts on strengthening and improving ethnic work and his important expositions on religious work are the latest achievements of the Sinicisation of Marxist ethnic and religious affairs theory, and an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. They provide the fundamental guidelines for doing a good job in the Party’s ethnic and religious work in the new era. They must be thoroughly studied and implemented…”
He also calls for ensuring harmony and stability in the field of ethnic and religious affairs ahead of the 20th Party Congress.
Page 11: The lead piece on the theory page is by He Yiting. He talks about Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era being a new leap in the sinicisation of Marxism in the new era. There’s little new in there, but it’s worth noting that Deng Xiaoping doesn’t get mentioned.
“Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era profoundly reflects the internal unity of socialist road, theory, system and culture with Chinese characteristics, and the internal unity of theoretical logic, historical logic and practical logic of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It has made great innovation and development in Marxist philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism.” 习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想，深刻体现中国特色社会主义道路、理论、制度、文化的内在统一，深刻反映中国特色社会主义理论逻辑、历史逻辑、实践逻辑的内在统一，对马克思主义哲学、政治经济学、科学社会主义作出了重大创新发展.
He praises Xi as the main founder of the thought and importantly says that this thought “originates from practice, has been tested by practice, and guides practice.” He argues that since the 18th Party Congress, a lot has been achieved despite the complexity and severity of the situation and environment China has faced and the onerous and arduous nature of the tasks the Party has shouldered being unique and rare. 习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想来源于实践、经受实践检验又指导实践。党的十八大以来，我国面临形势环境的复杂性和严峻性、我们党肩负任务的繁重性和艰巨性世所罕见.
The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has insisted on emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, upholding integrity and innovation, and adhering to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability; in doing so, it has overcome a series of major risks and challenges, solved many long-term problems that we had long been wanted to address but had failed to solve, accomplished many great things that were long desired but were not accomplished in the past, and continued to craft the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability…The socialist system with Chinese characteristics is becoming increasingly mature and improved, and the road to socialism with Chinese characteristics is becoming wider and smoother. Scientific socialism has shown unprecedented vitality in China in the new era, and has held high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the world. 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，坚持稳中求进工作总基调，出台一系列重大方针政策，推出一系列重大举措，推进一系列重大工作，战胜一系列重大风险挑战，解决了许多长期想解决而没有解决的难题，办成了许多过去想办而没有办成的大事，续写了经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹，为百年党史书写了浓墨重彩的壮丽华章。中国特色社会主义制度越来越成熟、越来越具有优越性，中国特色社会主义道路越走越宽广、越走越顺畅，科学社会主义在新时代的中国焕发出前所未有的强大生机活力，在世界上高高举起了中国特色社会主义伟大旗帜。
He also says that “The reason why our Party has been able to write a magnificent chapter in the development of cause of the Party and the country in the new era is that General Secretary Xi Jinping has been at the helm as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, and that the Party has been led by the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. 我们党之所以能够谱写新时代党和国家事业发展的壮丽华章，根本在于有习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心掌舵领航，在于有习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想科学指引.
He finally reiterates the importance of the two establishments, the four consciousnesses, the four self-confidences and the two safeguards.
Page 13: A report on the prosecution of Fu Zhenghua over suspected bribe-taking and bending the law for personal gains. Xinhua English reports:
“The Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate in northeast China's Jilin Province recently filed a lawsuit with the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun, an official statement said Monday. The lawsuit comes following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Supervisory Commission into Fu's case. He was formerly deputy head of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Previously, Fu had also served as head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, vice minister of public security, and minister of justice. The procuratorate charged Fu with taking undue advantage of his official authority or position to seek gains for others and illegally accepting a huge amount of bribes in money and valuables in return. Disregarding his duty as a judicial official, Fu engaged in favoritism for selfish reasons and purposefully shielded from criminal prosecution those he knew to be guilty. Public prosecutors said that Fu should be held criminally responsible for committing the crimes of bribe-taking and bending the law for personal gains.”
There’s also a picture report informing us that the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration has commissioned the Haixun 06, or Sea Patrol 06. This is the first large patrol/rescue vessel in the Taiwan Strait. China Daily’s report on this informs that the vessel is “tasked with conducting law-enforcement patrols, monitoring maritime traffic, responding to emergencies, and searching for and rescuing ships and crew, as well as extinguishing fires and handling pollution. The ship is expected to play an important role in ensuring the transportation of strategic materials and the safety of crucial waterways, boosting maritime business in Fujian and building a strong marine economy in China, the administration said.”
Page 17: The lead story on the international page is about the First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference that was held in late June in Ethiopia. The piece quotes different analysts; it details the economic and security challenges that countries in the region face. There is criticism for the US and praise for China.
But just to go back to the conference, since I had completely missed it. The conference led to a joint statement; details here.
“The high-level regional peace and development conference brought together ministers and senior government officials of Horn of Africa (HOA) countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti who were joined by Xue Bing, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs…Noting the challenges confronting regional peace and security, the participants uphold the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, work together to maintain peace and security in the region and build an HOA where the guns are silenced for sustainable peace, according to the joint statement. ‘The parties are ready to step up high-level engagements and exchanges at all levels to enhance mutual political trust and keep improving relations among the countries in the region,’ the joint statement read. They further expressed mutual willingness to demonstrate political will, take confidence-building measures, manage differences and disputes between countries of the region, and pursue peaceful settlement through dialogue and negotiation in an effort to ease the security situation in countries of the region. (Quick thought: Willingness to demonstrate will sounds like one is a long way away from anything tangible being achieved)…
“They emphasized that the youth, women and girls are bearing the brunt of the current crises in the region due to gender inequalities, which hinder their participation in decision-making mechanisms and humanitarian responses. They called for the inclusion of youth, women and girls. They further agreed to advocate for democracy and inclusive participation in politics by all nationals of countries in the region regardless of their gender, tribe or political affiliation. The involved HOA countries reaffirmed their respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, commitment to non-interference in the other's internal affairs, and respect for countries' independent choice of development path, values and social systems. ‘The parties remain committed to peaceful resolution of regional problems independently, and while supporting multilateralism, oppose unilateral sanctions as well as external interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region,’ the joint statement read.”
“They uphold a coordinated approach to traditional and non-traditional security such as cyber security, terrorism, illegal arms and human trafficking, among others; and commit to greater cooperation in counter-terrorism in the region, and agree to jointly address extreme weather and natural disasters such as drought, flooding and locust infestation and safeguard food security of the region. Noting that security, development and good governance challenges require a holistic approach, the parties reiterated to sustain regional integration by enhancing connectivity, strengthening cooperation in areas such as agriculture, trade, manufacturing, industry and infrastructure in order to build industrial and economic belts, create more jobs, drive growth and enhance self-driven development capacities. They further agreed to promote exchanges and experience-sharing on good governance to increase the synergy of the development policies of the countries of the region and explore ways to settle disputes in an effort to foster a development environment for solidarity, stability and harmony. The countries of the region further commend China for initiating the outlook on the Horn of Africa Peace, Good-governance and Development Conference, and commit to actively participate in implementing the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.”
Also, here’s SCMP’s report on the meeting:
China’s envoy Xue Bing said that China wanted a more important role “not only in trade and investments but also in the area of peace and development”. “This is the first time for China to play a role in the area of security…Beijing will also provide assistance in kind, in peacekeeping, cooperate in law enforcement and speed up the assistance of criminal investigation lab equipment to countries in the region,” he added.