Wang-Borrell Chat, China-CEEC Meeting, Inspections & Why Ideology Matters
Below are the stories that I found noteworthy from the People’s Daily’s February 09, 2021, edition.
Page 1: The lead is about Xi Jinping speaking to Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and the country’s president. Xinhua English’s story covers the details in PD’s story. Xi told him that:
“China and Vietnam are a community with a shared future which bears strategic significance, Xi stressed, adding that the continuously sound and stable development of bilateral relations conforms to the fundamental interests of the two parties, countries and peoples, and is conducive to the vigorous development of their socialist causes and to safeguarding regional and world peace and stability to promote development and prosperity.”
He talked about the challenges brought on by the pandemic and the “complicated external environment,” saying that managing this effectively had shown “the remarkable advantages of the leadership of the communist parties and socialist systems.” The other key areas that he talked about are:
BRI
construction of cross-border economic cooperation zones between the two countries
Exchanges and cooperation in such fields as healthcare, digital economy and humanities.
The two sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation on international and regional issues, firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, oppose protectionism and unilateralism, and support a fast entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement.
China and Vietnam should properly manage the maritime differences and stand against the instigation of external forces to promote the development of regional peace and stability.
The report quotes Trong complimenting Xi on managing the pandemic and kickstarting the economy. He also agreed that ties need to be enhanced “between the two parties, countries and peoples.” But no quote from him in Xinhua on maritime issues.
Next, a two line bit on the China-CEEC summit, which will be held today. Xi will be addressing the meeting. There’s been some interesting political push and pull in the lead-up to the meeting. For instance, Stuart Lau reported for Politico last week that neither the prime ministers nor the presidents of Lithuania and Estonia will be attending. I think one can expect Xi’s speech to focus on the key themes of his other recent addresses. So there will be talk about multilateralism, the challenges of COVID, the need to remain open and not form blocs, the economic opportunities that China’s growth brings and a pitch for vaccines. As an aside, Hungary is now the first EU member to have cleared the Sinopharm vaccine for distribution.
SCMP reports that “draft guidelines proposed by Beijing and circulated among members, but yet to be finalised, suggested China was hoping the event would reinject some momentum into the bloc by securing a date and host for a physical summit in 2022, as well as support for a series of events over the next year, including a medical device summit in Hungary, a ministerial conference on trade in China and a textiles expo in Romania. The draft, seen by the South China Morning Post, also proposed collaboration on the environment and pandemic containment. Analysts said Beijing’s relatively last-minute scramble to schedule the event suggested concerns that the bloc was drifting into irrelevance.”
Anyway, ahead of the summit, on Page 3 today, we have a report about BRI-driven Chinese investments and business cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe.
Finally, a report on inspection work - the 6th round of inspections in the 19th Central Committee. It says that “from February 4 to 6, the 15 central inspection teams gave on-site feedback to 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and 14 central units respectively. The report says that “inspections also found that some party committees (party groups) did not fully implement the spirit of the Party Central Committee, did not conduct thorough research in connection with the actual situation, and did not fully implement the combination of responsibilities, which fell short of the requirements of the new era and the new stage.” The report is short on specifics, but perhaps the recommendations offer some insight. These are:
Study Xi Thought much more carefully and conscientiously.
Use the theory to “arm the mind, guide practice, promote work, and further improve political judgment, political insight, and political execution.”
Promote high-quality development with precise and pragmatic initiatives.
Use inspection and rectification to ensure strict governance of the party and implement the political responsibility. This will require long-term persistence.
Rectification and reform is an important political task - the party committee leader is essentially responsible for this.
Finally, “it is understood that the Central Inspection Team has also received clues that reflect some leading cadres, which have been transferred to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the State Supervision Commission, and the Central Organization Department for handling in accordance with relevant regulations.”
Page 2: There’s just one piece that I want to highlight, and that too because it offers a window into understanding what Chinese leaders mean when they use the word reform. In part, reform entails some degree of liberalisation; in part, it means streamlining the bureaucracy and distribution of power across central and local levels of government. But often it means improving efficiency of governance. Therefore, metrics like this, “the average processing time of export tax refund this year will be speeded up by more than 10% again” get highlighted frequently.
Page 3: A few stories to note. First, Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. The PD report is from Xinhua. It’s very basic. It talks about Wang discussing the investment agreement. He added that “the two sides should grasp the opportunity to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in all areas, uphold true multilateralism, and jointly respond to global challenges to push the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.” CGTN has some more:
“Speaking of the development of China-EU ties, Wang said the most important point is to stay committed to peaceful coexistence, inclusive cooperation, multilateralism and open dialogue. Competition exists between China and the EU, Wang admitted, but stressed that cooperation far outweighs the competition.”
Now let’s take a look at some other aspects related to this that PD didn’t cover. First, the EU’s official readout says that they spoke about the investment agreement. “They also exchanged views on the EU-China bilateral agenda for 2021. The High Representative emphasised the importance of continued joint efforts to achieve concrete results in the bilateral relationship and in particular with regards to climate change and the environment.” It adds that Borrell “reiterated the EU’s strong concerns about the ongoing pressure on democracy and fundamental rights in Hong Kong, the treatment of human rights defenders, as well as the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular in Xinjiang.” These are issues of differences that require “frank” conversations. The EU’s readout also talks about the “need for continued solidarity and partnership in the development and the delivery of vaccines, and to avoid the politicisation of vaccine deployment at this crucial time.” It talks about the Debt Service Suspension Initiative of the G20m and working together on Myanmar.
Two other interesting bits are here:
“On Iran, the High Representative recognised the positive role played by China in preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) to date, including on the implementation of the Arak Modernisation Project. The High Representative expressed his deep concern about Iran's nuclear trajectory, including the most recent Iranian nuclear steps, and underlined the urgency of pursuing diplomatic efforts to ensure full JCPoA implementation by all sides in line with Ministerial meeting of JCPoA participants on 21 December 2020.”
And this:
“At the initiative of the Chinese side, there was also an exchange of views on relations with the United States. High Representative Borrell underlined the EU’s strong bonds with the US. He welcomed the new US Administration’s commitment to working cooperatively with international partners and multilateral institutions, and expressed his conviction that there was scope for the EU, China and the US to join forces in dealing with key global challenges such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Iran nuclear issue.”
Politico reports that among Wang’s requirements on the whole was that “China and the EU make policies independently and autonomously from the perspective of the common interest, there would be big achievements.”
Next, here’s a report about a TV drama Shan Hai Qing, which roughly translates to Mountain and Sea Love. This is the first “poverty alleviation” drama. So here’s what Xinhua English’s January report says about the show. It features “poverty-stricken villagers in northwest China who built their new homes from scratch after relocating from Xihaigu, one of the country's most uninhabitable areas.” The PD report says that the drama highlights the importance of “Juncao technology in helping to get rid of poverty.” This relates to a particular kind of grass, which helps develop a low-cost mushroom cultivation industry, provides cattle-feed and prevents soil erosion, as Xinhua tells me. The PD piece also talks about the export of this technology to African countries.
Page 4: Today’s report on the past is about the Korean war. It talks about the exhibition at the Beijing Military Museum. The piece calls the war a “heroic moment” in the Party’s history. It also then talks about how “the great victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea once again proves that no political force can shed blood and sacrifice for the sake of national rejuvenation and the happiness of the people like the Chinese Communist Party.”
Page 9: One piece to note, i.e., this one by Xin Ming from the School of Marxism at the Central Party School on the significance of ideology. The author argues that “the history of the Communist Party of China ideologically building the party and strengthening the party theoretically is a history of arming the entire party and guiding practice with Marxist scientific theories.” The objective of ideological reinforcement is “that the whole party will always maintain a unified mind, firm will, coordinated action, and strong combat effectiveness.” Here are some more excerpts:
“Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to ideologically building the party and strengthening the party theoretically, emphasizing that the strengthening of ideals and beliefs is the primary task of the party’s ideological construction, and that Marxism is the soul of the ideals and beliefs of Chinese Communists.”
“We must persist in integrating the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific reality, and constantly promote the Sinicization of Marxism.” In making this point, the author essentially talks about Mao, Deng, Jiang and Hu’s thoughts and how they adapted Marxism to China’s conditions.
“Entering the new era, the most important task of strengthening the ideological building of the party and strengthening the party theoretically is to arm the whole party and educate the people with Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era. To make good use of Marxist mastery skills, the most fundamental thing is to thoroughly and systematically study Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and transform the party’s innovative theory into the firm belief of the Chinese Communists to work tirelessly for a great cause...We must integrate the study and implementation of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era with the basic principles of Marxism, integrate the study of party history, the history of New China, the history of reform and opening up, and the history of socialist development, and carry out a great struggle against the new era and build greatness.”
Page 17: On the international page today, we have a report about China-Japan trade. The General Administration of Customs said that “total import and export trade between China and Japan reached $317.538 billion in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%. Among them, China imported $174.874 billion from Japan, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%.” Another interesting datapoint: “The preliminary statistics released by the Ministry of Finance of Japan in January showed that Japan’s exports in 2020 will be 11.1% lower than the previous year. However, due to the rapid recovery of China's economy, Japan's exports of non-ferrous metals, automobiles and plastics to China have increased significantly, driving Japan's annual exports to China to increase by 2.7%. Japan’s exports to China accounted for 22% of its total exports, and China once again became Japan’s largest export destination.”
There’s also a long report on the recent African Union summit; also, the new Kazakhstan-China Chamber of Commerce is now operational. The first meeting was held recently. This will be supporting Chinese-funded firms in Kazakhstan.