Wang Yi's Take on China-S.E. Asia Ties
This is a daily blog that offers a breakdown of the stories in People’s Daily that I believe are worth noting. Here’s what was covered in the January 18, 2021, edition of the paper.
Page 1: Two pieces on the page that I found interesting. First, a long look back at the anniversary of Xi Jinping’s UN speech, where he talked about the concept of “building a community with a shared future for mankind.” This is polemical, but useful to note. The piece tries to put some flesh and bones to this idea by pointing to China’s pandemic diplomacy, the import expo, BRI, China’s commitments on carbon emissions, etc.. One of the key points in the piece is to highlight the positive aspects of China’s rise, while also juxtaposing it with those advocating a “clash of civilization” and “country first” approaches.
Next, there’s a piece talking about how the different branches of the discipline and supervision organs functioned through 2020 in order to ensure that they met the objective of the “two maintenances” or “two safeguards.” It’s a useful reminder about what are the focus areas for disciplinary work. There is political discipline but there are also issues like corruption, abuse of power, implementation bottlenecks, etc, that fall under this purview. Here’s an excerpt:
“Political discipline is the most fundamental and important discipline. The newly revised disciplinary regulations clarify the two safeguards as the most fundamental political discipline and political rules. Disciplinary inspection and supervision organs resolutely shoulder their political responsibilities, insist on examining violations of discipline and law from the perspective of political discipline, deeply integrate political supervision with review and investigation, and effectively implement strict political discipline and political rules to specific people and affairs…”
Pages 2 & 3: China is gearing up for the Spring Festival. This means that there will be significant travel around the country, with people returning home for the annual celebration. This piece on Page 2 has Lian Weiliang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, saying that all frontline passenger service personnel must be tested weekly for COVID-19, and vaccinations for them should be complete before Spring Festival. There’ll still be a lot of rush, but officials clearly are expecting a significant dip in the numbers, This is particularly so, given the current outbreak in Hebei. The report says that “from the railway perspective, the presale of tickets before the Spring Festival has dropped by nearly 60% compared with the same period in previous years.”
On Page 3 then, there’s a long interview (shorter English version) with Foreign Minister Wang Yi about his recent visit to Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Wang sounds very positive here. It’s a reflection of Beijing’s expanded authority in the region. He doubles down on the significance of China’s ties with ASEAN as “the backbone of multilateralism.” Here are some of the key points that Wang made:
On Myanmar: “this visit coincides with the establishment of the new government of Myanmar, which conveys a clear message that China is willing to deepen communication with Myanmar, strengthen connections, and support the smooth administration of the new government of Myanmar.” With regard to projects in Myanmar, he said that China will “promote the early settlement of the Kyaukphyu Deepwater Port, the Border Economic Cooperation Zone, and the Yangon New Town project, build the three-end support of the corridor; accelerate the advancement of various infrastructure projects.” He also talked about China “donating” vaccines to Myanmar and both sides respecting each other’s “core interests” and China “speaking up” for Myanmar in the international arena.
On Indonesia: He talked about Joko Widodo taking the vaccine on live TV as an example of “trust” in Chinese vaccines. He then said, “the two sides (have) agreed to establish ‘three models for emerging powers and South-South cooperation. The first is a model of vaccine cooperation. In this he talks about, encouraging “companies from both sides to join forces to carry out vaccine procurement, production and technical cooperation, and help(ing) Indonesia become a regional vaccine production center, so that more developing countries and Muslim countries can use and afford high-quality vaccines.” The second is to build a model of the Belt and Road. This covers traditional infrastructure projects like the Jakarta-Bandung railway to cooperation in joint 5G, AI, big data, etc, projects. The third is to maintain a model of multilateralism. The RCEP and working together at the G20 feature in this.
On the Philippines: He said that ties had gone through ups and downs, but have “successfully achieved a three-step process of turning around, consolidating, and improving.” He added, “during this visit, China announced that it would provide a batch of vaccines to the Philippines, support the companies of the two countries in vaccine procurement cooperation, and fulfilled President Xi Jinping's commitment to make vaccines a global public product.” Wang talked about working with the Philippines on post-pandemic economic recovery.
On the South China Sea issue: he said that “it is definitely not an insoluble knot” and constitutes the “1% difference” that must not affect the rest of the relationship. “The two sides agreed to follow the important consensus of the two heads of state, adhere to the correct direction of properly addressing differences and strengthening cooperation, and move towards each other to promote offshore oil and gas cooperation, and find solutions to the times to solve historical problems, and to promote peace and stability in the South China Sea and regional development.”
Finally, his view on regional stability: “China supports Myanmar in properly responding to the Rakhine State issue, and has once again made clear with Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines that they will manage maritime differences through friendly consultations and actively carry out maritime cooperation. All parties will continue to effectively implement the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", resolutely advance consultations on the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea," and be vigilant to prevent external forces from instigating interference. We unanimously believe that the countries in the region have the confidence, ability, and wisdom to handle the problems in the region and make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation.”
Page 9: A couple of pieces on the Theory page that are worth noting. First, this one that draws from the year-end democratic life meeting. It talks about how leading cadres need to be disciplined and cautious. This requires them to identify problems early and identify what can become bigger problems and deal with them appropriately. It also says,
“Be cautious of friends, requiring leading cadres to choose friends carefully and purify social circles. Who and how leading cadres make friends is not a trivial matter, nor is it a private matter, but a major matter related to the style of the party, government, and society, and cannot be ignored. Leading cadres must not be bound by the ‘network of relationships’ and be ‘hunted’ unknowingly.”
And then there’s this piece about taking the spirit of the 5th plenary and Xi Thought to China’s youth. This is important because and the end, “thoughts are transformed into powerful forces.” The piece argues that,
“To preach the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it is necessary to tell the story behind the achievements, analyze the reasons for the achievements, and guide the young people to look at the development of the country and the nation from a historical perspective, a contemporary perspective, and a world perspective, and to grasp the development of the Party's cause.” Also this, “colleges and universities need to make it clear that the Chinese dream is the people’s dream, and that socialist modernization is a modernization with all-round development and progress.”
Finally, here’s what we have on the International page:
