Xi on Human Rights - Li's Warning - Wang Yang on Combating Separatists - Using Assets & Investment Effectively - Beijing COVID Situation 'Controllable' - NATO Series - Indo-Pacific Pushback
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Thursday, May 26, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: It’s a really busy front page today, but it’s dominated by reports of Xi Jinping’s meetings. First, there’s a report about Xi Jinping meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. Xinhua English has the detailed Chinese readout from the meeting.
Xi told her that on the issue of human rights, “no one can claim perfection and there is always room for improvement. On the basis of equality and mutual respect, China is ready to actively conduct human rights dialogue and cooperation with all other parties to expand common understanding, reduce differences, promote mutual learning, seek progress together, and jointly advance the international human rights cause...”
He then put forward four priorities:
First, putting people front and center. It is important to take the people's interests as the fundamental purpose and goal, make continuous efforts to address the most pressing and immediate issues that concern the people the most, and strive to deliver a better life to the people. That is the biggest human right. How a country is doing on human rights is essentially gauged by whether the interests of its people are upheld, and whether they enjoy a growing sense of fulfillment, happiness and security. That is the most important criterion for assessing the human rights conditions of a country.
Second, respecting different countries' paths of human rights development…Any system or model blindly copied from another country regardless of the situation on the ground will not only look out of place, but also bring disastrous consequences. Should that happen, it is the people who will bear the brunt. There is no shortage of such examples, and lessons must be learned.
Third, following a holistic approach to all categories of human rights…For developing countries, the rights to subsistence and development are the primary human rights.
Fourth, stepping up global human rights governance…When it comes to human rights issues, there is no such thing as a flawless utopia; countries do not need patronizing lecturers; still less should human rights issues be politicized and used as a tool to apply double standards, or as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. It is important to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, advocate humanity's common values, and steer global human rights governance toward greater fairness, justice, equity and inclusiveness.
There’s been some controversy over Bachelet’s comments, as this thread below shows.
Interesting to note that Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, and Wang Yi attended the meeting too.
Second, there’s a report (English report) about Xi attending a meeting commending heroes and role models from the public security system. Li Keqiang and Wang Huning were present at the meeting. Also present were Ding Xuexiang, Chen Xi and Xiao Jie and Zhao Kezhi.
Guo Shengkun delivered a speech at the meeting. He called on public security organs to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implement Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, fully implement the spirit of the 19th Party Congress and plenary sessions since and deeply understand the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments,’ strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, the ‘four self-confidences’, and achieve the ‘two safeguards’, faithfully meet the requirements of being loyal to the Party, serving the people, being impartial in law enforcement and strict in discipline…
982 groups and 1,485 individuals from the public security system were commended.
Third, a report about the big teleconference led by Li Keqiang on the economy. Reports say that some 100,000 people from different levels of government across the country were on the call. The official English readout from the meeting says that:
Li called for “efforts to keep the economy running within an appropriate range. Li said that various effective measures have been implemented in response to difficulties and challenges arising from unexpected factors this year. However, he said that the difficulties in March, and since April in particular, are in some respects and to a certain extent greater than those experienced in 2020 when the COVID-19 epidemic hit the country, marked by downward indicators for employment, industrial production, power consumption and cargo transportation, among others. He stressed that development is the key to solving all problems in China, and urged swift actions from now on to bring the economy back on track. Measures should be taken to fully implement China's new development philosophy, coordinate epidemic control with economic and social development in a highly efficient way, and place stabilizing growth in a more prominent position.”
He added: “More work should be done to support market entities in order to sustain employment and people's livelihoods, ensure reasonable economic growth in the second quarter, and reduce the unemployment rate as soon as possible…Local governments should treat all kinds of market entities equally, continue to smoothen logistics and industrial chains to promote work and production resumption, and ensure the timely distribution of unemployment insurance and social assistance funds to people in need. The State Council will send task forces to 12 provinces from Thursday to oversee local work in implementing state policies.”
Two bits that are interesting to note from the PD report. First, the entire report and Li’s comments are bookended by a reference to Xi Jinping’s leadership and being guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Second, Li is quoted as telling all departments that they must have a “stronger sense of urgency to ensure that the policies and measures determined by the Central Economic Work Conference and the Government Work Report are basically implemented in the first half of the year.” This is reflective of the purpose of the meeting, which seems to have been to press for implementation of the policy measures that were recently announced by the State Council. But does this ease the political imperative of ensuring zero-COVID for lower level officials?
Anyway, yesterday, there was an unofficial transcript of the meeting doing the rounds on Chinese social media. This thread sheds light on the remarks from that text:
Fourth there’s a report (English report) about Han Zheng’s visit to Fujian Province on Monday and Tuesday. Han said that it was important to implement Xi’s instructions efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, focus on stabilising employment and prices, take precise and pragmatic measures to help enterprises solve practical difficulties, keep the supply chain of the industrial chain stable…and push forward high-quality development…He stressed efforts to support enterprises in making breakthroughs in key technologies, and to support the innovative and high quality development of private enterprises. He added: “efforts should be made to foster a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment to ensure equal development and fair competition for all types of market entities, Han said while inspecting the work resumption of local enterprises.”
Fifth, there’s a report about Li Zhanshu meeting with Jordan's Senate President Faisal Fayez via video link. Xinhua reports:
“Li pointed out that Jordan is an important cooperation partner of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides can further tap the potential, dovetail development strategies, and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in trade and infrastructure construction. He said that Jordan is welcome to join the China-proposed Global Security Initiative, which is open to the world. China always supports Middle East countries including Jordan in solving regional security issues with unity and coordination, and advocates that the international community should fully respect the wishes of Middle East countries and contribute to promoting peace and development of those countries. China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Jordan, jointly defend the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, and jointly safeguard the important principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations, Li said.”
Also, once again, Li said that “China appreciates Jordan's adherence to the one-China principle,” Fayez is quoted as saying that “Jordan firmly adheres to the one-China policy and opposes interference in China's internal affairs.”
Sixth, there’s a report (English report) about Wang Yang’s visit to Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Gansu Province. Wang said that “it is necessary to intensify efforts to combat separatist activities and rely closely on people of all ethnic groups to forge an ironclad shield for national security.” 要深入开展反分裂斗争，紧紧依靠各族群众筑牢国家安全的铜墙铁壁.
He added: “It is necessary to firmly promote the cause of national unity and progress, deepen the historical research and publicity and education of the Chinese nation as a community, popularise the national common language, respect and guarantee the learning and use of minority languages, promote the cultural inheritance and protection of all ethnic groups…We should adhere to the orientation of sinicization of religion in China, strengthen the management of religious affairs according to law, improve the long-term mechanism for the management of Tibetan Buddhist temples…” 要以铸牢中华民族共同体意识为主线扎实推进民族团结进步事业，深化中华民族共同体历史研究和宣传教育，推广普及国家通用语言文字，尊重和保障少数民族语言文字学习和使用，推动各民族文化传承保护和创新交融，有形、有感、有效促进各民族广泛交往交流交融。要坚持我国宗教中国化方向，依法加强宗教事务管理，健全藏传佛教寺庙管理长效机制，加强党政干部、宗教界代表人士、宗教学研究“三支队伍”建设，引导藏传佛教更好与社会主义社会相适应.
Finally, there’s the next piece in the series about following Xi’s footprints. This one is about Shanxi.
Page 2: One report to note. The State Council has issued new guidelines to revitalise existing assets and expand effective investment. The guidelines talk about developing real estate investment trust funds in infrastructure, promoting cooperation between government and social capital, actively promoting standardised transactions of property rights, tapping the value of idle and inefficient assets, and supporting mergers and acquisitions. They call for clearer property rights definition and easing formalities related to transactions and improving land use policy, implementing regulations on preventing and defusing hidden debt risks of local governments, supervision and management of state-owned assets, etc.
Global Times has a good report on this document. It says:
“After years of investment and construction, the country has accumulated substantial assets in infrastructure. An effective revitalization of existing assets to result in a virtuous cycle of those assets and newly added investment is crucial for improving infrastructure management, broadening conduits for social investment, expanding effective investment and reducing corporate debt levels, according to a statement detailing the 24-item measures on the website of the central government. Among the key areas to be revitalized are large infrastructure projects with sound returns or high growth potential such as transportation, water conservancy, clean energy and affordable housing. Facilities that have been vacant but can be developed further are also on the list, including outdated factories, cultural and sports facilities and idle land. Regions where local governments have high debt levels and are under pressure to balance local budget and spending will be prioritized to ramp up the revitalization push, resolve local government debt risks, enhance fiscal sustainability and support new projects. Economic powerhouses including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Economic Belt, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and Hainan Free Trade Port are supposedly to serve as exemplary asset revitalization regions. Nationwide, no less than 30 key projects that are attractive and sufficiently representative and a selection of institutions that vigorously underpin the policy push will be selected as role models, read the guidelines, advising different parts of China to customize the implementation of the measures in line with local realities and avoid rushing into action en masse.”
Page 3: There’s a commentary on China’s human rights perspective, which basically draws from Xi’s comments, and there’s a long report on China’s contributions to global human rights governance. I am not detailing these; there's a lot of repetition of things that we’ve read and heard before. Three other reports to note.
First, Wang Yi’s chat with his Indonesian counterpart. Xinhua reports:
“During the conversation, the two sides focused on exchanging views on the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Bali, and agreed to strengthen communication and coordination to promote the success of the summit. China firmly supports Indonesia in hosting a successful G20 Summit, said Wang, adding that since the beginning of this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo have had two phone conversations and reached important consensus. As global governance has entered the ‘Asian moment,’ Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia will host important multilateral conferences respectively, and China is also preparing for the BRICS Leaders' Meeting, he said. China fully supports and actively echoes the recent joint statement issued by the three countries, which has sent a unified voice for Asia to strengthen solidarity and jointly meet challenges, said Wang, calling on Asian countries to play an active role in peaceful and stable development of the region and the world at large in the face of the turbulent international situation.”
On the G20 specifically, this is worth noting: “President Joko Widodo has reiterated that since its inception, the G20 has been an economic forum, not a political one, and China fully agrees with him on this point, said Wang. Noting that the UN Security Council is the right platform for discussing political and security issues, Wang said the G20 should stick to its focus on macroeconomic policy coordination and fulfill its due missions. China firmly supports Indonesia in exercising the G20 rotating presidency, removing interference to achieve goals set in the agenda and steering the G20 toward the right direction, which also meets the common expectations of the overwhelming majority of G20 members and the international community, Wang added.”
They discussed the Ukraine war, calling on “the international community to make joint efforts to cease fire.”
Second, there’s a brief report about Wang Yi’s upcoming visit to South Pacific island countries and East Timor. He will also preside over the second China-Pacific Island Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
Finally, a brief report about Song Tao attending a meeting with cadres from political parties across southern Africa. 120 people from six sister parties (六姊妹党) across southern Africa participated in the meeting.
Page 4: Just one report to note. This one is about the improving COVID-19 situation in Beijing. I am also linking below related English reports.
Zhong Dongbo, deputy head of the city's health commission, is quoted as saying that the epidemic situation has now entered the final stage in the city. Zhong reportedly added:
“The epidemic had previously spread to 15 districts and at its peak, transmission chains in the city reached 13 to 17, but now it has been reduced to three cluster infections. While the few cluster infections have slightly brought up the epidemic curve, the overall situation is improving, Zhong said. Most of the early transmission chains have been cut off, and the fight against Omicron has come to a crucial point near the end. Over 80 percent of infections are being found among people put into quarantine.”
He said that “Beijing's epidemic situation is controllable overall and the city will realise dynamic zero-COVID soon.”
Page 5: There’s a commentary on the third of the five strategic advantages. The third advantage is that “China has a solid foundation for sustained and rapid development. Its economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, national defense capabilities, and overall national strength have significantly increased. China’s economy is large; there is significant room for manoeuvre and China has a super-large market. The economy has ‘strong resilience and vitality’ and its long-term fundamentals will not change.” - This is basically reiterated in the commentary.
Page 8: Today, we have the fourth piece in the series that’s excerpted from the book Face to Face with the Century-old Party. Today’s piece talks about how the Socialist Revolution and Construction was accomplished and advanced. Again, this is history so I am not doing detailed excerpts.
But I’ll share some bits that I found interesting.
When the People’s Republic of China was founded, our Party firmly believed that the transition from new democracy to socialism was inevitable. The assumption at that time was that it would take a ‘very long’ time, at least 10 years, and at most 15 or 20 years. However, the changes that took place exceeded expectations. By 1952, China's social and economic structure had quietly undergone some turning points, and the socialist elements in the national economy increased substantially, further making the transition to socialism clear and concrete, and the time and conditions were ripe. How and why did it all happen?
It was because we confiscated bureaucratic capital and placed it under the ownership of the state, which resulted in the socialist state-owned economy’s development and rapid growth. In the old China ruled by the Kuomintang, bureaucratic capital controlled the lifeblood of the whole national economy, controlling important sectors such as energy, transportation, banking, etc., while the national bourgeoisie's economic power was relatively weak, mainly concentrated in the fields of commerce, light industry, etc. Compared with the former, it was not the same in proportion, scale and size. After the victory of the new-democratic revolution, all the confiscated bureaucratic capital was turned into the state-owned economy, which led to tremendous economic power being concentrated with the state…By 1952, the output value of state-owned industries accounted for 56% of the total industrial output value of the whole country, and the turnover of state-owned wholesale businesses accounted for 60% of the total wholesale business of the whole country.
It was because we used and limited the development of private industry and commerce, beginning the process of their socialist transformation to varying degrees. During the period of the new democratic revolution, our party adopted the basic economic policy of protecting national industry and commerce, including using its positive aspects and limiting its negative aspects. In addition, during the period of national economic recovery, in order to cope with disruptions and illegal acts in the economic field, and to help private industry and commerce overcome production difficulties, the state adopted a series of socialist economic measures in order to deepen the connection between private industry and commerce and the state-run economy, resulting on obvious changes in production relations.
It was because we improved the operational efficiency of the rural economy after the land reform and promoted the rapid development of agricultural mutual assistance and cooperation in the vast majority of rural areas.
新中国成立时，我们党就坚定认为新民主主义必然要过渡到社会主义，当时的设想是经过“相当长久”的时间，估计至少要10年，多则15年或20年。但形势的变化超乎预料，到1952年，我国社会经济形态悄然发生一些转折性变化，社会主义成分在国民经济中大幅增加，进一步把向社会主义过渡明确化、具体化，时机和条件已经成熟。这一切是怎样发生的，为什么会发生？这是因为，我们没收官僚资本归国家所有，使社会主义国营经济迅速发展和壮大。在国民党统治的旧中国，官僚资本控制着整个国家经济的命脉，掌握着能源、交通、银行等重要领域，而民族资产阶级经济力量相对弱小，主要集中在商业、轻工业等领域，与前者相比，在占比、规模和块头上不可同日而语。新民主主义革命胜利后，全部没收的官僚资本转为国营经济，就使得巨大的经济力量集中到国家手中，使这个没收同时具有了社会主义革命的性质。到1952年，国营工业产值在全国工业总产值中比重已达到56%，国营批发商业的营业额占全国批发商业营业总额的60%。这是因为，我们利用和限制私营工商业的发展，已经不同程度地开始了对它们的社会主义改造。新民主主义革命时期，我们党采取了保护民族工商业的基本经济政策，包括利用其积极性因素和限制其消极性因素两个方面。并且，在国民经济恢复时期，为了应对经济领域的干扰破坏和不法行为，帮助私营工商业克服生产困难，国家采取了一系列带有社会主义性质的经济措施，加深了私营工商业同国营经济的联系，使它们在生产关系上发生了明显变化。历史往往就是这样，在时代的洪流中，很多事情好像没有主动地推进，但在大势的作用下就达到这样的结果，自然而然“水到渠成”了。这是因为，我们提高土改后农村经济的经营效率，促进了广大农村农业互助合作的快速发展。农村土地改革完成后，农民分到了土地，但一家一户的分散劳动，生产力水平较低，难以适应工业化对粮食和工业原料的需求，并且容易出现贫富不均的情况。根据当时的认识和经验，人们认为只有组织起来互助合作，才能发展生产、共同富裕。在国民经济恢复时期，简单协作的互助组普遍建立起来，土地入股的初级合作社开始发展，生产资料集体所有的高级合作社也有了若干典型试验。这些农村生产关系的变化，实际上成为农业向社会主义方向发展的最初步骤。
Later, there is a significant chunk on the Cultural Revolution – I’ve captured most of it below:
Ten years of civil strife during the Cultural Revolution has left an indelible painful memory for the Chinese people, and a history that is worth deep reflection by the Communist Party of China. Only by deeply understanding its serious mistakes and harm can we truly understand people's joyful mood as it ended. When the Gang of Four was overthrown in October, 1976, the people were elated…Grand gatherings and parades were held everywhere…The occurrence of this disaster was not the product of the whim of one or several people, but was the product of complex and profound social and historical factors. Internationally, New China faced a severe environment…imperialist forces had been hostile and were blockading China, seeking to create fissures within in order to achieve the goal of ‘peaceful evolution’. In addition, the Soviet Union repeatedly exerted pressure after the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations, and the people’s regime was always in danger of subversion by external forces. From the domestic point of view, the Party rapidly entered the stage of socialism after a long and brutal war, although it lacked the experience of building socialism. It was easy to apply the experience of class struggle accumulated during the war to the period of peaceful construction, and solve the problems it faced through mass movements. Under the influence of internal and external factors, the cause of the party and the country went further and further towards the ‘Left’ direction, which eventually led to this catastrophe.
The Cultural Revolution was a civil strife that was mistakenly launched by leaders and used by two counter-revolutionary cliques, led by Lin Biao and Jiang Qing. It brought serious disasters to the Party, the country and the people of all ethnic groups. During this period, the Party organisation and state power were greatly weakened, a large number of cadres and the masses were brutally persecuted; democracy and the legal system were wantonly trampled upon; and the whole country was plunged into a serious political and social crisis, which caused the Party, the country and the people to suffer the most serious setbacks and losses since the founding of New China. The lessons learned were extremely painful.
However, we should also see that there is a difference between the ‘Cultural Revolution as a political movement and the historical period of the Cultural Revolution. During this period, the struggle between the party and the people against ‘Left’ mistakes never stopped, which limited the damage caused by the civil strife to a certain extent. The nature of the party, the people’s political power, the people’s army and the whole society remained unchanged, and important progress was still made in socialist construction in some areas…”
The piece then talks about building of transport networks and energy facilities, achievements in national defense science and technology and civil science and technology…In the first half of the 1970s, China’s diplomatic work opened up a new situation. China assumed its lawful seat at the United Nations…By the end of 1976, the number of countries that had established diplomatic relations with China had soared to 113, more than double that of the end of 1969. “文化大革命”十年内乱，对中国人民来说是一段无法抹去的痛苦记忆，对中国共产党来说也是一段值得深刻反思的冷峻历史。只有深刻认识它的严重错误和造成的危害，才能真切体悟它结束时人们的喜悦心情。当1976年10月祸乱已久的“四人帮”被打倒，人民群众欢欣鼓舞、兴高采烈，各地纷纷举行盛大集会和游行，控诉反革命集团的滔天罪行，热烈庆贺结束“文化大革命”这一伟大历史性胜利。这场劫难的发生不是某个人或某几个人的心血来潮，而是有着复杂深刻的社会历史原因。从国际上看，新中国一直处于严峻的国际环境之中，帝国主义长期敌视和封锁我们，试图从内部打开缺口达到“和平演变”的目的，加之苏联在中苏关系破裂后屡屡给中国施加压力，人民政权被外部势力颠覆的危险始终存在。从国内看，我们党是经过长期残酷战争后迅速进入社会主义的，缺乏建设社会主义的经验，容易把战争时期积累下来的阶级斗争经验运用于和平建设时期，通过大规模群众运动的方法来解决面临的问题。在内外部因素的作用下，党和国家事业朝着“左”的方向越走越远，最终酿成了这场大祸。“文化大革命”是一场由领导者错误发动，被林彪、江青两个反革命集团利用，给党、国家和各族人民带来严重灾难的内乱。在这期间，党的组织和国家政权受到极大削弱，大批干部和群众遭受残酷迫害，民主和法制被肆意践踏，全国陷入严重的政治危机和社会危机，使党、国家、人民遭到新中国成立以来最严重的挫折和损失，教训极其惨痛。但也要看到，作为政治运动的“文化大革命”与“文化大革命”历史时期是有区别的。这一时期，党和人民同“左”的错误的斗争一直没有停止过，使内乱的破坏受到一定程度的限制，党、人民政权、人民军队和整个社会的性质都没有改变，社会主义建设在一些领域仍然取得重要进展。特别是三线建设成果引人注目，一批交通运输线、输油管线设施相继建成，国防科技、民用科技业绩显著，对我国经济发展和技术进步起到了重要的促进作用。20世纪70年代上半期，我国外交工作打开新的局面，恢复在联合国合法席位，迎来了新中国成立后第二次建交高潮。到1976年年底，与中国建交的国家猛增到113个，比1969年年底增加了一倍多。
The piece ends by talking about Deng Xiaoping’s emergence as the key leader and a new discussion in the Party on the future direction, which would lead to a new era.
Page 9: On the theory page, the lead article is by Qu Qingshan, head of the Institute of Party History and Literature. He talks about the importance of “carrying forward the spirit of historical initiative.” Qu argues that:
amid the current profound and complex changes underway in the world, China is “faced with rare development opportunities and severe challenges. We must unswervingly implement the strategic decisions and work arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, base ourselves on the new development stage, implement new development concepts, build a new development pattern, accurately grasp new opportunities, respond to new challenges, and firmly anchor the goal of building a modern comprehensive socialist country. In coping with the severe impact and impact of the global economic downturn, the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis, we should speed up the scientific and technological self-reliance, make up for shortcomings, promote high-quality development, perform our duties with a strong sense of political responsibility and historical mission, and seize opportunities.” 我们面临着难得的发展机遇，也面临着严峻的挑战，危中有机，危可转机。我们要坚定不移贯彻落实党中央战略决策和工作部署，立足新发展阶段、贯彻新发展理念、构建新发展格局，准确把握新机遇、应对新挑战，紧紧锚定全面建设社会主义现代化国家的既定目标，牢牢把握具有中国特色、符合中国实际的社会主义现代化建设方向，沉着应对世界经济低迷、新冠肺炎疫情持续蔓延、乌克兰危机等严重冲击和影响，加快推进科技自立自强，补短板、强弱项，推动高质量发展，以钉钉子精神做好各项工作，以强烈政治责任感和历史使命感履职尽责、抢抓机遇.
We should take the Party’s historical experience as an important ideological weapon for correctly judging the situation and scientifically predicting the future and grasp the historical initiative, as an important follow-up for thinking about problems, making decisions and doing things, as an important basis for judging major political rights and wrongs, and as an important guide for strengthening party spirit…(it should also be used for) thinking about problems, making decisions and doing things, as an important basis for judging major political rights and wrongs, and as an important guide for strengthening party spirit. 我们要把党的历史经验作为正确判断形势、科学预见未来、把握历史主动的重要思想武器，作为想问题、作决策、办事情的重要遵循，作为判断重大政治是非的重要依据，作为加强党性修养的重要指引.
He also calls for cultivating a spirit of struggle and being selfless and prepared for struggle, and he talks about the importance of discipline and self-revolution.
Page 14: On the international page, there’s a report about the school shooting in Texas. Then there’s the second in the series of stories attacking NATO.
This one argues that “As a political-military organisation with the largest military expenditure, the most powerful weapons and equipment and the most extensive military deployment around the world, NATO seeks absolute security through military bloc confrontation, creates security panic by peddling security anxiety, and constantly shapes new imaginary enemies and confronts them. This has had a serious impact on relations between major powers and the European security order.” 作为世界上军事开支最多、武器装备最强和军力部署最广的军事政治组织，北约用军事集团对抗谋求绝对安全，靠贩卖安全焦虑营造安全恐慌，不断塑造新的假想敌并与之对抗，对大国关系和欧洲安全秩序造成严重冲击.
The piece says that US-led NATO's adherence to the Cold War mentality and its continued promotion of expansion is the cause of the Ukraine war.
Finally, there’s a piece by Hong Feng 洪风 or Natee Taweesrifuengfung, president of the Thailand-based Siam Think Tank, arguing that the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy bears the shadow of Cold War style confrontation. He argues that “the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States seriously threatens ASEAN’s centrality in the regional structure, and will inevitably cause concern among ASEAN countries.”
He writes:
“Most countries in the region do not want to see camp confrontation again. What the Asia-Pacific region really needs is cooperation. With the official entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, regional cooperation has become more dynamic and is heading in the right direction of economic prosperity. The US Indo-Pacific strategy is not conducive to the stable development of the region. Most of the Asia-Pacific countries are developing countries and regard economic development as their top priority. China is one of the largest economies in the region and one of the most dynamic economies in the world. It is a positive force for the development of all countries. Economic cooperation with China means a lot of opportunities, which is the consensus of countries in the region. The US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy does nothing in the economic and trade fields that regional countries value. Even US experts describe it as a ‘Thanksgiving dinner with only stuffing and dipping sauce, but no turkey’.”
“Looking back at history, the Cold War brought deep suffering to the people of Southeast Asia. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy bears the shadow of Cold War confrontation. It is the product of the US’ reversal of history, and it runs counter to the general trend of regional prosperity and stability. Countries in the region should be vigilant against this. Politicising and weaponizing economic issues will ultimately damage the common interests of all countries. Countries in the region, especially ASEAN countries, are in a stage of vigorous development, and the hard-won prospects for prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region should not be ruined in order to cater to the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy.” 亚太地区经过几十年的融合发展，已经形成了互利共赢的良好局面，绝大多数地区国家不希望再次看到阵营对立。亚太地区真正需要的是合作。随着《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》正式生效，地区合作更添活力，正向着经济繁荣的正确方向发展。美国“印太战略”不利于地区稳定发展。亚太国家多是发展中国家，将经济发展视为第一要务。中国是区域内最大的经济体之一，也是全球最有活力的经济体之一，是助力各国发展的积极力量。同中国的经济合作意味着大量机遇，这是地区国家的共识。而美国的“印太战略”在地区国家重视的经贸领域无所作为，就连美国专家也形容其就像是“感恩节大餐只有馅料和蘸酱，却没有火鸡”。回顾历史，冷战曾给东南亚人民带来深深的苦难。美国的“印太战略”带有冷战对抗的影子，是美国开历史倒车的产物，同地区繁荣稳定发展的大势相悖，地区国家应对此保持警惕。将经济问题政治化、武器化，最终损害各国共同利益。地区国家，尤其是东盟各国，正处于蓬勃发展阶段，不应为了迎合美国“印太战略”而葬送亚太地区来之不易的繁荣稳定发展前景。