Xi Visits Renmin Uni - Yuan Peng on Overall National Security Concept - Xi Congratulates Macron - Guidelines on Unleashing Consumption Potential - Wei Fenghe in Kazakhstan - Maritime Trial Platform
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Tuesday, April 26, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: There’s a lot of Xi Jinping on the front page today. The big story is about his visit to Renmin University of China. Wang Huning and Ding Xuexiang were with Xi, the report informs. The story begins by telling us that “Xi extended festive greetings to young people of all ethnic groups nationwide. Xi also expressed hopes that all young people in the country can keep in mind the Party's instructions, strive for national rejuvenation, and work hard for the best results possible.”
Xi then said that “we must uphold the leadership of the Party, uphold the guiding position of Marxism, persist in serving the cause of the Party and the people, carry out the fundamental task of cultivating people with virtue, inherit the red genes, establish universities rooted in Chinese soil, and embark on a new road of building world-class universities with Chinese characteristics. The broad masses of youth should be firm believers, active communicators and model practitioners of core socialist values, learn from heroes, predecessors and exemplars, strive to be the people of the times who can shoulder the important task of national rejuvenation, and work hard and bravely in the torrent of the times to realise the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 习近平强调，“为谁培养人、培养什么人、怎样培养人”始终是教育的根本问题。要坚持党的领导，坚持马克思主义指导地位，坚持为党和人民事业服务，落实立德树人根本任务，传承红色基因，扎根中国大地办大学，走出一条建设中国特色、世界一流大学的新路。广大青年要做社会主义核心价值观的坚定信仰者、积极传播者、模范践行者，向英雄学习、向前辈学习、向榜样学习，争做堪当民族复兴重任的时代新人，在实现中华民族伟大复兴的时代洪流中踔厉奋发、勇毅前进.
The next paragraph has Xi talking about ideological and political courses. Xinhua English sums it up well. “During his visit, Xi first went to a smart classroom for ideological-political courses. He sat with students, listening attentively and joining their discussions. Stressing that ideological-political classes should play their due role in fostering morality, Xi called for tailoring such education to the needs of young people at different developmental stages. Xi called on Renmin University of China to offer more exemplary ideological-political courses for schools across the country, and urged universities nationwide to cooperate more with middle and primary schools in carrying out ideological-political education.” He also called on students to “strengthen their self-confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Next, “visiting the university’s museum, Xi asked it to carry forward its glorious revolutionary traditions and distinctive ‘red’ heritage.” The PD story says that speaking about the “glorious revolutionary tradition and red genes” of the university, Xi called for strengthening the work related to the school’s history in order “to tell the Party and university’s story well” so as to encourage teachers and students to “inherit the fine tradition and continue the red blood.”
“At a square outside the museum, Xi met with senior professors, experts, and representatives of outstanding young and middle-aged teachers and talked with them. Xi said building world-class universities requires first-class teachers, underscoring the importance of training competent teachers. At the library, Xi inspected the display of revolutionary literature and ancient books and heard briefings on the university's efforts to protect and use literature and ancient books and turn theoretical research into application. Xi called for enhancing the protection, restoration, and comprehensive utilisation of the university’s ancient books via modern sci-tech means, thus building a world-class academic resources information platform and boosting the country's cultural soft power.”
The next bit talks about Xi’s speech at the university. He says that:
China has a unique history, unique culture and unique national conditions. In building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, we should not blindly follow others or simply copy foreign standards and models. Instead, we should take root in China and blaze a new path of building world-class universities with Chinese characteristics…It is hoped that Renmin University of China will implement the fundamental task of cultivating people with virtue, inherit the red genes, and make the belief of listening to the Party and following the Party become the conscious pursuit of teachers and students.” 他强调，我国有独特的历史、独特的文化、独特的国情，建设中国特色、世界一流大学不能跟在别人后面依样画葫芦，简单以国外大学作为标准和模式，而是要扎根中国大地，走出一条建设中国特色、世界一流大学的新路...希望中国人民大学落实立德树人根本任务，传承红色基因，让听党话、跟党走的信念成为人大师生的自觉追求.
In the next paragraph, Xi talks about developing philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. He says that given “there is a pressing need to answer questions of the times, such as ‘What happens to the world?’ and ‘Where should humanity head?’” He says:
“We must continue to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s actual conditions and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, and continue to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context in the light of the overall strategy for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and major changes unseen in the world in a century. Accelerating the construction of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics is, in the final analysis, the construction of China's independent knowledge system. We should take China as the perspective, take the times as the perspective, base ourselves on China's reality, solve China's problems, constantly promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional culture, and constantly promote the innovation of knowledge, theory and methods, so that philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics can truly stand tall in the global academic community.” 要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，立足中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局，不断推进马克思主义中国化时代化。加快构建中国特色哲学社会科学，归根结底是建构中国自主的知识体系。要以中国为观照、以时代为观照，立足中国实际，解决中国问题，不断推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展，不断推进知识创新、理论创新、方法创新，使中国特色哲学社会科学真正屹立于世界学术之林.
He added that “philosophy and social sciences workers should have a clear orientation, true principles, high knowledge, and upright moral conduct; they should conscientiously take answering the questions of China, the world, the people, and the times as their academic responsibilities, and highlight China’s path, governance, and principles as their ideological pursuits.” 哲学社会科学工作者要做到方向明、主义真、学问高、德行正，自觉以回答中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问为学术己任，以彰显中国之路、中国之治、中国之理为思想追求，在研究解决事关党和国家全局性、根本性、关键性的重大问题上拿出真本事、取得好成果。He also called to “give full play to the unique role of philosophy and social sciences in integrating Chinese and foreign cultures.”
Xinhua English summarises the next paragraph well:
“Xi encouraged relevant researchers to try their best to achieve progress in addressing the overall, fundamental, and key issues of the Party and the country. Faculties of universities should not only master their disciplines but also nurture their virtue. They should become true tutors for their students and role models for society and the public, Xi said.” He finally called on the youth to:
“unswervingly listen to the Party’s words, follow the Party, and strive to grow into a new generation worthy of the task of national rejuvenation.” He called on them to “measure the motherland with their feet, discover the Chinese spirit with their eyes, listen to the people’s voices with their ears, and feel the pulse of the times with their hearts, so that their feelings with regard to the motherland and sense of sharing the same fate with the people across the country will run through the whole process of their studies and be integrated into their career pursuit.” 习近平指出，立足新时代新征程，中国青年的奋斗目标和前行方向归结到一点，就是坚定不移听党话、跟党走，努力成长为堪当民族复兴重任的时代新人。希望广大青年用脚步丈量祖国大地，用眼睛发现中国精神，用耳朵倾听人民呼声，用内心感应时代脉搏，把对祖国血浓于水、与人民同呼吸共命运的情感贯穿学业全过程、融汇在事业追求中.
Next, a brief report about Xi congratulating Emmanuel Macron on his election victory. Xinhua says:
“The two sides have continued to deepen practical cooperation in various fields, combated the COVID-19 pandemic shoulder to shoulder, jointly upheld multilateralism and improved global governance, injecting new impetus to the development of China-European Union relations and making new contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity, Xi said. Noting that both China and France are major countries with a tradition of staying independent, Xi said the strategic significance of the sound and stable development of China-France relations has become ever more prominent as the international situation is undergoing profound and complex changes. Xi said he always views the bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, and stands ready to continuously work with Macron to uphold the original aspiration of the establishment of the diplomatic relations featuring independence, mutual understanding, foresight, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, work together to push China-France relations to new heights and bring benefits to the people of the two countries and the rest of the world.”
Third, a report about Xi’s letter to the international forum on the 50th anniversary of malaria drug artemisinin’s introduction, which opened Monday in Beijing. Xi talked about the history of the discovery and extraction of artemisinin in China and said that the country had “actively promoted the application of artemisinin around the world, saving millions of lives, especially in developing countries, and making an important contribution to the prevention and treatment of malaria and the protection of human health.” He added that “China is willing to work with the international community to intensify exchanges and cooperation in the field of public health, jointly respond to global threats and challenges, promote the joint construction of a community of human health…”
Finally, a report (English report) about Li Keqiang’s remarks at a State Council meeting on clean governance. Li said that:
“in recent years, the government system has thoroughly implemented the requirements of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, innovatively implemented the macro-policy of fairness, inclusiveness and efficient access for market players, continuously deepened the reform related to ‘streamlining administration, delegating power, strengthening regulation and improving services’, promoted the transformation of government functions, advocated honesty and refrained from extravagance, and cracked down on corruption and discipline at the source, thereby providing a strong guarantee for economic and social development.” 李克强说，近年来，政府系统深入贯彻全面从严治党要求，创新实施公平普惠、高效直达市场主体的宏观政策，持续深化“放管服”改革，促进政府职能转变，倡廉戒奢，从源头上反腐正风肃纪，为经济社会发展提供有力保障.
“Li said that advancing economic and social development is the basic responsibility of governments at all levels and also an essential requirement for improving Party conduct and building a clean government. The new, increased downward pressure facing China's economy due to the impact of the greater-than-expected changes in the domestic and international situations deserves great attention.” He warned about economic development facing “severe challenges” and called for implementing “determined policy measures” in H1 so as to “stabilise employment, prices and supply, and effectively stabilise the basic economic market.”
“It is necessary to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring food and energy security and stabilising the industrial chain and supply chain. Continue to create a market-oriented and law-based international business environment to stimulate market vitality and social creativity. Large-scale tax rebates, tax reductions and fee reductions are not only key measures to help bail out enterprises, but also effectively prevent corruption and rent-seeking.” He further called for equal treatment of all market entities and the “fair, just and efficient implementation of policies.”
当前要高度重视国内外形势出现超预期变化对我国经济造成的影响，新的下行压力进一步加大，既看到我国经济的韧性和潜力，又直面严峻挑战，已确定的政策举措上半年要大头落地，以稳就业稳物价稳供应切实稳住经济基本盘。要扛起保障粮食、能源安全和稳定产业链供应链的责任。继续打造市场化法治化国际化营商环境，更大激发市场活力和社会创造力。大规模退税减税降费，既是助企纾困的关键举措，也能有效防范腐败寻租，对各类市场主体要一视同仁、不打任何折扣，公平公正高效落实政策某种程度上不亚于政策制定本身。
He warned officials to “oppose pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.” He also warned against inaction, mechanical implementation of policy and campaign-style implementation. He also cautioned against simply shouting slogans and reporting good news and not bad news, and spoke about the need for government to ‘tighten the belt.’ 李克强说，要勤政有为、务实重干。各项工作都要做深做细做扎实，结合实际创造性抓落实。要大力纠治“四风”特别是形式主义、官僚主义，严肃整治作风漂浮、政策执行简单机械等突出问题。不能空喊口号、报喜不报忧，工作不能搞“运动式”一刀切。要把政府“过紧日子”作为常态化纪律要求，更好节用裕民，要始终把群众利益铭记于心，察实情、办实事、解难题.
The final paragraph has Li calling on governments at all levels to follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the 4-4-2 formulation, but he does not mention the “Two Establishments.”
Page 2: There’s a commentary drawing from Xi’s comments at Renmin University of China. It says:
“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China. Looking back on a hundred years, no matter how the situation has changed, the sincere pursuit of Chinese youth of loving the Party, loving the country and loving the people has never changed, and the original loyalty of unswervingly listening to the Party’s words and following the Party has never changed. Under the banner of the Communist Party of China, a generation of Chinese youth, full of devotion for the motherland and the people, integrated their youthful struggle into the cause of the Party and the people, fought for the people, dedicated themselves to the motherland, and strived for a happy life, and composed one magnificent song after another…It is precisely because they have always listened to the Party’s words and follow the Party’s lead that Chinese youth in the new era have made great efforts even in ordinary endeavours, taken the lead in urgent and dangerous tasks, been honed at the grassroots level, taken the lead in innovation and entrepreneurship, and led the way in the construction of asocial civilisation, and created brilliant achievements worthy of the motherland, the people and the times. History and practice fully show that Chinese youth have always been the vanguard force in realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 今年是中国共产主义青年团成立100周年。回首百年，无论风云变幻、沧海桑田，中国青年爱党、爱国、爱人民的赤诚追求始终未改，坚定不移听党话、跟党走的忠贞初心始终未变。一代代中国青年在中国共产党的旗帜下，满怀对祖国和人民的赤子之心，把青春奋斗融入党和人民事业，为人民战斗、为祖国献身、为幸福生活奋斗，谱写了一曲又一曲壮丽的青春之歌。正是因为始终坚定不移听党话、跟党走，新时代的中国青年在平凡岗位上奋斗奉献、在急难险重任务中冲锋在前、在基层一线经受磨砺、在创新创业中走在前列、在社会文明建设中引风气之先，创造了无愧于祖国、无愧于人民、无愧于时代的光辉业绩。历史和实践充分表明：中国青年始终是实现中华民族伟大复兴的先锋力量.
The next paragraph says that “the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered a critical period.” So while China is “closer, more confident and capable” of achieving the goal of rejuvenation, this task going ahead will be more arduous. Therefore, the youth should be prepared to “shoulder the mission of the times.” To do so, the next paragraph basically says that the youth must be true believers in core socialist values and be communicators and model practitioners of those values. They should cultivate confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, inherit the red gene, and take the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as their own responsibility.
Next, a report on the new guidelines issued by the State Council on further unleashing consumption potential and promoting the sustainable recovery of consumption.
PD says that the guidelines offer 20 key measures across five areas.
First, respond to the impact of the pandemic and promote the orderly recovery and development of consumption. This includes supporting enterprises with bailouts, ensuring the supply and price of basic consumer goods, and innovating new consumption formats and models.
Second is to stabilise the consumption base. This includes boosting consumption of services, such as healthcare, elderly care and childcare, expanding cultural and tourism consumption, vigorously developing green consumption, and fully tapping the consumption potential of counties and townships.
Third is to enhance the capacity of consumption development. This includes promoting the healthy and sustainable development of the consumption platform, speeding up the improvement of the circulation system of consumer goods, increasing employment income, improving consumption power, and rationally increasing public consumption.
Fourth is to deepen reforms and create a safe, secure and honest consumption environment. This includes breaking down barriers to restrict consumption, improving the system of consumption standards, strengthening law enforcement and supervision in the field of consumption, and comprehensively strengthening the protection of consumers' rights and interests.
Fifth, strengthening safeguard measures to further consolidate the foundation for high-quality development of consumption. This includes strengthening financial and tax support, optimising financial services, strengthening the guarantee of land use and housing, and compacting the responsibilities of all parties.
一是应对疫情影响，促进消费有序恢复发展。围绕保市场主体加大助企纾困力度，做好基本消费品保供稳价，创新消费业态和模式。二是全面创新提质，着力稳住消费基本盘。积极推进实物消费提质升级，加力促进健康养老托育等服务消费，持续拓展文化和旅游消费，大力发展绿色消费，充分挖掘县乡消费潜力。三是完善支撑体系，不断增强消费发展综合能力。推进消费平台健康持续发展，加快健全消费品流通体系，增加就业收入提高消费能力，合理增加公共消费。四是持续深化改革，全力营造安全放心诚信消费环境。破除限制消费障碍壁垒，健全消费标准体系，加强消费领域执法监管，全面加强消费者权益保护。五是强化保障措施，进一步夯实消费高质量发展基础。加强财税支持，优化金融服务，强化用地用房保障，压实各方责任。
Xinhua English reports: “The country plans to build a batch of warehouses in the suburbs of large and medium-sized cities to ensure the supply of daily necessities in case of emergencies, according to the guidelines released by the General Office of the State Council. The guidelines also required the financial institutions to further support the real economy through measures such as lowering lending rates and cutting fees, among other measures to help the country cope with the impacts of COVID-19.”
“the country would offer specific support to help those who suffered the most through these difficult times. In addition to measures to boost short-term consumption recovery, the guidelines also detailed policies to boost consumption in the medium and long term. China will develop products and services that cater to the needs of the elderly and infants while encouraging innovations in cultural consumption, the guidelines said. It will also tap the consumption potential in the country's vast rural areas, promoting the sales of automobiles and home appliances in these regions. The guidelines encouraged cities to phase out auto-consumption restrictions based on their own conditions to keep the consumption of vehicles stable. China also plans to build several duty-free shops within the cities and improve related policies to develop pro-consumption platforms.”
Quick thought: None of this sounds like it will expand the disposable income of retail consumers or households. This sounds like it is about enterprises and expanding supply-side support.
Page 3: There’s a piece with foreign experts positively appraising the new Global Security Initiative. Along with this, there are some reports to note.
First, Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe is in Kazakhstan, where he met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Xinhua reports:
“China firmly opposes external forces deliberately instigating a ‘color revolution’ in Kazakhstan and backs the Kazakh side in taking strong measures to safeguard national security and social stability, Wei noted. The senior Chinese official called for vigilance about certain major powers interfering in Central Asia to disrupt and undermine regional security. Wei said his visit demonstrated that China attaches great significance to and firmly supports Kazakhstan, noting that no matter what risks and challenges the two countries may encounter, they will jointly maintain regional stability and push ahead with the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. In recent years, the exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and Kazakh militaries in various fields have been fruitful, he said, adding that the Chinese military is willing to continue to expand cooperation areas with the Kazakh side and deepen military-to-military relations between the two countries.”
Wei also met with Kazakh Defense Minister Ruslan Zhaksylykov. “The two officials exchanged in-depth views on the international and regional security situations, the situation in Ukraine and the Afghan issue, and agreed that the two militaries will continue to strengthen strategic communication, conduct joint drills and training, and carry out practical cooperation.”
Second, a report about Wang Yi meeting with Siddharth Chatterjee, UN development system resident coordinator in China. Wang talked about the Global Development Initiative, as per the report.
“Wang said the Global Development Initiative, put forward by China, aims to call on the international community to pay more attention to development issues, strengthen international development cooperation, and accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. More than 100 countries have supported the initiative, and more than 50 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative established by China on the UN platform, Wang added. China has accumulated rich experience in poverty alleviation, human resource development, protection of women's and children's rights, health, and green and open development, etc. China is willing to cooperate with UN members and the UN development system to share these experience with other countries, Wang said.”
Third, MoFA’s comments pushing back at Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s remarks about a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands being a red line for his government.
“Wang Wenbin: The security cooperation between China and Solomon Islands is based on equality and mutual benefits. It is within the sovereignty of our two countries and consistent with the international law and international customary practice. The cooperation is open, transparent, legitimate, lawful and irreproachable. The speculation that China will build a military base in Solomon Islands is pure disinformation fabricated by a handful of people who harbor ulterior motives. I have noted that the US and Australian accuse the framework agreement on security cooperation between China and Solomon Islands of not being transparent. However, it is the AUKUS security partnership that is neither open nor transparent. When will the US and Australia invite South Pacific island countries and other regional countries to review AUKUS cooperation? The US claims that China’s military presence will cause grave concerns. If we follow this logic, the nearly 800 military bases in 80 countries and regions across the world run by the US have long been of major concern for the world. When will the US shut down those bases? Island countries in the South Pacific are independent and sovereign states, not a backyard of the US or Australia. Their attempt to revive the Monroe Doctrine in the South Pacific region will get no support and lead to nowhere.”
Finally, there’s an essay by Dong Xiaojun, China’s ambassador to Bulgaria. Dong writes about China-CEEC cooperation. He says that “in 2021, the total trade volume between China and Central and Eastern European countries will reach 863.06 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.3%, showing strong resilience.” He then focuses on Bulgaria, talking about bilateral trade between China and the country. “Bulgarian specialty products such as yoghurt, wine, and rose products have entered the homes of Chinese people.” He says that Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi are operating in Bulgaria. In 2021, the bilateral trade between China and Bulgaria grew 40.8%, hitting a record high of $4.109 billion. Chinese companies are invested in solar and wind power projects in Bulgaria and agricultural trade is a highlight too.
Page 6: A report with Zhou Qiang, Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court of China, talking about the China Maritime Trial platform. This has been recently launched. China Daily’s report on this says that:
“Led by the Supreme People’s Court, the website was built by the Guangzhou Maritime Court and covers the maritime adjudication business of 11 maritime courts, their appellate higher people’s courts and the SPC. The website provides intelligent support for maritime judges in case handling and online litigation services such as filings, court hearings and judgements execution for Chinese and foreign parties. It will also release authoritative maritime judicial information to the public, experts and scholars, and is an important showcase for China's maritime justice to the international community.”
In PD Zhou talks about the need to “strengthen the construction of maritime trial information system, promote the development of maritime judicial work quality, and provide powerful legal services for construction of maritime power.” He further talks about the importance of “effectively protecting the marine ecological environment, promoting the development of marine economy, safeguarding the national maritime rights and interests, effectively serving the construction of a maritime power, and promoting a higher level of opening to the outside world.”
Page 9: The theory page today is dedicated to the 8th of the 10 clears. The 8th clear is:
“The Party’s goal for military development in the new era is to build the people’s armed forces into world-class forces that obey the Party’s command, that are able to fight and to win, and that maintain excellent conduct.”
The lead piece is by the NDU’s Xi Jinping Thought Research Center. Among many other things, this piece refers to the significance of the Two Establishments.
Page 10: A one-line report about the PBOC easing the foreign exchange reserve ratio for financial institutions. They will now need to hold 8 percent – as opposed to 9% earlier – of their foreign exchange in reserve starting from May 15. Bloomberg’s reporting on this says:
“The cut is aimed at "increasing banks' capabilities of forex fund use" and will help liquidity management, the central bank said in the statement. The change will increase the supply of US dollars and other currencies onshore and relieve the renminbi's weakness. This follows two hikes last year when the central bank was trying to limit a strong currency, the opposite of the situation now. The offshore renminbi retreated from 6.6092 after the announcement, the weakest levels since November 2020, with its daily loss against the dollar narrowing to 0.8 per cent from 1.3 per cent. The move reduces the attractiveness for banks to hold foreign currency and will likely dampen the pace of the move higher in the dollar-renminbi pair, said Mr Mitul Kotecha, strategist at TD Securities in Singapore. Still, it is worth noting that the move only partly reverses the 2 percentage point hike in the reserve ratio in December last year, so the impact could be less significant unless it is followed by other measures, including tightening liquidity or actual renminbi-buying intervention, he added. The Chinese currency has been the worst performer against the US dollar among Asian peers in the past five days, with a 3 percent loss, in sharp contrast with its outperformance as the best regional currency gainer in the past two years, according to Bloomberg data. Banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and BNP Paribas, slashed their quarterly forecast for the currency last week, as the renminbi is seen increasingly dragged down by broadening Covid-19 disruptions that threaten the nation's growth outlook, and the deepening divergence in monetary policy between China and the United States that has stoked fear of capital outflows.”
Page 11: A piece by CICIR’s Yuan Peng on the Study Outline of the Comprehensive or Overall National Security Concept.
He talks about Xi putting forward the Comprehensive National Security Concept in April 2014. He says that this is “the scientific guide and fundamental principle to safeguard and shape national security in the new era.” He adds that “over the past eight years, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at the core and under the guidance of the overall national security concept, the national security path with Chinese characteristics has been continuously expanded, and China’s national security has been comprehensively strengthened. The concept is a great innovation of the Party national security theory, and is of great pioneering significance. It must be persistently studied, systematically and thoroughly understood, comprehensively implemented and continuously enriched and developed.” 这是新时代维护和塑造国家安全的科学指南和根本遵循。8年来，在以同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下，在总体国家安全观指引下，中国特色国家安全道路不断拓展，我国国家安全得到全面加强。总体国家安全观是我们党关于国家安全理论的重大创新，具有重大开创性意义，必须长期坚持学习、系统深入领悟、全面贯彻落实、不断丰富发展.
Yuan then talks about the publication of the study outline around the overall national security concept. He says that the national security path with Chinese characteristics features five principles.
First, adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership, improve a centralised, unified, efficient and authoritative national security work leadership system, and realise the unity of political security, people’s security and the supremacy of national interests. The Party’s leadership is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. National security work must adhere to the absolute leadership of the Party. Political security is the foundation, people’s security is the purpose, and the supremacy of national interests is the norm. Adhering to the organic unity of all three is not only the ideological essence of the overall national security concept, but also the key to achieving long-term stability.
Second, persist in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and maintain the stability and order along the frontiers, borders and surrounding areas. ‘Frontiers, borders and the periphery’ means the ‘three sides’ 三边, and ‘it is our duty to defend the country and we must fight for every inch of our land’ (守土有责, 寸土必争). Homeland security has always been the top priority of our national security.
Third, adhere to safe development, and seek a dynamic balance between high-quality development and high-level security.
Fourth, adhere to the overall/total warfare (总体战) and coordinate traditional and non-traditional security. In this, Yuan argues that traditional and non-traditional security challenges are increasingly interwoven, there is increasingly fierce competition among major powers and there are increasingly prominent global challenges, which requires one to adhere to ‘overall warfare’ thinking to become more proactive in dealing with the challenges one faces.
Fifth, adhere to the path of peaceful development and promote the coordination between our own security and common security. He says that China must remain committed to opposing the notion that “a strong country is bound to seek hegemony.”
In the next paragraph, he argues that the concept of overall national security. “It is necessary to systematically and deeply understand the core essence of the overall national security concept, and master the theoretical weapons to deal with changes and defuse risks.” He says that concept is “national security theory with Chinese characteristics.” This theory has come to be with the “General Secretary profoundly summing up the historical experiences and lessons of China and foreign countries;” he has personally established and continuously promoted this in the new era”; and the theory “has strong vitality and is of unparalleled superiority.” 要系统深入领悟总体国家安全观核心要义，掌握应对变局和化解风险的理论武器。以“十个坚持”为核心要义的总体国家安全观，是总书记深刻总结中外历史经验教训，在新时代亲自创立并不断推动完善的中国特色国家安全理论，具有强大的生命力和无比的优越性.
He says that 2022 is the 8th anniversary of the establishment of the overall national security concept and the 20th Party Congress will be held later this year. He adds that “China has entered a new journey of building a comprehensive modern socialist country, and the brilliant achievements of national security work in the new era are obvious to all. At the same time, in the face of the historic changes in national security amid the unprecedented, once-in-a-century changes in the world, the severe risks and challenges brought by the turbulent and changing external environment and the transformation and upgrading of China’s high-quality economic and social development in the new development stage, we urgently need to strengthen the theoretical literacy and methodological guidance of the overall national security concept, firmly adhere to the national security path with Chinese characteristics, effectively coordinate development and security, and speed up the construction of a new security pattern that is compatible with the new development pattern. The publication of the ‘Outline’ will surely guide practice, cope with changes and create a new situation.” 进入全面建设社会主义现代化国家的新征程，新时代国家安全工作辉煌成就有目共睹。与此同时，面对世界百年未有之大变局下国家安全发生的历史性变化，面对外部环境动荡变革期带来的严峻风险挑战，面对新发展阶段我国经济社会高质量发展的转型升级，我们迫切需要加强总体国家安全观的理论素养和方法指导，迫切需要坚定走好中国特色国家安全道路，迫切需要有效统筹发展和安全、加快构建与新发展格局相适应的新安全格局。《纲要》的出版可谓应运而生、正当其时，必将有力指导实践、应对变局、开创新局.
In the next paragraph, he talks about the importance of “learning and understanding the overall national security concept, and forging a firm will and spiritual character that dares to fight and is good at fighting.” 要学懂弄通做实总体国家安全观，锻造敢于斗争善于斗争的坚定意志和精神品格.
The next paragraph is interesting:
“We must persist in promoting international common security, and show China's responsibility as a major power and its commitment to the world in the new era. Since the end of February this year, the Russia-Ukraine conflict suddenly erupted, the game between major powers and geographical competition have intensified significantly, and the international security environment has been turbulent and volatile. In contrast to the US and the West, which have irresponsibly established cliques and added fuel to the fire, China has insisted on calling for peace and promoting talks, and advocated attaching importance to the legitimate security concerns of all countries. The ‘global security concept’ - 全球安全观 - has become a high-frequency term in China’s response to current regional hotspots and international crises. The overall national security concept values both its own security and common security. It is committed to building a community of common destiny with a shared future and urges all parties to work toward the goal of mutual benefit and common security. The overall national security concept focuses on both internal and external security, putting people at the center and assuming responsibility for the world, and promotes a global security concept featuring common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, which seeks not only the security of China but also the security of all countries peacefully co-existing in the same boat. The global security concept will help to solve the so-called ‘security dilemma’ evident in the Western international security theory, because it abandons the zero-sum thinking of ‘you lose and I win’ and the hegemonic mentality, and promotes the inclusive wisdom of win-win cooperation and the spirit of equality and universal security. China matches its words with deeds. It has always stood for peaceful settlement of international disputes, promoted the building of a new type of win-win international relations and a universally secure community of shared future for mankind, adhered to the principles of multilateralism, cooperation, building and sharing, worked hard to safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, and made efforts to strengthen international security cooperation, improve the global security governance system and jointly address global challenges.” 要坚持推进国际共同安全，彰显新时代中国的大国担当和天下情怀。今年2月下旬以来，俄乌冲突骤然爆发，大国博弈与地缘角逐显著升温，国际安全环境动荡多变。与美西方不负责任的拉帮结派、火上浇油迥然不同，中国坚持劝和促谈，主张重视各国合理安全关切，“全球安全观”成为中国应对当前地区热点和国际危机的高频词。总体国家安全观既重视自身安全，又重视共同安全，致力于打造命运共同体，推动各方朝着互利互惠、共同安全的目标相向而行。总体国家安全观坚持内外兼修，内以人民为中心，外以天下为己任，推动树立“共同、综合、合作、可持续”的“全球安全观”，谋求的不仅是中国一家安全，更是各国和平共处、同舟共济的大家安全。“全球安全观”将有助于破解西方国际安全理论所谓的“安全困境”，因其摒弃了你输我赢的零和思维与唯我独尊的霸权心态，弘扬的是合作共赢的包容智慧与普遍安全的平等精神。中国言行一致，一贯主张和平解决国际争端，推动构建合作共赢的新型国际关系和普遍安全的人类命运共同体，坚持多边主义和共商共建共享原则，努力维护以联合国为核心的国际体系和以国际法为基础的国际秩序，致力于加强国际安全合作、完善全球安全治理体系、共同应对全球性挑战。
Page 18: On the international page, there are two reports to note. First, the lead story is a collection of comments from officials and media from Cuba, Venezuela, Myanmar, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, the Philippines, India, UAE, Syria, and Kenya that are critical of the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices issued by the State Department. The headline is that international public opinion is critical of the US and that the “human rights situation in the United States is so bad that it has no right to criticise other countries.”
Second, a report informing us that COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death in the US for the second year in a row.