Xi Works the Phones - Li on Food Security - Hitting Back at the G7
Here are the stories and pieces from the May 7, 2021, People’s Daily edition that I found noteworthy.
Page 1: Xi Jinping returns to dominate the front page today. First, a short story about Xi’s congratulatory letter to the China International Consumer Goods Expo. The three-day expo opened in Haikou, Hainan today. Xinhua English reports that Xi said the expo will serve “as a global platform of displaying and trading high-end consumer products, is conducive to all countries sharing opportunities provided by the Chinese market and conducive to global economic recovery and growth. It will also enable China to offer the world more quality consumer products.”
Next, a story on (English version) Xi’s chat with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. Xi praised the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). He spoke about the PCC leading the Cuban people “to forge ahead in unity and steer the cause of socialism with Cuban characteristics towards new achievements.” He talked about China and Cuba being “good friends, comrades and brothers, bound closely together by their common ideals and beliefs.” That’s Beijing’s version of the shared values narrative I guess. He then said:
The CPC stands ready to strengthen communication and discussion with the PCC on major theoretical and practical issues
China is willing to take the joint building of the Belt and Road as an opportunity to steadily push forward practical cooperation between the two sides in various fields
China will maintain close communication and coordination with Cuba on important international and regional issues, and firmly safeguard world peace, fairness and justice
China will, as always, support Cuba in defending its national sovereignty and independence and following a socialist path that suits its national situation
Diaz-Canel, as per Xinhua, congratulated the CPC on its 100th anniversary, praised Xi’s leadership and China’s development under him, backed the one-China principle and talked about closer cooperation.
From PD: “Diaz-Canel spoke highly of the historic achievements made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party over the past 100 years, especially under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, China has made great achievements in building a modern socialist country. He firmly believes that under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China will surely achieve greater success.”
Third, we have Xi’s call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (English report). Xi spoke about the UN going through “rare and complicated situations in recent years,” but said that multilateralism had ended up receiving more support as a consequence. He said: “all countries should act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, refrain from pursuing unilateralism and hegemonism, and should not use multilateralism as a pretext to form small circles or stir up ideological confrontation.”
Dealing with the pandemic remained the “most important task:” as per Xi, and in this, he called for the need to “strengthen cooperation and reject political manipulation.” He said that “major countries should set an example by providing more public goods,” before detailing China’s vaccine diplomacy. He then spoke about climate change, and BRI in the context of South-South cooperation.
Guterres, as per the report, basically congratulated the CCP on its centenary, the 50th anniversary of the PRC getting the UNSC seat, on poverty alleviation, on its climate change agenda and its support for the UN. He said “China is vital to the international multilateral system.”
Fourth, Xi’s call with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (English report). Xi spoke about cooperation on natural gas, adding that he views the bilateral relationship “from a strategic and long-term perspective.” He wants to work on energy cooperation, vaccine cooperation, boosting imports from Turkmenistan, connectivity, and digital and aerospace cooperation.
He said “China is ready to share with Turkmenistan the opportunities of China’s big market, so as to realize common development and prosperity of the two countries.”
Berdymukhamedov thanked Xi for supporting Turkmenistan’s “observance of the policy of permanent neutrality. The Turkmen side appreciates China's active efforts in maintaining world peace, security and stability and promoting the common development and prosperity of all countries.” He then spoke about closer political, economic and pandemic cooperation.
There’s one more story about Xi exchanging congratulatory messages with Gian Carlo Venturini and Marco Nicolini, captains regent of San Marino, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Next we get to the weekly State Council meeting (English report), where Li Keqiang focussed on stabilising grain production and ensuring food security. The story says that domestic production and imports had ensured “basic self-sufficiency in grain and absolute safety in rations.” Some of the decisions taken are:
to optimize supportive policies such as the minimum purchase price for rice and wheat and subsidizing maize and soybean production.
to provide wider farm insurance coverage and more work on preventing pests and disasters.
to safeguard crop purchases, improve crop storage facilities, and ramp up market regulation to stabilize grain supply and prices.
to create more high-quality farmland and prohibit the non-agricultural use of arable land. The goal is to build 100 million mu of high-standard farmland with high yield and stable yield this year.
central government investment and land transfer proceeds at provincial levels should prioritise grain producing counties
to establish a sound commercial breeding system, foster and expand seed industry enterprises, and support the development and promotion of practical and efficient agricultural machinery equipment.
The meeting also cleared the draft Audit Law of the People’s Republic of China, which now goes to the NPCSC.
Page 2: Only one story to note. According to the PBOC’s data, in Q1, inclusive finance loans increased by 1.96 trillion yuan ($302.9 billion), 925.9 billion yuan more than the same period. By the end of March, outstanding inclusive finance loans stood at 23.46 trillion yuan, up 28 percent year-on-year. Inclusive finance lending includes loans to micro, small and self-employed businesses, farmers, students and people living in poverty.
inclusive small and micro loans was 16.67 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%
farmers’ production and operation loans balance was 6.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.6%;
entrepreneurship guarantee loans balance was 226.5 billion yuan, an increase of 49.4%
student loans balance was 127.7 billion yuan, an increase of 10.5%
Page 3: Much of the coverage on the page is about the expo. I am not covering those. Instead, there is a report about the economic friction with Australia. This is basically the Foreign Ministry’s comment on the NDRC’s decision that I covered yesterday. Wang Wenbin said:
“mutual respect and mutual trust is the prerequisite of dialogue and practical cooperation between countries. For some time, the Australian side, in disregard of China's solemn position and repeated representations, doubled down on restriction and suppression of China-Australia cooperation projects in trade, culture and people-to-people exchanges by falsely citing "national security" reasons. This has severely damaged mutual trust and undermined the foundation for normal exchange and cooperation. China has no other choice but to make necessary and legitimate responses. The Australian side must take all responsibility for this. We urge the Australian side to cast aside the Cold-War mentality and ideological bias, view China's development and China-Australia cooperation in a truly objective light, return to the rational track without further delay and correct its mistakes. It should stop the insane suppression targeting China-Australia cooperation, stop politicizing and stigmatizing normal exchange, and stop going further down the wrong path.”
Next is Wang Wenbin’s comment on the G7 statement, which I covered yesterday too. In this, Wang says that the G7 “meeting launched groundless accusations against China, blatantly interfered in China's internal affairs and engaged in anachronistic bloc politics. This is gross interference in China's sovereignty…”
He added: “Issues concerning Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong are all China's domestic affairs. China's sovereignty, rights and interests over the Diaoyu Dao, its affiliated islands, islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters are rooted in ample factual and legal basis. The participation of China's Taiwan region in activities of international organizations, including the WHO, which consists of sovereign nations, must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle. This is an important principle established by UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1.”
And then this: “In the context of COVID-19, G7 finds within its membership the worst-stricken and the most medically-advanced nations. As such, it is naturally expected to focus on international cooperation in fighting the virus and promoting the equitable distribution of vaccines, instead of hoarding vaccines at home while offering merely superficial lip service when it comes to helping other countries in need. Still less should it blame others or meddle in their efforts in a condescending manner to undermine the top international priority of jointly fighting the pandemic. The G7 claims to be a grouping of democracies, but as a latest poll suggests respondents in 53 countries and regions see the US as the top threat to global democracy, we haven't seen any comment or action from the G7.”
Page 4: Like yesterday, today too we have two historical figures discussed on the page. First is a piece about He Shuheng, a close friend of Mao Zedong. Together they formed the Xinmin Society, “and in 1920 jointly initiated the establishment of the early Communist Party organization in Hunan.” The piece briefly talks about his career and then his death in battle in Changting, Fujian, in 1935. Interestingly, the piece does not mention the Kuomintang, fighting against whom he died. But I guess that should be public knowledge among the intended readers. The story ends with how He’s former residence is today a museum that attracts tens of thousands of red tourists every year.
The other individual covered today is Deng Enming. The story informs that Deng “participated in the establishment of the early Communist Party organization in Jinan. In July of the same year, Deng Enming and Wang Jinmei went to Shanghai to attend the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China and participated in the founding of the Communist Party of China. After the meeting, he returned to Jinan to establish the Shandong branch of the Communist Party of China and served as a branch member.” That’s actually the dull bit of the story. The rest of it talks about Deng moving up the ranks, getting imprisoned, attempting escapes and then eventually being executed in Jinan city. The piece finally talks about how he sang The Internationale as an act of defiance, while he was being executed.
Back to present times, we have a report on Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi’s visit to Yunnan from May 3 to 6. The report says that he visited “border checkpoints, basic public security units and border ports in Kunming, Pu'er, Dehong, Baoshan and Menglian for investigation.”
“He demanded that it be the fundamental task to thoroughly understand Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, unremittingly use the party’s innovative theories to arm the mind, guide practice, and promote work, and educate and guide the public security officers to continuously improve their political judgment and political understanding. We will continue to strengthen our belief in Marxism and communism, our belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and our confidence in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
He spoke about the recertification program that’s underway, highlighting the need to “resolutely eliminate black sheep, rectify stubborn diseases, and continuously promote education rectification in a deeper and more practical way.”