Xi's Agenda for Western Region's Development - Wind & Solar Account for 37.3% of China's Power Generation Capacity - Previewing Blinken's China Visit
Here are the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People's Daily’s edition on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Page 1: The dominant story on the page is about Xi Jinping attending a symposium on the development of China’s western region, during his visit to Chongqing. Li Qiang, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attended the event.
Among the people who spoke were:
NDRC Director Zheng Shajie
Chongqing Party Secretary Yuan Jiajun
Sichuan Party Secretary Wang Xiaohui
Shaanxi Party Secretary Zhao Yide
Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui
They reported their work and put forward opinions and suggestions on promoting the development of the western region. The main responsible comrades from other provinces and regions and the XPCC who participated in the symposium submitted written speeches.
In his speech, Xi said that over the past five years, significant results have been achieved in the western region in terms of ecological and environmental protection and restoration; its high-quality development capabilities have been significantly improved; the construction of an open economic pattern has been accelerated; people’s living standards have steadily improved, and the battle against poverty has been won as scheduled. But, he added, it should be noted that the development of the western region still faces many difficulties and challenges, which must be effectively researched and resolved. 听取大家发言后，习近平发表了重要讲话。他指出，党中央对新时代推进西部大开发形成新格局作出部署5年来，西部地区生态环境保护修复取得重大成效，高质量发展能力明显提升，开放型经济格局加快构建，基础设施条件大为改观，人民生活水平稳步提高，如期打赢脱贫攻坚战，同全国一道全面建成小康社会，踏上了全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程。同时要看到，西部地区发展仍面临不少困难和挑战，要切实研究解决.
Xi’s advice is to:
“Adhere to the development of characteristic advantageous industries (or industries that leverage local strengths) as the main direction, develop emerging industries according to local conditions, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of industries in western region. Strengthen the in-depth integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, actively cultivate, introduce and make good use of high-level scientific and technological innovation talents, and strive for breakthroughs in a batch of core technologies in key fields. Deepen cooperation in scientific and technological innovation among the eastern, central, and western regions, build a national independent innovation demonstration zone and a demonstration zone for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Accelerate the technological transformation of traditional industries, promote the renewal and transformation of equipment in key industries, promote the upgrading, quality improvement and efficiency improvement of traditional advantageous industries, and improve the efficiency of comprehensive resource utilization and the degree of intensive processing of products. Promote the integrated development of central enterprises and the western region. Make tourism and other service industries into regional pillar industries. Develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, explore and develop modern manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, map out plans for developing industries of the future to nurture new growth drivers for the region.” 习近平强调，要坚持把发展特色优势产业作为主攻方向，因地制宜发展新兴产业，加快西部地区产业转型升级。强化科技创新和产业创新深度融合，积极培养引进用好高层次科技创新人才，努力攻克一批关键核心技术。深化东中西部科技创新合作，建好国家自主创新示范区、科技成果转移转化示范区。加快传统产业技术改造，推进重点行业设备更新改造，推动传统优势产业升级、提质、增效，提高资源综合利用效率和产品精深加工度。促进中央企业与西部地区融合发展。把旅游等服务业打造成区域支柱产业。因地制宜发展新质生产力，探索发展现代制造业和战略性新兴产业，布局建设未来产业，形成地区发展新动能.
In the next paragraph, Xi calls to build a “solid national ecological security barrier.” Under this, he called to “strengthen ecological environment zoning management and control, accelerate the promotion of major projects to protect and restore important ecosystems, and win the three landmark battles of the ‘Three Norths’ project.” He also talked about improving fire prevention and fighting capabilities, along with pollution control. “Vigorously promote the energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation of traditional industries, and promote the clean and efficient use of coal in an orderly manner. Improve the ecological product value realization mechanism and the horizontal ecological protection compensation mechanism.” 习近平指出，要坚持以高水平保护支撑高质量发展，筑牢国家生态安全屏障。优化国土空间开发保护格局，加强生态环境分区管控，加快推进重要生态系统保护和修复重大工程，打好“三北”工程三大标志性战役。强化生态资源保护，加强森林草原防灭火能力建设，深化重点区域、重点领域污染防治。大力推动传统产业节能降碳改造，有序推进煤炭清洁高效利用。完善生态产品价值实现机制和横向生态保护补偿机制.
In the next paragraph, he talks about improving the western region’s level of opening up both internally and externally. He said that “it is imperative to promote the construction of the new western land-sea corridor, and advance the development and openness of regions along the corridor to help them deeply integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative. Improve the layout of various industrial parks, border economic cooperation zones, and cross-border economic cooperation zones in border areas, and promote the high-quality development of pilot free trade zones. Steadily expand institutional opening-up and create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. Take a more proactive approach to serving and aligning with major regional strategies, actively integrate into the construction of a unified national market, innovate the docking mechanism of open platforms in the eastern, central, and western regions, and deepen pragmatic cooperation with the eastern, central, and northeastern regions.” 习近平强调，要坚持以大开放促进大开发，提高西部地区对内对外开放水平。大力推进西部陆海新通道建设，推动沿线地区开发开放，深度融入共建“一带一路”。完善沿边地区各类产业园区、边境经济合作区、跨境经济合作区布局，推动自贸试验区高质量发展。稳步扩大制度型开放，打造市场化法治化国际化营商环境。更加主动服务对接区域重大战略，积极融入全国统一大市场建设，创新东中西部开放平台对接机制，深化与东中部、东北地区务实合作.
“Xi Jinping pointed out that we must persist in coordinating development and security and improve security capabilities in key areas such as energy resources. Accelerate the construction of a new energy system and make a number of important national energy bases bigger and stronger. Strengthen the interconnection of pipeline networks and enhance the capacity for ‘transmitting electricity from the west to the east.’ Strengthen the planning, control, and large-scale intensive development and utilization of mineral resources, and accelerate the formation of a group of national-level mineral resource extraction and processing bases. Improve the level of water resource security. Innovate cross-regional industrial collaboration and optimize layout mechanisms, and undertake the gradient transfer of industries in an orderly manner. Vigorously promote the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, actively cultivate urban clusters, develop and strengthen a group of sub-provincial central cities, and promote the interconnection of infrastructure and sharing of public services between cities.” 习近平指出，要坚持统筹发展和安全，提升能源资源等重点领域安全保障能力。加快建设新型能源体系，做大做强一批国家重要能源基地。加强管网互联互通，提升“西电东送”能力。加强矿产资源规划管控和规模化集约化开发利用，加快形成一批国家级矿产资源开采和加工基地。提高水资源安全保障水平。创新跨地区产业协作和优化布局机制，有序承接产业梯度转移。大力推进成渝地区双城经济圈建设，积极培育城市群，发展壮大一批省域副中心城市，促进城市间基础设施联通、公共服务共享.
In the next paragraph, Xi calls to promote new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization in a coordinated way, and to safeguard and improve people's well-being in the course of development. In addition, he calls to “cultivate a number of strong agricultural counties, large industrial counties, and famous tourism counties”; protecting farmlands and stabilizing the production and supply of important agricultural products to ensure food security; develop the Fengqiao Experience in the new era; regularize the crackdown on criminal gangs; work to change customs as part of promoting spiritual civilization, etc.
The next paragraph is important:
“Xi Jinping pointed out that we must persist in building a strong sense of Chinese national community and effectively safeguard national unity and stability in the border areas. Ethnic minority areas must implement the awareness of the Chinese national community into the entire process and all aspects of development.” In addition, he talks about addressing urgent livelihood concerns and building social security. “Comprehensively and accurately implement the Party's ethnic policies, accelerate the construction of a society with integrated social structures and community environments, and promote exchanges and integration among people of all ethnic groups. Comprehensively implement the Party’s basic principles on religious work, adhere to the sinicization of religion in China, and continuously crack down on illegal religious activities. Deepen the action to revitalize border areas and enrich the people in the new era, strengthen the construction of infrastructure and public service facilities in border areas, develop industries such as border tourism, and strive to achieve prosperity for the people living in border areas, beauty at the borders, stability along the borders, and solid border defense.” 习近平指出，要坚持铸牢中华民族共同体意识，切实维护民族团结和边疆稳定。民族地区要把铸牢中华民族共同体意识贯彻到发展的全过程和各方面。紧贴民生推动经济社会发展，健全社会保障体系，兜牢民生底线，着力解决群众急难愁盼问题。全面准确贯彻党的民族政策，加快建设互嵌式社会结构和社区环境，促进各族群众交往交流交融。全面贯彻党的宗教工作基本方针，坚持我国宗教中国化方向，持续治理非法宗教活动。深入推进新时代兴边富民行动，加强边境地区基础设施和公共服务设施建设，发展边境旅游等产业，努力实现边民富、边关美、边境稳、边防固.
Li Qiang and Ding Xuexiang then spoke. I am going to rely on Xinhua English to capture the summary of their comments:
“Li said that the development of the western region should be planned and promoted during the process of Chinese modernization, and targeted measures should be taken in a region-specific and category-based manner. He urged coordinated efforts to both defuse local government debt risks and ensure stable development, expand opening up both within the country and to the outside world, align the development of the western region to other regional development strategies, and engage the western region in the international circulation. Ding demanded continued steps to prevent and control pollution in an accurate, scientific and law-based approach to further improve the ecology and the environment. He also called for action to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of economic growth, develop new quality productive forces in a region-specific manner, and actively yet prudently work toward peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality.”
Next, there’s a report informing that data released by the National Energy Administration on April 22nd showed that as of the end of March, China’s cumulative installed power generation capacity was approximately 2.99 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%.
Among this, the installed capacity of solar power generation is approximately 660 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 55%; the installed capacity of wind power generation is approximately 460 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%.” In other words, solar and wind account for approximately 37.3% of the total.
Finally, there’s a report covering the developments at the first plenary of the ninth session of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC. Xinhua reports:
“Lawmakers reviewed a draft academic degrees law, a draft tariff law, a draft revision to the Law on National Defense Education, a draft amendment to the Accounting Law, and a draft amendment to the Statistics Law. They reviewed a draft energy law, a draft atomic energy law, a draft revision to the Anti-Money Laundering Law, and a package of draft amendments to three laws including the Law on the Popularization of Agricultural Technology. The session deliberated a draft decision on authorizing the State Council to temporarily adjust the application of related provisions of the Food Safety Law in the Hainan Free Trade Port, four treaties with other countries relating to judicial assistance in criminal affairs and extradition, three reports on environmental protection, state-owned assets and deputy qualification, as well as personnel-related bills”.
Page 3: Let’s first look at the previews of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming visit to China.
First, ahead of the visit, a senior official from the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry briefed the media. The points made are worth noting:
“In the phone call between the two presidents on April 2, President Joe Biden told President Xi Jinping that the United States would send Secretary Blinken to visit China. The Chinese side welcomed the visit…Under the strategic guidance of the two presidents, China-U.S. relations started to stabilize. On the other hand, there are still significant negative factors in the bilateral relationship. The United States continues pushing forward the strategy of containing China and keeps adopting erroneous words and actions that interfere in China's internal affairs, smear China's image and undermine China's interests. China resolutely opposes such moves and has taken strong countermeasures.”
“The Chinese side always views and handles its relations with the United States in accordance with the three fundamental principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Regarding China-U.S. relations in 2024, the Chinese side will follow three overarching principles: peace must be valued, stability must be prioritized, and credibility must be upheld.”
The official then highlighted five goals for Beijing during Blinken’s visit:
First, establishing the right perception. “Whether China and the United States are rivals or partners is a fundamental issue, on which there must not be any catastrophic mistake. China always believes that major-country competition is neither the prevailing trend of the current times nor the solution to the problems facing China, the United States and the world. The two big countries of China and the United States should not cut off their ties or turn their backs on each other, still less slide into conflict or confrontation. China-U.S. relations should be stabilized and strengthened and continue moving forward in a stable, sound and sustainable way. At the same time, China has interests that must be safeguarded, principles that must be upheld and red lines that must not be crossed. President Biden noted on many occasions that the United States does not seek a new Cold War, its objective is not to change China's system or curtail China's development, its alliances are not targeted against China, the United States does not support ‘Taiwan independence’, and the United States does not seek conflict with China or ‘decoupling’ from China. The official added that China urges the U.S. side to honor President Biden's above commitments with concrete actions and work with the Chinese side to turn the San Francisco vision into reality, rather than continue to contain and suppress China in the name of competition. The diplomatic teams of the two sides will continue their discussions on the guiding principles of China-U.S. relations based on the seven-point common understandings already reached, i.e., both countries treating each other with respect and finding a way to live alongside each other peacefully, maintaining open lines of communication, preventing conflict, upholding the U.N. Charter, cooperating in areas of shared interests and responsibly managing competitive aspects of the relationship.”
“Second, strengthening dialogue. Since the San Francisco summit, China and the United States have had a series of important engagements at different levels and in various fields. Senior officials in charge of foreign affairs and security, economy and finance, climate change, law enforcement, agriculture and culture have stayed in contact through visits, talks, phone calls and working group meetings. Military-to-military communication was restored. The 20-plus consultation mechanisms established or restored after the San Francisco summit are brought to bear. China remains open to dialogue and communication. The U.S. side must realize that it cannot seek communication just for the sake of communication; it must not say one thing but do the opposite; and it should be under no illusion that it can deal with China from a so-called ‘position of strength.’ The so-called U.S. alliance system is a product of the Cold War and reflects the outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game where one side thrives at the expense of others. The United States is obsessed with bringing its allies into small circles against China. The move runs counter to the trend of the times. It will find no support and will lead nowhere.”
“Third, effectively managing disagreements. There have been and will continue to be disagreements between China and the United States. But disagreements should not be allowed to dominate China-U.S. relations, and the relationship should be put under whole-process management. In particular, the United States must not cross China's red lines on Taiwan, democracy and human rights, paths and systems, and the right to development. The Chinese side is determined to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests and will make clear its solemn positions and demands on various issues, such as Taiwan, economy and trade, science and technology, and the South China Sea.”
“The Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. Taiwan is part of China. The Taiwan question is China's internal affair. Peace across the Taiwan Straits and ‘Taiwan independence’ are as irreconcilable as fire and water. The biggest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits is the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities and external encouragement and support for them; China is not going to sit on its hands. The Chinese side firmly opposes the recent erroneous words and actions of the U.S. side on the Taiwan question and urges the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, honor President Biden's commitments with concrete actions, oppose ‘Taiwan independence,’ stop arming Taiwan, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and support China's peaceful reunification.”
“The U.S. has been ramping up efforts to curtail China's economic, trade and technological development, with new measures being rolled out in such forms as export control, investment screening and unilateral sanctions. This gravely undermines the interests of China. Such moves are not de-risking but instead creating risks. The so-called ‘overcapacity’ is a misleading narrative hyped up by the U.S. side packaged in economic concepts. The real intention is to kneecap China's industrial development and put the U.S. in a more advantageous position in market competition. It's another example of outright economic coercion and bullying.” The official also lashed out at Section 301 investigations in the US.
“China firmly opposes U.S. attempts to meddle in the South China Sea and sow discord between China and ASEAN. China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands and their adjacent waters. China will continue to properly handle maritime issues with relevant parties through dialogue and consultation and jointly maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests must not be violated, and China's determination to safeguard its lawful rights remains unwavering. China and the U.S. have established consultation mechanisms on maritime affairs and Asia-Pacific affairs, through which dialogue can be carried out between the two sides. That said, the U.S. is not a party to the South China Sea issue. It should not interfere, still less stir up trouble.”
“Fourth, promoting mutually beneficial cooperation. Over the past months, the two sides have made some progress in the areas of counternarcotics, law enforcement, science and technology, artificial intelligence, agriculture, health and climate change. There are now more direct flights linking the two countries, close exchanges between business communities and between provinces and states, active engagements between young Chinese and Americans and frequent cultural and sports interactions. Cooperation on giant panda conservation is well underway. This has demonstrated that China and the U.S. share extensive common interests and can both benefit from cooperation. It also proves that the hope of the China-U.S. relationship lies in the people, its foundation is in our societies, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from exchanges at sub-national levels.” On the Fentanyl issue, the official said that this is “not a problem in China, nor is it caused by China.”
Fifth, working together to fulfill responsibilities as major countries. Under this, the official said:
“The U.S. should join other U.N. member states in fulfilling due international responsibilities, supporting UNSC Resolution 2728, and pushing for an early full ceasefire in Gaza to end the plight of the Palestinian people.”
On Ukraine: The US should “reflect on its due responsibilities in the Ukraine crisis, not add fuel to the fire or exploit the crisis for selfish gains. It should not smear the normal relations between China and Russia or instigate bloc confrontation, but still less slander and scapegoat China. The U.S. side should also immediately stop the arbitrary imposition of unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals. The Ukraine issue is not an issue between China and the United States. The U.S. side should not turn it into one.”
On the Indo-Pacific: “The deployment of the Mid-Range Capability missile system in the Philippines exacerbates tensions in the region and heightens the risk of misjudgment and miscalculation. The trilateral security partnership of AUKUS is focused on advancing nuclear submarine development in the region, substantially increasing the risk of proliferation and aggravating the arms race. The Asia-Pacific is no one's backyard and should not be an arena for big-power rivalry. China urges the U.S. side to respect the security concerns of other countries as well as efforts by regional countries to safeguard peace and stability, rise above the Cold War mentality, stop inciting military tensions or bloc confrontation, and stop forging small circles aimed at containing China in China's neighborhood.”
On human rights: “The United States should not use human rights as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs. Human rights are not the monopoly of any country.”
On reports of Chinese students in the US being harassed: “China will continue to urge the U.S. side to stop poisoning the atmosphere in the two societies, stop obstructing friendly exchanges between the two peoples, rectify its wrong practices, conduct thorough investigations into relevant cases and make things right for the victims.”
Also today, the paper is carrying a Zhong Sheng commentary, which discusses the announcement of a Section 301 investigation into China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries. It says that the US has also “threatened to take new restrictive measures, including increased tariffs, on Chinese steel and aluminum products.”
“This kind of unilateralism and protectionism by the United States will not only damage the economic and trade relations between China and the United States, but also undermine the stability and development of the global economy.”
The author argues that the case is full of “false accusations”, “lacks factual basis” and “goes against economic common sense”. “The U.S. application regards so-called ‘unfair trade practices by China’ as the ‘biggest obstacle’ to the revival of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. However, as the US has admitted, currently, commercial ships produced in the U.S. only account for 1% of the global commercial fleet. Its ranking has fallen from the first place in 1975 to 19th currently. Multiple research reports indicate that the U.S. shipbuilding industry lost its competitive advantage many years ago due to excessive protectionism.” 美方发起针对中国海事、物流和造船业301调查的申请书中充斥大量不实指责，将正常贸易投资活动曲解为损害美国国家安全和企业利益，将自身产业问题归咎于中国，既缺乏事实依据，也有悖经济常识。美方申请书将所谓“中国不公平贸易行为”视作美国造船业复兴的“最大障碍”。但正如美方自己所言，当前美国生产的商业船舶仅占全球商业船舶的1%，排名已从1975年的第一位降至当前的第十九位。多份研究报告显示，美国造船业因过度保护在多年前就已失去竞争优势。英国《金融时报》日前刊文指出，美国造船业的萎缩是多重因素作用的结果，包括造船厂和建造能力空心化、船舶工程师和熟练工人减少、全球竞争力下降等.
“The United States provides hundreds of billions of dollars in discriminatory subsidies to its own industries, but accuses China of adopting so-called ‘non-market practices’, which is simply untenable. In fact, the development of China's industries is the result of technological innovation and active participation in market competition by enterprises. Take the shipbuilding industry as an example: Chinese shipbuilding companies have strengthened technological innovation, accelerated high-end, intelligent, and green development, actively participated in market competition, honed their skills in the global market, and the development of China's shipbuilding industry is a natural result of international industrial and comparative advantage development in China.” 美方为本国产业提供数以千亿计美元的歧视性补贴，却指责中方采取所谓“非市场做法”，根本站不住脚。事实上，中国产业的发展是企业技术创新和积极参与市场竞争的结果。以造船业为例，中国造船企业强化科技创新，加快高端化、智能化、绿色化发展，积极参与市场竞争，在世界市场中磨砺进取，中国造船业的发展是国际产业和中国比较优势发展的自然结果.
The article adds:
“The U.S., under the pretext of ‘national security’, politicizes economic and trade issues, formulates discriminatory industrial policies, and artificially imposes numerous trade barriers. This approach will only harm others and not benefit itself.” 美方以“国家安全”为由，将经贸问题政治化，制定歧视性产业政策，人为设置大量贸易壁垒，只会损人不利己。The shipping industry is responsible for more than 80% of global trade transportation tasks and is crucial to global trade and economic growth. The United States' trade bullying practices will not only fail to solve its own chronic problems, but will also disrupt the global industrial and supply chains and hinder the healthy development of the world economy. 航运业承担了超过80%的全球贸易运输任务，对全球贸易和经济增长至关重要。美国的贸易霸凌做法不仅解决不了自身的沉疴痼疾，而且会扰乱全球产业链供应链，阻碍世界经济健康发展.
The article ends by saying that:
“China is willing to develop relations with the United States based on the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, and at the same time will continue to resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests. The United States should face up to its own problems, stop abusing unilateral trade measures, immediately cancel the additional tariffs imposed on China, and return to the rules-based multilateral trading system as soon as possible.” 中方愿本着相互尊重、和平共处、合作共赢三原则发展对美关系，同时将继续坚决捍卫国家主权、安全和发展利益。美方应正视自身问题，停止滥用单边贸易措施，立即取消对华加征关税，尽快回到以规则为基础的多边贸易体制中来.
Also on the page is a brief report on an article by David Fickling in Bloomberg, who argues that tariff barriers on Chinese green tech imports are a “willful act of economic self-harm.” In addition, the paper has published MoFA’s Wang Wenbin’s comments on the State Department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
“Year after year, the US creates so-called human rights reports that are filled with political lies and ideological biases on China. We strongly reject this. The Chinese people have the best say on the human rights situation in China. China made history by eliminating absolute poverty. We practice whole-process people’s democracy and provide the world’s largest education system, social security system and medical care system in China. The Chinese people’s sense of gain, happiness and security keeps getting stronger. We have found a path toward better human rights that reflects the trend of the times and fits our national realities. A Harvard University survey conducted over a period of more than 10 years straight shows that the Chinese government’s satisfaction rate among the people stayed above 90 percent. In this so-called Human Rights Reports, the US criticized the human rights situation of nearly 200 countries and regions and yet said nothing about the US itself. This is just another case of double standard. The hegemonic, domineering and bullying nature of the US and its selfishness and hypocrisy are on clear display. If the US truly cares about human rights, it should take seriously and properly address domestic gun violence, drug abuse, racial discrimination and other violations of human rights and dignity. It should face up to and reflect on its intervention operations in other countries and human rights catastrophes resulting from the US provision of weapons and fanning the flames in regional conflicts. The US, turning a blind eye to over 110,000 civilian casualties in Gaza, vetoed the UN Security Council’s efforts for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza four times in a roll. That alone says enough about how little human rights actually mean to the US and how it tramples on them. The world is not blind to US hegemonism imposed on the world in the name of human rights. The US needs to examine its own behavior. It needs to take care of its own problems first, stop lecturing others on human rights, stop pointing fingers at other countries’ human rights record, and stop meddling in other countries’ internal affairs, violating their human rights and planting conflicts and chaos in the name of human rights and democracy.”
It is really interesting to note that on the day that Blinken is set to visit, the paper barely talks about the positive aspects of ties. At the same time, ahead of Blinken’s visit, WSJ reports:
“The U.S. is drafting sanctions that threaten to cut some Chinese banks off from the global financial system, arming Washington’s top envoy with diplomatic leverage that officials hope will stop Beijing’s commercial support of Russia’s military production, according to people familiar with the matter. But as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Beijing on Tuesday, the question is whether even the threat of the U.S. using one of its most potent tools of financial coercion can put a dent in complex and burgeoning trade between Beijing and Moscow that has allowed the Kremlin to rebuild a military badly mauled by more than two years of fighting in Ukraine.”
The issue of Chinese support to Russia came up at MoFA’s press conference yesterday.
“Beijing Youth Daily: It is reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will tell his Chinese counterpart that the US and its allies are becoming increasingly impatient with Beijing’s refusal to stop providing Moscow with everything from chips to cruise missiles engines to help rebuild its industrial base during his visit to China. Blinken did not reveal what measures the US will take, but several people familiar with the situation said it is considering sanctions on Chinese financial institutions and other entities. What is your comment?
Wang Wenbin: The United States keeps making groundless accusations over the normal trade and economic exchanges between China and Russia, while passing a bill providing a large amount of aid for Ukraine. This is just hypocritical and highly irresponsible. China firmly rejects this. On Ukraine, China’s position has been just and objective. We have worked actively to promote talks for peace and a political settlement. The government oversees the export of dual-use articles in accordance with the laws and regulations. China is neither the creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a party to it. We never fan the flames or seek selfish gains, and we will certainly not accept being the scapegoat. Let me stress again that China’s right to conduct normal trade and economic exchanges with Russia and other countries in the world on the basis of equality and mutual benefit should not be interfered with or disrupted. China’s legitimate and lawful rights and interests should not be infringed on. The US needs to know that to fan the flames or to smear others and shift the blame is no way to solve the Ukraine issue. Only by accommodating the legitimate security concerns of all parties and creating a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security architecture through dialogue and negotiation is the right way forward.”
Moving on, there’s a report on a CCP delegation led by Chen Zhou, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, visiting Belarus. Xinhua reports that the delegation “held meetings with Chairman of the House of Representatives Igor Sergeyenko and First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus Maksim Ryzhenkov, respectively. Discussions were also held between the delegation and leaders of major Belarusian political parties, local authorities, and heads of think tanks. During the meetings, the delegation briefed the Belarusian side about Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and exchanged views on China-Belarus relations and cooperation in various fields.”
Page 7: There’s a report on the CAC launching a two-month nationwide special action to crack down on self-media. Global Times has a detailed report:
“The campaign is designated to crack down on influencers’ boundless behavior of rubbing and creating heated spots, which mix virtuality with reality. It will rigorously rectify influencers who disregard public interest, violate morals in order to gain public attention. It will target self-directed fabricating stories, such as unscrupulous manipulation of trending social news, international and domestic news, and indiscriminate distribution of vulgar news to fool netizens and sabotage the internet environment. Hyping of trendy social events will also be targeted, such as counterfeiting as relatives of people involved in certain popular social events or publishing distorted causality of an incident. Publications with click-baits will be cracked down. For example, if a self-media describes a certain individual incident as a general phenomenon and exaggerates negative narratives to amplify negative emotions. Behaviors such as spreading extreme opinions, stirring up group opposition, and undermining social consensus will be targeted.”
“The CAC’s campaign requires platforms to verify ID numbers and other real identity information on profit-making accounts, with strict implementation of the ‘one account per person, two accounts per enterprise’. The use of AI and other technology-generated information must also be clearly labeled as technology-generated to strengthen the display of information source labeling. The campaign asks self-media accounts to accurately indicate the source of information when publishing news related to domestic and international current affairs, public policies, social events, etc.”
Another report on the page announces the beginning of the 2024 Fox Hunt operation.