Xi's Caribbean Diplomacy - 2021 Economic Data - Party History Texts - Human Rights Push

Mar 17, 2021

Here’s a breakdown of the key pieces from the People’s Daily’s March 17, 2021 edition.

Page 1: A bunch of reports to note on the front page today. Let’s begin with Xi Jinping’s conversations with the leaders of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. The one bit that sticks out in both reports is that Xi eyes these relationships as important from the point of view of China’s clout at the UN.

Xinhua English’s report is the same as PD. It informs that Xi told Guyanese President Irfaan Ali that “the two countries earnestly respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, promote Belt and Road cooperation, and expand win-win collaboration in such areas as energy and infrastructure.” He also promised help on vaccines and development and desires “a positive role of Guyana in promoting cooperation between China and Caribbean countries as a whole.”

In contrast, Ali, Xinhua says, spoke to “express appreciation for China's generous assistance to Guyana in its fight against the pandemic, and for China's leading role in a series of global issues.” It basically reports that Ali agreed with everything Xi wanted, and also pledged support for the “one-China principle.”

Next up, Xi spoke to Prime Minister Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago. Again, Xinhua English’s report is the same as PD’s. Xi called for cooperation in areas like “energy, telecommunications and infrastructure” and to “actively explore collaboration in new energy, digital economy, interconnectivity and other new areas.” Xinhua’s report then says this:

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, Xi stressed, adding that China will never forget the valuable support of Trinidad and Tobago. He expressed appreciation for Trinidad and Tobago's support to China's legitimate positions over issues related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan. China stands ready to reinforce collaboration with Trinidad and Tobago in international and multilateral affairs, safeguard common interests of developing countries and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said.”

Xinhua then tells us that Rowley then kissed the ring - well just about. It says that he congratulated the CCP on its 100th anniversary, “underlining the great achievements of the Chinese people” under the Party. He then praised Xi’s “strong leadership,” China’s “valuable support and help” to other countries, and its “leading role in the global fight against the pandemic.”

He then apparently said this: “The CPC should feel proud of itself.”

Finally, he committed to the “one-China principle” and to working together on BRI and other areas.

Okay, next a notice that the General Office of the Communist Party has decided to issue a new medal. This will be for members who have completed five decades of party membership as of July 1, 2021. So the Party bureaucracy is being asked to hunt for people and verify their records. Fourth, PSC member Han Zheng led a meeting of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Leading Group. He called for accelerating transport infrastructure construction, the construction of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei rail connectivity, improving the regional highway network, and improving the management of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei airport group and port group. He wants steady progress on easing Beijing’s non-capital functions and promoting the construction of Xiong’an New Area.

Fifth, the National Bureau of Statistics put out information on the Chinese economy for the Jan-Feb period. To be fair, the PD report does actually give comparisons from 2019 data, and does not engage in triumphalism based on the low 2020 base. The report says that:

Industrial output rose 35.1% in the first two months from a year earlier. This is an increase of 16.9% over the January-February 2019.
Service industry production index increased by 31.1% year-on-year. This is an increase of 14.1% from January to February 2019, and an average growth rate of 6.8% over the two years.
Retail sales increased 33.8%, faster than the forecast of 32%. This is an increase of 6.4% over the first two months of 2019, and an average growth of 3.2% over the two years.
Fixed asset investment increased by 35.0% year-on-year, and 3.5% from January to February 2019. A Hindustan Times report on this explains further that “Private-sector fixed-asset investment, which makes up 60% of total investment, rose 36.4% in January-February, versus a 1.0% increase for the full year of 2020.”
Surveyed unemployment for Feb was at 5.5%.
Electricity consumption of the whole society increased by 22.2% year-on-year, and the two-year average growth rate was 6.1%.
February’s manufacturing PMI was 50.6 and non-manufacturing PMI was 51.4.
The report adds that “From January to February, the two-year average growth rate of the added value of the high-tech manufacturing industry and the equipment manufacturing industry was 13% and 10.2%, respectively.” Robotics and new energy vehicles get a special mention here.

Finally, there was a meeting in Beijing on Party history organised by the Central Propaganda Department, the Central Organization Department, the Central Party History and Documentation Research Institute, the Central and State Organ Working Committee, the Ministry of Education, the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, and the Beijing Municipal Committee. PD says that some 700 people attended the meeting. Qu Qingshan, a member of the Central Propaganda Group and Dean of the Central Party History and Documentation Research Institute, presented a report at the meeting. He spoke about promoting Xi Thought in this context with the aim of enhancing the “four confidences,” which then leads to the aim of the “two maintenances.” Qu wants everyone in the Party to understanding the significance of learning history. He said that “we must strive to effectively transform the various goals and tasks of party history learning and education into common understanding and firm action.” The propaganda department will now go around the country to give lectures on this.

Page 2: PD reports that there’s big money going to go into airport building during the 14th FYP. It says that “by 2025, we will strive for national transportation airports. The designed capacity will reach 2 billion passengers, and more than 30 transportation airports will be added across the country.”

Another report talks about China’s energy resources expansion since 2010-11. The data is from the Ministry of Natural Resources and was released in late February. The report says that oil and gas discovered in the past decade reached 10.1 billion tons and 6.85 trillion cubic meters respectively, accounting for 25% and 45% of the total explored sum since 1949. In the past decade, 17 oil fields were discovered, each with 100 million tons capacity, and 21 gas fields, each with 100 billion cubic meters of gas. 32 new non-oil and gas mineral resource bases were formed.

The exploration focus for these resources is now Western China and the sea. The report says “In 2020, oil and gas production in the sea accounted for about 1/4 of the national oil and gas production. 32 new non-oil and gas mineral resource bases were formed in the country, 25 of which are located in the west.”

Page 3: A few pieces to note on the page. A commentary pushing Beijing’s view on human rights. “Recently, China, on behalf of more than 100 countries, delivered a joint speech at the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for the people-centered approach to effectively respond to the impact” of the pandemic. In making this pitch, the piece talks about China’s poverty alleviation, social security system, China’s COVID-19 containment and pandemic diplomacy as examples of its “people-centered approach” on human rights.

Then we have this:

“The cause of human rights in the world needs to be promoted by just forces. At the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on the one hand, Belarus made a joint statement on behalf of 71 countries, supporting China’s position and measures on Hong Kong-related issues, and opposed Western countries’ interference in China’s internal affairs through Hong Kong-related issues; the representative of Cuba 64 countries made joint speeches, admiring the Chinese government's adherence to the people-centered concept, supporting China’s position on Xinjiang-related issues, and urging relevant parties to stop using Xinjiang-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs. On the other hand, representatives of several developing countries made a joint speech, condemning the Western countries’ unilateral coercive measures that seriously violated human rights and urged them to immediately abolish unilateral coercive measures; Belarus spoke on behalf of many countries, pointing out that the United Kingdom and EU countries have systematic human rights violations, including hate speech, glorification of Nazism, racial discrimination, violations of the rights of immigrants, refugees, indigenous people and other minorities. The voices of justice in the international community have fully demonstrated that justice is in the hearts of the people on the issue of human rights.”

Next, there’s a piece by the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia. He basically talks about engagement between the two countries in the context of the pandemic, and highlights the positive impact of the pandemic on bilateral ties. Then he says this: “‘See the truth in adversity’” and ‘Thanks to Chinese friends’ have become high-frequency vocabulary on Cambodian social platforms.” There’s also a report on the page about the King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni, visiting the site of the first CCP Congress.

Page 7: There’s a commentary on studying Party history. The author, Sheng Yulei, writs that “we must use the party’s glorious tradition and fine style to strengthen our beliefs and gather strength, increase our belief in Marxism, our belief in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and our confidence in realizing the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation...We must transform our learning achievements into unshakable ideals and beliefs, into correct world outlooks, life outlooks, and values, and use our beliefs and confidence to illuminate the road of struggle…”

He adds: “we must continue to strengthen the spirit of struggle and improve the ability to fight, so as not to get lost in the face of complex situations and not to shrink back in the face of arduous struggles. No matter how the conditions of the times change, we must always stick to the truth, stick to the right way, stick to the principles, stick to the rules, and be good at continuing the red tradition and inheriting the red gene from the history of the party.”

Why is all this interesting? Well because to me, it informs of an instrumental approach to history. In other words, history is an instrument to be used to shape the present. It is not to be studied and analysed for what it’s worth but to achieve present-day political objectives.

Tracking People's Daily

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