Xi Discusses Ukraine with Macron & Scholz - NPCSC & SPC Work Reports - Wang Yi Speaks to Borrell, Szijjarto & Qureshi
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy from the Wednesday, March 09, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: Let’s begin with Xi Jinping’s call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, discussing the Ukraine war. Xinhua English reports:
“Xi pointed out that the combined impact of major global changes and the pandemic, both unseen in a century, has brought multiple global challenges that need to be addressed through global cooperation. Noting that China and the EU share much common understanding on promoting peace, seeking development and advancing cooperation, Xi said that we need to shoulder our responsibility to bring more stability and certainty to a turbulent and fluid world. Xi said it is important for the two sides to enhance dialogue, stay committed to cooperation, and promote steady and sustained progress of China-EU relations. China's development will create broader space for China-EU cooperation, Xi said, adding that the two sides must, under the principle of mutual benefit and win-win, further deepen green and digital partnerships as well as practical cooperation in various fields. The two sides need to continue upholding multilateralism and advancing major global agenda, he added…The European side values the important and positive role of China in global affairs, and is willing to engage in close cooperation with China to jointly tackle climate change, public health and other major global challenges, they said. The two leaders said the European side is ready to work with China for a successful EU-China summit, and to move forward France-China, Germany-China and EU-China relations.
On Ukraine, the report says:
“Xi stressed that the current situation in Ukraine is worrisome, and the Chinese side is deeply grieved by the outbreak of war again on the European continent. China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be fully observed, the legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously, and all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis must be supported, he said. The pressing task at the moment is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even running out of control, Xi stressed. China commends the mediation efforts by France and Germany on Ukraine, he said, adding that China will stay in communication and coordination with France, Germany and the EU and, in light of the needs of the parties involved, work actively together with the international community. Xi emphasized that we need to jointly support the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and encourage the two sides to keep the momentum of negotiations, overcome difficulties, keep the talks going and bring about peaceful outcomes. We need to call for maximum restraint to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis, Xi said, adding that China has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and stands ready to provide Ukraine with further humanitarian aid supplies. We need to work together to reduce the negative impact of the crisis, Xi said, adding that relevant sanctions will affect global finance, energy, transportation and stability of supply chains, and dampen the global economy that is already ravaged by the pandemic. And this is in the interest of no one. We need to actively advocate a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, Xi said. China supports France and Germany in promoting a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework for the interests and lasting security of Europe, and by upholding its strategic autonomy, he said. China will be pleased to see equal-footed dialogue among the EU, Russia, the United States and NATO, Xi added.”
Quick thought: Now the question is whether Xi Jinping actually called the conflict a war. So the word that the Chinese language story uses is 战火 - zhàn huǒ. This is not new. Wang Yi had used the same term in the call with Blinken on March 5. And at that time, I had noted that Global Times had translated this as “crossfire” and Xinhua had translated it as “fighting.” Does the context or sentence change the meaning? Or could a more clearer term have been used?
Next, a report about the NPC holding its second plenary meeting on Tuesday. Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan attended the meeting. Three work reports were presented here. I’ll do a quick review of what this story says about Li Zhanshu’s work report on the tasks of the NPC Standing Committee. Some of the key points he mentioned are that in the past year, the NPCSC had:
further improved laws relating to the Constitution and safeguarded its supreme legal status, authority, and force.
moved faster to formulate and revise laws to provide legal safeguards for building a modern socialist nation in all respects. 17 laws have been enacted, 22 laws have been amended, and 10 decisions on legal issues and major issues have been made.
exercised more stringent and effective oversight and provided support and safeguards for deputies to perform their duties in accordance with the law. In this he talks about the effective performance of 一府一委两院 - one government, one committee and two courts.
guaranteed support for deputies so that they can play the role of being the people’s representatives
closely focused on the country’s overall diplomatic objectives and tasks, and promoted the NPC's foreign work
promoted the construction of whole process people’s democracy
The next paragraph says:
“In the report, Li Zhanshu pointed out that in the past year, the greatest revelation of the Standing Committee’s work has been to always adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era as the guide, resolutely safeguard General Secretary Xi Jinping’s position as the core of the Party Central Committee and the whole Party, resolutely safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core and the Party’s centralised and unified leadership, and organically unify upholding the leadership of the Party, the people being the masters of the country and governing the country according to law. Give full play to the role of the people’s congress system as an important institutional mechanism for the Party to lead the organs of state power, and as an important institutional mechanism for realising whole process people's democracy in China, so as to ensure that the people’s congress system develops in the direction indicated by the CPC Central Committee and that the work of the people’s congress progresses along the road determined by the CPC Central Committee.” 在报告中，栗战书指出，一年来，常委会工作最大的启示，就是始终坚持以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为统领，坚决维护习近平总书记党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，坚决维护以习近平同志为核心的党中央权威和集中统一领导，把坚持党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国有机统一起来，充分发挥人民代表大会制度作为党领导国家政权机关的重要制度载体作用，作为实现我国全过程人民民主的重要制度载体作用，确保人民代表大会制度按照党中央指明的方向发展，确保人大工作沿着党中央确定的道路前进.
Li then talked about the general requirements of the work of the NPCSC in 2022 are: “under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 19th Party Congress and all its plenary sessions, carry forward the great spirit of party building, deeply understand the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments’, strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, the ‘four self-confidences’ and achieve the ‘two safeguards’. Adhere to the organic unity of the party's leadership, the people being the masters of the country and governing the country according to law; adhere to the principle of stability while striving for progress, and constantly develop whole process people’s democracy…promote the high-quality development of legislation, supervision, representation and foreign work, strengthen the self-construction of the Standing Committee, effectively improve the quality and level of the work of the National People’s Congress, and make new contributions to realising the goal of the second century and building a socialist modern country in an all-round way.” 在报告中，栗战书指出，2022年全国人大常委会工作的总体要求是：以习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，全面贯彻落实党的十九大和十九届历次全会精神，弘扬伟大建党精神，深刻领会“两个确立”的决定性意义，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，坚持党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国有机统一，坚持稳字当头、稳中求进，按照中央人大工作会议部署，不断发展全过程人民民主，推动立法、监督、代表、对外工作高质量发展，加强常委会自身建设，切实提升人大工作质量和水平，为实现第二个百年奋斗目标、全面建设社会主义现代化国家作出新的贡献.
The report then goes to the work reports by Supreme People's Court President Zhou Qiang and Procurator-General Zhang Jun. Longer summaries of all three work reports are on subsequent pages; so we’ll do a breakdown of each of them when I get to the subsequent pages.
Next, a report about Li Zhanshu leading a meeting of the presidium of the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress. This basically talks about different reports being listened to and reviewed.
Quick thought: Reading these kinds of reports about people listening to reports, without any real information about any serious discussion, disagreements, or policy debate makes me feel that in the framework of whole process democracy, it is process that matters rather than democracy or rather process is presented as democracy.
Finally, a report about the positive and strong emotions generated among attendees by Xi Jinping’s comments at the PLA and PAP meeting.
Page 2: So, much of this page covers a summary of Li Zhanshu’s work report, which I’ve briefly discussed above. But here’s a snapshot of what Li said about legislative work done in the past year and what’s expected. I am being super lazy today and sharing CGTN’s summary below:
The Standing Committee will prepare legal tools for China to tackle international conflicts and stand up for itself in the world, the report said. ‘On major political principles and important issues, we must stand firm,’ the report said. ‘We will upgrade our legal toolkit and develop a more complete system of laws and regulations related to foreign affairs,’ according to the report. Furthermore, China will formulate laws on tariffs and taxes, telecom and online fraud, rural collective economic organizations, energy, futures and derivatives in 2022 to support the development of socialist market economy, the report said. China will also accelerate legislation related to people's well-being and environment protection, besides formulating laws on food security, protection of the Yellow River and the ecological conservation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. China's annual legislative plan also includes revising the Company Law, the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, the Anti-Monopoly Law, the Railway Law, the Mineral Resources Law, the Animal Husbandry Law, and the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Law, according to the report.
Also, this is a good set of highlights of the domains in which legal changes can be expected this year.
Page 3: On this page, we have summaries of work reports by Zhou Qiang and Zhang Jun. Both men reference the decisive significance of the Two Establishments in their reports.
But let’s begin with Zhou Qiang’s report’s summary. The report is structured into different sections related to work done on matters of national security and stability, economic and social development, adhering to a people-centred approach, improving the judicial system, improving whole-process democracy and loyalty and honesty in functioning and then finally tasks for 2022.
I summarised the key points of the first section below before realising that doing all of the sections in detail will take me a long time. So for the subsequent sections, I am only going to pick up things that really stood out to me.
The Supreme People’s Court accepted 33,602 cases, concluded 28,720, formulated 24 judicial interpretations and issued 31 guiding cases, strengthening supervision and guidance over the judicial work of courts nationwide. Local people's courts at all levels and special people's courts accepted 33.516 million cases, concluded or executed 30.104 million cases, with a total value of cases being around 8.3 trillion yuan.
Courts at all levels concluded 1.256 million criminal cases of first instance, convicting 1.715 million criminals. Eight types of major criminal cases remain at a low level, accounting for a steady decline in the proportion of all criminal cases. China is one of the safest countries in the world.
There were 92,000 criminal cases concluded, involving pyramid schemes, online gambling and illegal use of information networks. 49,000 cases of serious violent crimes such as murder, arson and robbery were concluded.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, the SPC issued guidelines on punishing crimes involving guns and explosives, and concluded 9,984 related cases. China closed 56,000 drug-related cases and severely cracked down on smuggling, drug-manufacturing and other crimes at the source. The courts also concluded 4,586 criminal cases related to assaults targeting police officers
The courts concluded 9,653 criminal cases related to COVID-19. Crimes such as intentionally concealing travel to medium- and high-risk areas, illegally accepting patients with fever, falsifying nucleic acid sales reports, and smuggling infected people were severely punished. The SPC will work with the General Administration of Customs to issue opinions combating cross-border maritime smuggling, severely punish the crime of smuggling frozen products, and prevent the risk of epidemic spread.
On criminal gangs, or black and evil, the report says that courts have accelerated the settlement of cases, and tried and concluded 3,409 criminal cases involving gangs-related crimes involving 18,360 people. A total of 40.57 billion yuan of illegal gains was confiscated and property penalties were executed. Special rectification was carried out, and 3,816 judicial suggestions were issued.
23,000 cases of corruption, bribery, malfeasance and other cases involving 27,000 people were concluded, and 14 former centrally-managed cadres, including Qin Guangrong and Wang Fuyu were tried.
For the first time, a criminal trial in absentia was conducted in the case of Cheng Sanchang, and a huge amount of illegal income of fugitives Xu Jin and Zhang Zhengxin was confiscated.
The courts concluded 7,251 cases of illegal occupation of cultivated land, involving 3.12 million mu of cultivated land.
4,098 cases related to personal information protection were concluded, up 60.2% year on year. Concluded 6,002 criminal cases of endangering food and drug safety. 296 criminal cases such as throwing objects at high altitude and stealing manhole covers were concluded.. Concluded 348,000 criminal cases of dangerous driving, and safeguarded the safety of public transportation. China severely punished telecom and online fraud and concluded 79,000 cases involving 149,000 people.
Upholding the principle of seeking truth from facts and correcting mistakes, 2,215 criminal cases were retried and their sentences changed in accordance with the procedure for trial supervision. The court issued judicial interpretations on compensation for mental distress in state compensation cases. A total of 920 million yuan was granted judicial assistance to 40,000 people.
The second section says that:
Courts at all levels concluded 15.746 million first-instance civil and commercial cases of first instance and 298,000 administrative cases.
Concluded 541,000 first-instance intellectual property cases, protecting innovation and stimulating creativity.
The judicial interpretation of punitive damages for intellectual property rights was issued, and punitive damages were imposed on infringers in 895 cases.
Concluded 49 cases of monopoly and 7,478 cases of unfair competition
Concluded 13,000 bankruptcy cases involving 2.3 trillion yuan of claims. We will give full play to the functions of "active rescue" and "timely clearing" in bankruptcy trials, and resolutely prevent evading debts under the pretext of bankruptcy. Closed 732 bankruptcy and restructuring cases, revitalized assets worth 1.5 trillion yuan, revitalized 745 enterprises in difficulty, and secured employment for 350,000 employees.
Concluded 13,000 criminal cases such as market manipulation, insider trading, illegal fund-raising and money laundering. 1.553 million cases of financial disputes were concluded.
Concluded 265,000 first-instance environmental resource cases.
Concluded 21,000 foreign-related civil and commercial cases and 14,000 maritime cases of first instance. The jurisprudence database of the United International Trade Law Association contains the guiding opinions of foreign-related commercial and maritime cases involving the epidemic situation, and 36 judicial cases from China.
Concluded 466 cases of military-related crimes such as sabotage of military facilities, disclosure of military secrets, and sabotage of military marriages (this refers to pretending to be part of the military and degrading soldiers).
Zhou also promises to try cases of infringing upon the honour of military heroes and desecrating their tombstones, so that those who insult martyrs are punished, and the monuments of heroes in the border areas can stand tall forever.
The third section talks about people-centered work. The themes here are:
Implementing the Civil Code
Promoting core socialist values. There are case examples offered for what this means.
Providing judicial safety net for people’s livelihood: “concluded 1.54 million cases involving education, employment, medical care, elderly care, consumption and social security, helping to ensure and improve people's wellbeing.”
Promote construction of family civilization: 1.831 million marriage and family cases were concluded. This not only talks about rights of women and children, but also about the responsibilities of kids to take care of elderly parents.
Guarding the healthy growth of minors
Protecting the legitimate rights and interests of compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, overseas Chinese, returned Overseas Chinese and their relatives.
There’s also a full paragraph on building one-stop diversified dispute resolution services for people.
In the next section, we learn that on average a judge in China handled 238 cases. Also, the number of long-standing litigation cases decreased by 16.3% compared with the same period of last year.
In the face of the epidemic, there was full use of smart courts. Some 11.439 million cases were filed online and 1.275 million online court sessions were held. 1.71 billion documents have been stored on the judicial blockchain, and the tamper-proof effect of electronic evidence and electronic service verification is obvious. 220 big data reports on economic and social operation were formed, and ‘digital decision-making’ served social governance. 面对疫情，智慧法院大显身手，全国法院在线立案1143.9万件，在线开庭127.5万场。司法区块链上链存证17.1亿条，电子证据、电子送达存验证防篡改效果明显。形成经济社会运行大数据报告220份，“数助决策”服务社会治理.
On corruption and turning the blade inward, there’s a lot in there, but this statistic is telling of the challenges, I guess. The report says that 590,000 officers of the court across the country “have undergone revolutionary forging.”
Anyway, finally in 2022, the report outlines some key tasks:
First, build loyalty. Here Zhou mentions the Two Establishments, obeying the Party and Xi Jinping Thought on Rule of Law.
Second, maintain security and stability. This includes dealing with criminals and gangs but also issues like food and drug safety, gun crime, gambling, theft, pornography, cybercrimes, cross-border crimes, dispute resolution, etc.
Third, serve the overall situation of economic and social development. “Increase judicial protection of intellectual property rights. Improve anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition adjudication rules. Regulate the development of the digital economy in accordance with the law, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of platform practitioners and consumers.”
Fourth, protect the rights and interests of people's livelihood. This included cases concerning education, employment, medical care, marriage and family, and protection of the rights and interests of women, children, the elderly and the disabled. It says that China will “severely punish crimes of sexual assault, trafficking in and buying abducted women and children, and strengthen judicial protection for abducted women and children.” Also, it will strengthen work related to military rights protection.
Fifth, consolidate achievements of reform
Sixth, forge an iron army of court officials.
In all this, do note this SCMP report which says that Zhou said the death penalty would be “consistently implemented against offences that seriously violate public safety and security”. “Crimes that challenge the legal and moral bottom line – including cruel treatment against women, children and the elderly – and that warrant the death penalty according to the law, shall receive the death sentence.”
As I completed this, I realised that I cannot do both work reports in one go. Just don’t have the mental bandwidth for it. My apologies. I shudder at the thought of what Uncle Roger would say to this confession.
But, anyway, my colleague Swayamsiddha is working on a draft translation of Zhang Jun’s report’s summary, and I’ll share a breakdown of that tomorrow.
Page 4: Three calls from Wang Yi reported on the page. First, Wang’s chat with EU’s Josep Borrell.
The English readout says that:
“Borrell briefed Wang Yi on the EU’s views and position on the current situation in Ukraine, saying that the most pressing task now is to cease fire and avoid further massive casualties. The EU supports solving the issue through negotiations. The EU hopes that China, a major peace-loving country, will play its role in encouraging and bringing about a ceasefire, and pushing the parties concerned to embark on a path of negotiations and political settlement.
Wang Yi said, China is deeply grieved over the evolution of the situation in Ukraine up to now. Sanctions will not solve problems, and escalating sanctions will only further complicate and aggravate the situation. The top priority now is to avoid a humanitarian crisis. China has publicly put forth a six-point initiative on preventing a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, mainly aimed at fostering synergy among the international community to avoid further worsening of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Wang Yi said, we should also encourage Russia and Ukraine to hold peace talks. The Chinese side has advocated dialogue from the very beginning. China hopes that the international community will support Russia and Ukraine in conducting serious negotiations, which should continue until they agree on introducing a ceasefire, ending the war, and making the peace.
China is willing to continuously play a constructive role within its capacity in easing the situation. China also hopes that the EU will enter into comprehensive and serious dialogue on European security issues with Russia in the future, and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism in accordance with the principle of indivisible security. Wang Yi said, under the current circumstance, China and the EU, as two major forces in the world, should work together to make good preparations for the China-EU leaders' meeting, so as to send a positive signal to the world.”
Quick thought: It’s interesting that in this talks framework about broader European security, Wang didn’t mention NATO or the US.
Second, Wang Yi’s chat with Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto. The English report informs:
“Thanking China for its efforts to achieve peace in Europe and avoid further escalation of the situation in Ukraine, Szijjarto said that Hungary is ready to help Chinese nationals in Ukraine evacuate and return to their homeland. He also voiced hope for a higher level of mutually beneficial cooperation between Hungary and China. For his part, Wang said that for China, the situation in Ukraine is regrettable, adding he hoped that the European Union can uphold the spirit of strategic autonomy and play a more proactive role in resolving the current Ukrainian crisis and building an European security mechanism in the next step.”
Finally, Wang’s chat with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The English report informs that:
“Wang strongly condemned the recent serious terrorist attack in Peshawar city, Pakistan, and once again expressed sincere condolences to Pakistan, saying that China firmly supports Pakistan's efforts to fight terrorism and safeguard national security and stability…The two sides exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. Wang expounded on China's principles and positions. Qureshi said that Pakistan calls on Russia and Ukraine to resolve their disputes through dialogue and diplomatic means as soon as possible, and strive to avoid further escalation of the situation. The two sides also exchanged views on the Afghan issue and agreed to strengthen communication and coordination, and leverage the unique strengths and roles of neighboring countries in a bid to make positive contributions to peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
As per Pakistani reportage on the call: Qureshi explained “Pakistan’s position on war in Ukraine. He expressed the hope that talks between Russia and Ukraine would succeed and the two sides would reach a diplomatic solution. The foreign minister further mentioned Pakistan’s concerns over the adverse economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict for developing countries resulting from escalating fuel and food costs and disruption of supply chains.”
Just some additional information, Pakistan continues to remain on the FATF grey list after the plenary session earlier this month.