Xi's Leadership & Footprints - Public Security Work Review - Measures to Stabilise Economy - Taiwan's WHA Exclusion - Wang on Asia-Pacific & Human Rights - COVID Situation Update - The 'Two Reversals'
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Tuesday, May 24, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: One of the lead stories on the page is a new series of columns with the theme “沿着总书记的足迹” - following the footprints of the general secretary. The piece begins by saying that:
Since the 18th Party Congress, Xi Jinping has repeatedly visited 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. “‘I will be selfless and determined to devote myself to serving the Chinese people’ is not only a belief in his heart but also action demonstrated by his travels. The General Secretary has gone deep into the grassroots level to understand the people's feelings and listen to the people's opinions, thinking about measures and strategies with the 国之大者 in mind, navigated at the helm, demonstrating extraordinary political courage and a strong sense of responsibility, and pushing the cause of the Party and the country to achieve historic achievements and make historic changes.” 万里江山多锦绣，一枝一叶总关情。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记赴31个省区市一次次考察调研，足迹遍及大江南北。“我将无我、不负人民”既是心中的信仰，又是脚下的行动。总书记深入基层一线察民情、听民意，心怀“国之大者”思对策、谋方略，以非凡的政治勇气和强烈的责任担当，领航掌舵，推动党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革.
This column will trace Xi’s 10 years of conducting investigation and research, recall vivid scenes of exchanges between Xi and the people, and show that Xi is a leader who emerged from the people, rooted in his image as 人民的领袖 the people’s leader. In doing so, it will also showcase Xi’s “visionary, courageous and resolute leadership style. It reflects the vivid practice of cadres and masses in various places to thoroughly study and understand, resolutely implement the spirit of the important instructions of the General Secretary, and strive to create a new development pattern. It encourages them to forge ahead on a new journey with full confidence, make achievements in a new era, and take concrete actions to welcome the opening of the 20th Party Congress.” 从今天起，本报推出“沿着总书记的足迹”专栏，全面回顾习近平总书记10年来考察调研的足迹，重现总书记与人民群众亲切交流的生动场景，展现总书记从人民中走来、根植于人民的领袖形象，展现总书记高瞻远瞩、勇毅果敢的领袖风范，反映各地干部群众深入学习领会、坚决贯彻落实总书记重要指示精神、奋力开创新发展格局的生动实践，激励广大干部群众满怀信心奋进新征程、建功新时代，以实际行动迎接党的二十大胜利召开.
Today’s piece talks about the development of Tianjin, from the port to the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, innovation and technology development and the city’s “people-centred development” approach.
Next, the full implementation plan for rural construction work is published in the paper today. Some of the key aspects of work highlighted in the document are:
It calls for strictly adhering to the maintaining red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land; and says that it is strictly forbidden to arbitrarily demolish and merge villages or build larger communities/complexes or demolish and build large buildings against the will of farmers. 严禁随意撤并村庄搞大社区、违背农民意愿大拆大建.
It calls for building rural roads
Strengthen rural flood control and drought relief and ensure water supply.
Implement rural clean energy development projects. This calls for developing solar energy, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and other clean energy sources; it talks about promoting clean heating supply in rural areas in the north, strengthening the clean utilisation of coal, and gradually increasing the proportion of clean energy in rural heating energy.
Implement the construction of cold chain facilities for storage and preservation of agricultural products.
Focus on digital economy development in rural areas
Improve basic public services and public utility services in rural areas
Improve quality of construction of rural houses; this includes renovating dilapidated buildings, building earthquake resistant infrastructure, and structures that can withstand flooding and other natural disasters, and strengthening the protection and use of famous historical and cultural towns and villages
Implement the five-year action to improve the rural living environment; this covers toilets, waste management, renovation and beautification of villages, etc.
Development of education and medical care facilities, along with efforts to support the elderly, minors and those with disabilities.
Strengthen grassroots Party organisations
Carry out in-depth activities to create spiritual civilisation, which includes the study and education of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, publicity and education on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and the Chinese Dream, strengthening ideological and political work, and promoting and practising core socialist values
Next, there’s another long feature piece discussing the national public security work and the development of public security units since the 19th Party Congress. It says that public security organs have “always put the maintenance of political security in the first place, deepenED the anti-terrorism and anti-secession struggle, focused on preventing and defusing major risks, and made every effort to ensure political security and social stability.
“Under the strong leadership of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security, the broad masses of officers who are part of the public security organs all over the country have closely united around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, unswervingly adhered to the political construction of police, firmly grasped that the fundamental political attribute of the public security is loyalty to the party, upheld and strengthened the Party’s absolute and overall leadership over public security work, rooted loyalty to the Party in the blood, and practised it in the efforts of fulfilling the mission and tasks of the new era.” 在公安部党委坚强领导下，全国公安机关广大民警紧密团结在以习近平同志为核心的党中央周围，毫不动摇地坚持政治建警，牢牢把握公安姓党的根本政治属性，坚持和加强党对公安工作的绝对领导、全面领导，将对党忠诚根植于血脉，践行于履行新时代使命任务的生动实践中.
The piece talks about work done in regard to smashing gangs and umbrella protection networks; tackling violent crimes, drugs, cybersecurity, telecommunications and network fraud cases, abduction and trafficking of women and children, pornography gambling, etc. A measure of how public security is improving: “during the 13th FYP period, the number of public security cases investigated and punished dropped by 27% compared with the 12th FYP.” “十三五”期间，治安案件查处数较“十二五”期间下降27%.
Another crazy statistic, China’s official homicide case resolution rate is 99.9%! 全国现行命案破案率达99.9%. — I guess that’s higher than the rate of case resolution across all versions of the CSI series combined.
The piece also says that since the launch of the ‘Yangtze River Fishing Prohibition’ campaign, the public security organs along the Yangtze River have detected more than 10,000 criminal cases of illegal fishing and have taken out more than 900 criminal gangs. It also talks about public security organs’ involvement in the pandemic control effort.
The piece then talks about the education and rectification campaign that has been underway since, calling it a “profound self-revolution.” It says that “more than 2 million police officers have undergone an all-round ideological tempering, political and practical training in this revolutionary forging. The political ecology of the national public security team has been further optimised, the discipline style has been further improved, the quality and ability have been further enhanced, and the credibility of law enforcement and justice has been further enhanced. This political baptism, unforgettable for the public security officers, was widely praised by people from all walks of life. It is believed that since the 19th Party Congress, after the special struggle to eliminate evil, another moral and political effort led by the Party to promote righteousness, ensure vigilance among the officers and keeping in mind the public opinion was a vivid practice of the Party’s self-revolution in the political, legal and public security front.” 自2020年7月起，全国公安机关接续推进第一批、第二批队伍教育整顿，开展了一场刀刃向内、刮骨疗毒式的深刻自我革命。200多万公安民警在这场革命性的锻造中经受了一次全方位思想淬炼、政治历练和实践锻炼。全国公安队伍政治生态进一步优化、纪律作风进一步好转、素质能力进一步增强、执法司法公信力进一步提升。一次政治洗礼，广大公安民警刻骨铭心，社会各界广泛赞誉，认为这是党的十九大以来，继扫黑除恶专项斗争后，党领导实施的又一项扬正气、聚警心、合民意的德政工程，是新时代党的自我革命在政法公安战线的一次生动实践.
Next, there’s a report on the State Council’s weekly meeting; however, it’s interesting that this is not about a meeting that took place this week. It says that the meeting took place a few days ago. Would this be after Li Keqiang returned from his visit to Yunnan? If so, why wait till Tuesday to report?
Anyway, the report says that the downward pressure on the economy is increasing and many market entities are finding themselves in serious difficulties. Development is the foundation and key to solve all problems in our country. It is necessary to implement the deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, strengthen confidence, respond decisively, comprehensively implement the new development concept, and efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development. The decisions of the Central Economic Work Conference and the policies set out in the Government Work Report must be implemented faster and more forcefully. In keeping with the overall thinking and policy orientation, a host of targeted, strong and effective measures for range-based regulation will be taken to keep economic fundamentals stable.” 会议指出，当前经济下行压力持续加大，许多市场主体十分困难。发展是解决我国一切问题的基础和关键。要贯彻党中央、国务院部署，坚定信心，果断应对，全面贯彻新发展理念，高效统筹疫情防控和经济社会发展，加快落实中央经济工作会议和《政府工作报告》确定的政策并加大实施力度，按照总体思路和政策取向采取一揽子针对性强、有力有效的区间调控举措，稳住经济基本盘.
Xinhua English has a detailed report on the meeting. It quotes Li as saying
“Power generation, freight volume and bank loans have all declined since April. Without a certain level of GDP growth, stable employment cannot be realized. One good thing is that we refrained from excessive money supply and mass stimulus in the past few years, and we still have policy tools in reserve.”
The report adds:
The meeting decided to implement 33 measures in six aspects which mainly include fiscal and related policies to keep the operation of market entities and employment stable.
The policy of refunding outstanding and newly added value added tax (VAT) credits will be extended to more industries, which is expected to increase tax refunds by 140-plus billion yuan and bring the total amount of tax relief this year to 2.64 trillion yuan.
The policy of deferred premium payments of old-age, unemployment and workplace safety insurance programs by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), self-employed households and companies in the five hard-hit sectors (namely catering, retail, tourism, civil aviation, and highway, waterway and railway transportation) will be prolonged till the end of this year, and extended to other industries facing serious difficulties. As a result, the deferred payment this year will reach 320 billion yuan.
The subsidy for retaining employees under unemployment insurance will be extended to all hard-hit enterprises participating in the scheme. Greater support such as social insurance contributions subsidies will be provided to MSMEs that hire college graduates. Localities should scale up support to micro and small businesses and self-employed households in terms of utility bills and rentals, among others.
Funds from this year's local government special bonds shall be basically utilized by the end of August, with their scope of support extended to new infrastructure and other projects. The re-guarantee business of the national financing guaranty fund will be increased by more than one trillion yuan this year.
In addition:
“The scale of the support facility for inclusive loans to micro and small businesses, and its share of the increase in the loan balance will both be doubled this year. Banks will be supported in deferring, within this year, principal and interest repayments on loans made to MSMEs and self-employed households, truck loans, and home loans and consumer loans borne by individuals facing temporary difficulties. Banks and centrally-managed auto companies will work together to defer by six months the principal and interest repayments of the 90-billion-yuan car loans extended by the auto companies. The payment period of commercial acceptance bills will be cut from one year to six months. Platform companies will be encouraged to list on domestic and overseas markets in accordance with laws and regulations.”
Also:
An additional 150 billion yuan of emergency loans will be provided to the civil aviation industry, and the air transport industry will be supported in issuing 200 billion yuan of bonds.
Car purchase restrictions will be relaxed. The purchase tax of passenger vehicles will be partially cut to the amount of 60-plus billion yuan on a time-limited basis. City-specific policies will be adopted to meet people's basic housing needs and their wish to improve housing conditions.
A number of infrastructure projects will get off the ground, including water conservancy facilities, especially large-scale irrigation facilities, transportation facilities, renovation of old residential communities, and multi-purpose utility tunnels. Banks will be encouraged to provide long-term loans on a sizable scale.
A new round of rural road construction and renovation will be launched. The issuance of 300 billion yuan of railway construction bonds will be supported. More will be done to promote public works programs.
Local governments must fulfill their responsibilities for maintaining coal output. The policy for approving higher production capacity of coal mines will be re-calibrated, and procedures for designating coal mines especially important for energy supply will be accelerated. A number of new hydro-power and coal-fired power projects will start this year.
Support must be provided for people eligible for unemployment benefits and subsistence allowances and people facing difficulties.
Next, a report (English report) on the commemoration of Mao’s 1942 speech on literature and art. Wang Huning attended the meeting. He spoke about the “need to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, inherit and carry forward the spirit of Mao’s speech, strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, ‘four self-confidences’ and achieve the ‘two safeguards’, promote the development of socialist cultural power with a strong historical initiative, and provide a strong value guiding force, cultural cohesion, and spiritual driving force for the realisation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 纪念毛泽东同志《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》发表80周年座谈会23日在京举行。中共中央政治局常委、中央书记处书记王沪宁出席会议并讲话。他表示，要坚持以新时代中国特色社会主义思想为指导，继承和弘扬《讲话》精神，增强“四个意识”、坚定“四个自信”、做到“两个维护”，以强烈历史主动精神推进社会主义文化强国建设，为实现中华民族伟大复兴提供强大价值引导力、文化凝聚力、精神推动力.
“Wang called on writers and artists to adhere to Marxism in the development of literature and art, maintain a people-centered approach to their work, understand that China's national rejuvenation is the theme of the present era, and carry forward the fine traditional Chinese culture. Stressing the importance of enhanced Party leadership over the literature and art sector, Wang urged efforts to cultivate more masters with both professional excellence and moral integrity.”
Finally, a report (English report) about Wang Qishan co-chairing the sixth meeting of China-Brazil High-level Coordination and Cooperation Committee (COSBAN) with Brazil's Vice President Hamilton Mourao.
Page 2: A report on Li Keqiang’s message of congratulations to new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Xinhua reports:
“In his message, Premier Li said that a healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations is in the fundamental interests and common aspirations of both peoples, and is conducive to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Li said that the Australian Labor Party made the right choice to establish diplomatic relations with China in the 1970s, and has made an important contribution to the development of relations between the two countries. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, Li said China stands ready to work together with Australia to review the past and look to the future and in the principle of mutual respect and win-win benefits, to promote the healthy and stable development of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.”
After this, there are a lot of Taiwan-related reports on the front page. First, there’s a report informing us that the WHA has decided to not include in its agenda a proposal on Taiwan's participation in the annual assembly as an observer.
“The decision at the 75th WHA fully demonstrates that the one-China principle has become the consensus of the international community and represents the aspiration of the people and the trend of the times, which cannot be stopped. The political manipulation of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities through the pandemic wins no support, brings disgrace to themselves and is doomed to fail. On the basis of adherence to the one-China principle on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, the Chinese central government has agreed to allow the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA as an observer for eight consecutive years from 2009 to 2016. Since the DPP came into power, it has stubbornly adhered to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" and refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle. As a result, the political foundation for the Taiwan region to join the WHA has ceased to exist. Since 2017, the Chinese central government has suspended the special arrangement for the Taiwan region to participate in the WHA. The WHA has also rejected Taiwan-related proposals for many years.”
The report quotes Chen Xu, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, saying that “the Taiwan-related proposal has no legal basis, stressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 provide the legal basis for the WHO to abide by the one-China principle. The Taiwan region's participation in the WHA must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle and through cross-strait consultations, he noted, adding since the DPP authorities obstinately adhere to the ‘Taiwan independence’ stance, the political foundation for Taiwan to join the WHA has ceased to exist. According to Chen, the Taiwan-related proposal has no factual basis. The central government has not only invited experts from Taiwan to visit Wuhan, but also specially notified the way to obtain the virus gene sequence, he stressed.”
Then this bit from the MoFA presser:
Xinhua News Agency: We just learned that the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) has explicitly refused to include a proposal on Taiwan’s participation as an observer in its agenda. Do you have any comment?
Wang Wenbin: The General Committee and the Plenary Session of the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) have respectively decided to reject the so-called proposal of “inviting Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer” submitted by certain countries. This fully demonstrates the shared international commitment to the one-China principle, an overriding trend that cannot be challenged. In disregard of the aspiration of all parties and the well-being of our Taiwan compatriots, the DPP authorities obstinately instigated countries having what it calls “diplomatic ties” with Taiwan to make Taiwan-related proposals. A handful of countries have encouraged and emboldened this move overtly or covertly, which goes against the trend of history and is egregious in nature. The relevant proposal has been rejected by countries taking a just stand. By the time the assembly commenced, nearly 90 countries sent letters to the WHO to express their commitment to the one-China principle and opposition to Taiwan’s participation in the WHA. The Chinese Central Government always attaches great importance to the health and well-being of our compatriots in the Taiwan region. Under the precondition of abiding by the one-China principle, we have made appropriate arrangements for the Taiwan region’s participation in global health affairs. The Central Government has given the Taiwan region about 400 updates about the pandemic situation since the start of COVID-19, and approved 47 visits by public health experts from the Taiwan region to 44 WHO technical activities over the past year. There is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region for it to promptly access and report information related to health emergencies. The claim of a “gap” in global anti-epidemic efforts is groundless. The DPP authorities should know that the attempt to seek the independence of Taiwan by taking advantage of the pandemic will lead nowhere. We also urge certain countries to stop politicizing the health issue and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs by exploiting Taiwan-related issues. Otherwise, they are doomed to fail just like a man who lifts a rock only to drop it on his own feet.”
And then there’s a Zhong Sheng commentary on the same issue. It reiterates a lot of what you’ve already read above. The central argument is that the WHA episode once again proves that any attempt to ‘use the pandemic to seek independence’, ‘rely on the United States to seek independence’, any attempt to play the ‘Taiwan card’ and ‘use Taiwan to control China’ will never succeed. 世卫大会涉台提案的再次失败，再次证明任何“以疫谋独”“倚美谋独”的图谋，任何打“台湾牌”、搞“以台制华”的图谋，都不可能得逞.
The piece also says that “the Taiwan issue is the most important, sensitive and core issue in Sino-US relations. The US side has repeatedly stated clearly that it pursues the one-China policy and does not support ‘Taiwan independence’, and has repeatedly reiterated that it ‘does not support Taiwan’s participation in any international organisation where being a sovereign state is the membership criteria.’ However, the actual actions of the US on the Taiwan issue are quite different from its statements. From passing a bill that seeks to ‘assist Taiwan regain observer status in the WHO so as to participate in the World Health Assembly’ to issuing a so-called statement that ‘strongly advocates’ that the WHO invite Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer, the US has repeatedly played the ‘Taiwan card’ in an attempt to ‘use Taiwan to control China’. The words and actions of the US seriously violate international law and basic norms governing international relations, send a serious wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, and seriously damage China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” 台湾问题是中美关系中最重要、最敏感、最核心的问题。美方多次明确表示奉行一个中国政策，不支持“台湾独立”，并一再重申“不支持台湾加入任何必须由主权国家才能参加的国际组织”。然而，美方在台湾问题上的实际行动与表态大相径庭。从公然签署要求“协助台重获世卫组织观察员身份，以参加世界卫生大会”的有关法案，到发表“强烈倡议”世卫组织邀请台湾作为观察员参加世卫大会的所谓声明，美方频频打出“台湾牌”，企图搞“以台制华”。美国的言行严重违背国际法和国际关系基本准则，向“台独”分裂势力发出了严重错误信号，是对中美关系和台海和平稳定的严重损害。
Interestingly, there’s nothing on the page around Joe Biden’s comments on Taiwan in Japan yesterday and the subsequent clarification from the White House. For instance, CNN reports a White House official saying the US' official position remained unchanged. “As the President said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our One China policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.”
Quick Thought: I am doing some free thinking below, just to run through implications. As you will see, I have more questions than answers.
All of this has been really interesting in that it is explicitly limiting the scope of US engagement in case of an invasion by Beijing. It seems to suggest that the model is going to be akin to what’s happening in Ukraine. There will be no boots on the ground, but that the US will offer weapons and other support. On one hand, this is a public statement of what Beijing perhaps believed, i.e., that the US would be unwilling to get involved directly. And while that might be useful from Beijing’s point of view, the Chinese leadership will not likely view this as a green light because they will likely be very weary of getting into a bind like Russia is in Ukraine. But then, does waiting longer only make Taiwan much more resilient through military capacity enhancement? Meanwhile, what’s the impact of all this on the morale of the leadership and people of Taiwan? And are we likely to see much more from Beijing to erode that morale? If so, does this entail greater force projection? Finally, what does all this mean for countries like Japan, South Korea and the Philippines - how would they have received this message? I presume it tells them that they need to invest more in their own security and find ways to deal with risks more on their own.
For instance, here’s a view from former Japanese PM Abe:
Next, a report on Wang Yi’s meeting with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. In the PD report, Wang makes four points:
we must adhere to mutual respect and not politicise human rights;
we must adhere to fairness and impartiality, and not engage in double standards;
we must adhere to seeking truth from facts; the cause of human rights cannot be detached from a country’s realities and development stage
we must adhere to openness and tolerance and not engage in camp confrontation
王毅表示，发展国际人权事业一要坚持相互尊重，不把人权政治化；二要坚持公平公正，不搞双重标准；三要坚持实事求是，不脱离国情和发展阶段；四要坚持开放包容，不搞阵营对抗。
CGTN’s English report adds: “Major countries should especially lead by example through practicing multilateralism, abiding by the principles and purpose of the UN charter, respecting international law and safeguarding international fairness and justice, said the Chinese foreign minister. He said multilateral institutions of human rights should become a stage for dialogue, not a battlefield of division and confrontation.”
Next, there’s another Zhong Sheng commentary on the page. This one criticises US government policies with regard to the handling of illegal immigrants. It says that the “brutal treatment of asylum-seekers by US law enforcement has fuelled a humanitarian crisis at the border.” It says that the violations of the rights of illegal immigrant children by US law enforcement were “appalling.” It argues that the US’ failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration is owing to its long-standing hegemonic policies, i.e., the Monroe Doctrine and later political and military intervention in Latin America. Finally, talking about the upcoming midterm elections, the author says that the American system has reduced immigrants to “political pawns.”
Finally, a report on Wang Yi’s comments regarding the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Xinhua reports:
“The peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific bear not only on the destiny of the region but also on the future of the world, Wang said, pointing out that the concept of the Asia-Pacific should not be diluted and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific should not be disturbed. He called for learning from history, forging ahead with determination, and jointly building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future, so as to create new glory in Asia-Pacific cooperation. Firstly, the Asia-Pacific area should unswervingly safeguard peace and stability, uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and unequivocally reject any attempt to introduce military blocs or bloc confrontation into the region, he said. Secondly, Wang called on the region to make concerted efforts to promote economic development and bring more ‘Asia-Pacific opportunities’ to the recovery and growth of the world economy. Thirdly, countries in the region should draw on each other’s strengths to achieve win-win cooperation, and make an Asia-Pacific contribution to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said.”
Page 3: First, a report on Sun Chunlan’s inspection of COVID containment efforts in Beijing. The report makes the pitch for tougher measures to achieve zero-COVID. It says that “at present, the epidemic situation in Beijing is generally under control, but there are still sporadic cases in a few localities, and the prevention and control work cannot be relaxed. Sun emphasised that it is necessary to strengthen work coordination and regional coordination, and shift focus and epidemic prevention resources to key areas where there are outbreaks; it is imperative to speed up the effort to address cluster outbreaks.”
Second, there’s a report from the briefing by the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism. It says that “local confirmed cases and asymptomatic infections have declined for 27 consecutive days, but new local clusters have occurred, and the epidemic prevention and control situation is still severe and complex.”
NHC’s Lei Zhenglong says that:
“In the past week, the number of newly-reported local infections in China has dropped to below 1,200 every day, and the scope of infections has been further narrowed. At present, the number of newly-reported cases in Shanghai has continued to decline, with less than 1,000 new cases per day for 8 consecutive days. However, the pressure of a rebound is still high…The results of epidemic prevention and control still need to be further consolidated. Clusters of outbreaks in Beijing and sporadic cases are intertwined, and there are still risks of infection transmission among some localities and key groups. The epidemic situation in Linshui County, Guang’an City, Sichuan Province is in a period of fluctuation and decline, and the risk of transmission has decreased compared to earlier. There have been clusters of outbreaks in Tianjin and Jilin recently, and it is necessary to speed up the detection and investigation of risk points. The pandemic situation in Liaoning, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan and other places has been effectively contained.” 近一周以来，全国每天新增本土感染者已经降至1200例以下，波及范围进一步缩小。当前，上海新增报告感染人数持续下降，已连续8天每天新增低于1000例，但是防反弹压力仍然较大，个别点位和社区风险仍有波动，疫情防控成果仍需进一步巩固。北京聚集性疫情和零星散发病例交织，局部地区和重点人群仍有感染传播风险。四川广安市邻水县疫情处于波动下降期，疫情传播风险较前期有所降低。天津、吉林近期有聚集性疫情发生，需加快检测和风险点位排查。辽宁、安徽、江西、河南等地疫情已得到有效遏制，疫情形势趋于平稳.
Page 4: There’s a report about new guidelines for promoting postgraduate education in the armed forces. The guidelines say that it is necessary to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping thought on strengthening the military, thoroughly implement the strategy of strengthening the armed forces with talents in the new era, persist in cultivating people with virtue and preparing them for war…
It talks about comprehensively reshaping the postgraduate education system for the military, focussing on consistency and application of training, integration of skills, science and technology, and ensuring high quality. The document calls for focusing training on joint combat command skills, high-level science and technology skills, and high-level strategic management skills and actual combat focus, along with military theory and organisational leadership too.
Page 5: The first in what will be a series of commentaries around China’s five strategic advantages - 五个战略性有利条件. The first of these is the strong leadership of the Party being the fundamental political guarantee for calmly responding to various major risks and challenges. The commentary says that the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has managed complex situations, calmly responded to major risks and challenges, and demonstrated great historic initiative, great political courage, and a strong sense of responsibility.” 以习近平同志为核心的党中央高水平驾驭复杂局面，沉着应对重大风险挑战，展现出伟大的历史主动精神、巨大的政治勇气、强烈的责任担当.
The first chunk basically talks about the current COVID outbreaks in the country being the “most severe test of prevention and control since the Wuhan” outbreak. It adds that “practice has proved that our prevention and control policy is determined by the nature and purpose of the party, our prevention and control policy can stand the test of history, and our prevention and control measures are scientific and effective.” 实践证明，我们的防控方针是由党的性质和宗旨决定的，我们的防控政策是经得起历史检验的，我们的防控措施是科学有效的.
It adds:
“The years since the 18th Party Congress have been extremely unusual and extraordinary in the development of the cause of the Party and the country. The complexity and severity of the situation and environment faced by the Party, and the arduous and onerous tasks shouldered by the Party are rare in the world and in history. The Chinese economy has been experiencing a situation of ‘three-phase superposition.’ This has required making a strategic judgement of ‘adapting to the new normal, grasping the new normal, and leading the new normal’, and guiding China’s economy to stabilise and improve. Then faced with the sudden epidemic situation, the people’s war, all-out war and the war for containment, which led to the epidemic prevention and control, protected people’s life safety and health to the greatest extent. Then, in the face of unfavourable situations such as the deep recession of the world economy and the adverse current of economic globalisation, making a strategic decision to build a new development pattern as the strategic layout in order to grasp the initiative of future development has clarified the choice of the path for China’s economic modernisation. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has managed complex situations, calmly responded to major risks and challenges, and demonstrated great historic initiative, great political courage, and a strong sense of responsibility.” 党的十八大以来的这些年在党和国家事业发展进程中极不寻常、极不平凡。党面临形势环境的复杂性和严峻性、肩负任务的繁重性和艰巨性世所罕见、史所罕见。面对“三期叠加”的经济形势，作出必须“适应新常态、把握新常态、引领新常态”的战略判断，指引中国经济履险如夷、企稳向好；面对突如其来的疫情，领导疫情防控的人民战争、总体战、阻击战，最大程度保护了人民生命安全和身体健康；面对世界经济深度衰退、经济全球化遭遇逆流等不利局面，作出构建新发展格局的战略决策，这是把握未来发展主动权的战略性布局和先手棋，明确了我国经济现代化的路径选择……以同志为核心的党中央高水平驾驭复杂局面，沉着应对重大风险挑战，展现出伟大的历史主动精神、巨大的政治勇气、强烈的责任担当.
The next paragraph says that:
“Since the 18th Party Congress, the most fundamental reason for the historic achievements and changes in the cause of the Party and the country lies in the fact that the General Secretary Xi Jinping has been at the helm as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, and that the Party has been led by the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Safeguarding General Secretary Xi Jinping’s position as the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party, safeguarding the authority of the CPC Central Committee and safeguarding the authority and centralised and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee are the fundamental political guarantees for promoting the continuous development and advancement of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. It is necessary to profoundly understand the decisive significance of the ‘Two Establishments’, strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, the ‘four self-confidences’ and achieve the ‘two safeguards’, in order to ensure that there is strong political cohesion and confidence in the unity and struggle of the party and the country…” 惟其艰难，才更显勇毅；惟其笃行，才弥足珍贵。在统筹国内国际两个大局、统筹疫情防控和经济社会发展的实践中，我们更加深刻地认识到，风雨来袭之时，中国共产党是中国人民最可靠的主心骨；披荆斩棘之路，中国共产党是中华民族复兴征程上最坚强的领导核心。党的十八大以来，党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革，最根本的原因在于有习近平总书记作为党中央的核心、全党的核心掌舵领航，在于有习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想科学指引。维护习近平总书记党中央的核心、全党的核心地位，维护党中央权威和集中统一领导，是推动新时代中国特色社会主义不断发展前进的根本政治保证。要深刻领会“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”，确保全党全国拥有团结奋斗的强大政治凝聚力、发展自信心，在新征程上汇聚起万众一心、共克时艰的磅礴力量.
Page 8: Today, we have the second piece excerpted from 百年大党面对面 - Face to Face with the Century-old Party. This seeks to answer the question: “Why is it said that the Party’s century of struggle has written the most magnificent epic in the thousands of years of history of the Chinese nation?” The answer is basically a blend of Marxist and nationalistic views about China’s and the CCP’s history.
To offer a brief summary, the first part basically talks about the purposes of proletarian parties vs bourgeois political parties. The latter seek to establish a political order centred around capital. The former, however, have a different goal. It says that in colonised and semi-colonised countries the task of proletarian parties was two-fold. One one hand they had to “overthrow their reactionary ruling class and realise people's liberation; on the other, they also had to accomplish the historical mission of national independence and national rejuvenation.” In China the challenge was even more complex. “It was in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and was heavily oppressed by three mountains – the feudal landlord class, imperialism, and bureaucratic capitalism.” It was amidst this situation that the CCP was born with the original mission of seeking the happiness of the people, the piece argues, before adding that “all its struggles and creations are for the purpose of firmly guarding this original intention and continuing to complete this mission.”
The second section says that the CCP is unique because of its adherence to its ideals and beliefs. “The Chinese Communist Party came together for common ideals and beliefs, not as a political group based on shared interests. The reason why our Party is called the Communist Party is that since its foundation, it has written communism on its banner as a lofty ideal that is to be pursued unswervingly. In September 1961, Comrade Mao Zedong met with British Field Marshal Montgomery, who asked: ‘Why do you call your party the Communist Party instead of the Socialist Party?’ Comrade Mao Zedong replied: ‘Because communism is our highest goal.’ It can be said that communism is the ultimate goal of all our Party’s struggles and endeavours. 中国共产党是为了共同的理想信念走到一起的，而不是因为利益结成的政治团体。我们党之所以叫共产党，是因为从成立之日起就把共产主义写在自己的旗帜上，作为矢志不渝追求的远大理想。1961年9月，毛泽东同志接见英国陆军元帅蒙哥马利。蒙哥马利问：“你们为什么把自己党叫做共产党，而不叫社会党呢？”毛泽东同志回答：“因为共产主义是我们的最高目标。”可以说，共产主义是我们党所有奋斗、所有努力的最终旨归.
“Whether the ideals and beliefs are firm or not depends on whether they can stand up to and race ahead to take responsibility at the critical moment, and whether they can stand firm in the face of interference. Since the 18th Party Congress, in the face of the unprecedented complexity and arduousness in the cause of the Party and the country, and in view of the ideological reality among party members and cadres, General Secretary Xi Jinping placed firm ideals and beliefs in an extremely important position, likened them to the ‘calcium of the spirit’ of communists, and repeatedly stressed the need to refine the ‘indestructible body akin to Vajrapani’ (金刚不坏之身), firm up the spiritual backbone of the communists, and provide powerful spiritual strength for the great struggle with many new historical features.” 理想信念坚不坚定，要看危急关头能不能豁得出来、冲得上去，干扰面前能不能站稳立场、坚若磐石。党的十八大以来，面对党和国家事业前所未有的复杂性和艰巨性，针对党员干部思想的现实状况，习近平总书记把坚定理想信念摆在极端重要的位置，将其比喻成共产党人的“精神之钙”，反复强调要炼就“金刚不坏之身”，挺起共产党人的精神脊梁，为进行具有许多新的历史特点的伟大斗争提供强大精神力量.
The third section basically makes the point that what’s unique about the CCP’s century of struggle is that its leadership has essentially operated in a task-focused manner. This is tough to summarise, but the point being made is about having strategic vision and adapting from one situation to the next and altering policies as per the requirements of the stage of development.
The fourth and final section says that the CCP’s rule has led to the 两个扭转 - the two reversals, i.e., the reversal of the adverse fate of the Chinese nation and Marxism. In making this point, the piece argues for the uniqueness of the success of CCP’s rule across the 5000 years of Chinese history. The article argues that despite the hardships, the CCP ensured that the Chinese nation would stand proudly in the east and has made Chinese civilization shine brightly in the starry sky of human civilization. 自古兴邦多磨难。当中华民族近代遭遇几千年来未有之变局，中国共产党领导人民自强不息、奋起抗争，不仅没有让绵延不绝的民族亡国灭种，没有让源远流长的文明覆灭中断，而且经过长期艰辛奇崛的奋斗，使中华民族以亘古未有的姿态昂扬屹立于世界东方，使中华文明以璀璨夺目的光彩闪耀于人类文明星空.
It adds that Marxism reversed the fading destiny of the Chinese nation and ushered in the bright prospect of great rejuvenation…the Chinese nation reversed the fate that Marxism’s history had come to an end, and imbued it with greater penetrating and explanatory power of the truth.马克思主义扭转了近代以后中华民族不断下滑的命运颓势，使其迎来了伟大复兴的光明前景；中华民族扭转了马克思主义“被终结”的命运，使其迸发出更具穿透力和解释力的真理力量.
Page 17: On the international page, the lead story is about how sanctions against Russia are having a negative economic impact across Europe, from lower growth, higher inflation to escalating energy and food prices, and the risk of Europe losing its economic competitiveness.
Another story talks about criticism of Japan on the Fukushima wastewater issue; and finally, a report - based on polling data from NBC, CBS and Pew - that argues that Americans have a very pessimistic view of the current economic and social situation in the country. This covers inflation, supply chain stresses, COVID-19-related policies, gun control, job growth, racial tensions, etc.