Xi's Qinghai Meeting - HK Electoral Changes - Wang Yi's Presser
Hi folks, I am returning to doing this blog on a daily basis after a long bout of illness. Thank you for all the good wishes over the past few weeks.
Here’s what I found interesting in today’s, March 8, 2021’s, People’s Daily.
Page 1: There’s a lot on the page today. First, Xi Jinping attended a meeting with lawmakers from Qinghai. Xi’s emphasis was on “high-quality development.” Xinhua English has carried the key comments about sustainable development, ecotourism, and so on. But here’s something from PD.
“Xi Jinping listened while taking notes, inquired from time to time, and communicated with the delegates. After listening carefully to the deputies' speeches, Xi Jinping made a speech…(he said) It is necessary to combine the advantages and resources of Qinghai, implement the innovation-driven development strategy, accelerate the construction of a world-class salt lake industrial base, build a national clean energy industry highland, international ecological tourism destination, green and organic agricultural and livestock products output, build a green low-carbon cycle development economic system, and build a modern economic system reflecting local characteristics.”
Also in PD, the entire last paragraph about Xi’s instructions is focussed on ensuring that the task of party history study and education is carried out with full vigor.
Following this on the page is a story about how officials from Qinghai were inspired by Xi’s comments and want to take the development task forward. There’s also this piece about Xi’s comments regarding Yushu, a prefecture in Qinghai, which was hit by a strong earthquake 11 years ago, and other regions in Qinghai. This offers a curated glimpse into the cult of personality, as Xi engages with different delegates. The idea is to show how much he cares and how he recalls brief conversations and simple details.
Next, there’s a report about the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress holding its second plenary meeting. PD says that “after the plenary meeting, the Constitution and Law Committee reviewed the draft amendments to the National People’s Congress Organization Law, the draft amendments to the National People’s Congress Rules of Procedure, and the draft decision of the National People's Congress on improving the election system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and respectively submitted a report on the results of the review and a decision on the amendment of the law Draft and revised draft decision.”
Page 2: There’s a lot of runover material from the front page here. But here’s something noteworthy; PSC member Han Zheng met with the chief executives of Hong Kong and Macau. Here’s what PD says he told Carrie Lam: “He expressed the hope that the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will continue to take the prevention and control of the epidemic as its current central task, and coordinate all aspects of economic and social work under the premise of effective prevention and control of the epidemic; the decision on the electoral system of administrative regions and the amendments to the two annexes of the Hong Kong Basic Law made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress should do a good job of local legislation in Hong Kong to ensure that the practice of ‘one country, two systems’ in Hong Kong always moves in the right direction.”
If you are interested in the changes to the rules in Hong Kong, here’s a full English version of Wang Chen, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, speech on these. He spoke about the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong,” and invoked Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping, of course. What this means is that the central leadership must ensure “keeping the power to administer firmly in the hands of those who love the country and love Hong Kong.” Doing this, requires a few steps to be taken:
“It is imperative to integrate adherence to the principle of One Country with respect for the differences of Two Systems, and combine upholding the Central Authorities' overall jurisdiction over the SAR.”
“It is imperative to ensure that the State takes firm control over the improvement of the electoral system of the Hong Kong SAR, fully implement the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong SAR, maintain overall social stability of the Hong Kong SAR, and resolutely prevent, stop and punish interference in Hong Kong affairs by foreign countries and external forces and their use of Hong Kong to conduct acts of secession, subversion, infiltration and sabotage.”
“It is imperative to develop a system of democratic elections that fits Hong Kong's actual conditions and reflects the overall interests of the society. It is imperative to guarantee in accordance with the law the extensive and balanced political participation of the Hong Kong compatriots, and guarantee in accordance with the law the right to vote and the right to be elected...” This, of course, does not point to a move towards freer elections.
Here’s what Wang proposed: “The overall design of the (election) system will be centered around the reformation and greater empowerment of the Election Committee of the Hong Kong SAR. The size, composition and formation method of the Election Committee will be adjusted and improved. The Chief Executive will continue to be elected by the Election Committee. The Election Committee will be entrusted with the new function of electing a relatively large share of Legislative Council members and directly participating in the nomination of all candidates for the Legislative Council. Through the Election Committee, the balanced and orderly political participation will be expanded and broader representation ensured in the Hong Kong society. Relevant elements of the election will be adjusted as appropriate, and a mechanism of qualification review will be established throughout the entire process. This design is aimed to form a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's realities and with Hong Kong characteristics.” This sounds like the creation of a stronger body that oversees who can run and who can get elected.
Page 3: This one’s dedicated to Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s press conference yesterday. The English version of the Q&A is available here. He talked about a bunch of things, with COVID-19 and China’s “major country diplomacy” around it being a key theme. Here are some noteworthy quotes:
First, highlighting key aspects of Chinese diplomacy in 2020, he began with this: “Over the last year, the most resolute is our determination to defend national interests. We stood firm against hegemony, highhandedness and bullying, and rejected outright interference in China's domestic affairs. China’s sovereignty is not to be infringed upon, and the dignity of the Chinese nation is not to be trifled with. The legitimate rights of the Chinese people shall be upheld.” Wang then spoke about COVID-19, overseas Chinese and then returned to “countering the surge in unilateralism” as part of China’s efforts towards global governance reform.
Speaking on Sino-Russian ties, he was bullish. “The more unstable the world is, the greater the need for carrying forward China-Russia cooperation. China and Russia should be each other's strategic support, development opportunity, and global partner. This is both an experience gained from history and an imperative under the current circumstances...We will set an example of strategic mutual trust, by firmly supporting each other in upholding core and major interests, jointly opposing ‘color revolution’ and countering disinformation, and safeguarding national sovereignty and political security.”
With regard to the US, he reiterated that “we will not accept groundless accusations or defamation, and we will not allow our core interests to be breached.” But he added that “the list of areas where the two countries can and should cooperate is very clear, including COVID response, economic recovery, climate change and many others. We are open-minded to explore and deepen cooperation with the United States. We hope that the United States will move in the same direction and remove all its unreasonable restrictions on bilateral cooperation as early as possible, not create new obstacles.”
And with regard to Europe, particularly in the context of the Biden administration’s dialogue with Europe, Wang said: “In our view, China and Europe are two important players in this multipolar world. The relationship is equal and open, not targeting any third party or controlled by anyone else. China welcomes an EU that enjoys strengthened strategic autonomy, upholds multilateralism and commits itself to coordination and cooperation between major countries.”
On India, here’s what Wang said: “China and India are each other's friends and partners, not threats or rivals. The two sides need to help each other succeed instead of undercutting each other; we should intensify cooperation instead of harboring suspicion at each other. The boundary dispute, an issue left from history, is not the whole story of the China-India relationship. It is important that the two sides manage the dispute properly and at the same time, expand and enhance cooperation to create enabling conditions for the settlement of the issue. The rights and wrongs of what happened in the border area last year are clear. So are the stakes involved. What happened again proves that initiating confrontation will not solve the problem, and that returning to peaceful negotiation is the right way forward. China's position is very clear: We are committed to settling the boundary dispute through dialogue and consultation. At the same time, we are resolved to safeguard our sovereign rights and interests. It falls on both sides to solidify the existing consensus, strengthen dialogue and communication, and improve the various management mechanisms to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border area.”
There’s obviously a lot more in the presser, but two bits that I want to highlight. First, here’s his bit on systemic differences: “Progress of human civilization cannot be achieved with only one pathway, nor should there be only one model. Choice of system should be made in a tailor-made way, rather than through trimming the feet to fit in the shoes. Whether a path works for a country depends on how it fits the country's conditions. To smear or attack others for their different system or even claim superiority is in essence ‘hegemony of system’.” Second, here’s how he ended with advice for foreign media: “China hopes to see and welcomes more Edgar Snows of this new era among foreign journalists.”
Page 5: There’s a long Ren Zhongping commentary on the page. This one focuses on the achievements of the 13th FYP and looking ahead at the 14th FYP.
“Why can China (achieve the successes it has)? Someone once attributed China's economic growth to the introduction, digestion and absorption of advanced technologies, and undertaking of industrial transfers, and other ‘comparative advantages,’ while others believed that China's development relied on ‘comparative advantages’ such as demographic dividends and environmental capacity. However, ‘late-mover advantage’ will not automatically be transformed into a development advantage, and ‘comparative advantage’ will not naturally become a competitive advantage. What kind of deep code is it that allows China to continuously activate its development advantages and release its development potential, and create such a miracle in such a short period of time?...The answer to the question lies on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics...The socialist system with Chinese characteristics and the national governance system supported by the people.”