Tracking People’s Daily — July 10, 2020

Page 1: A few stories to note.

First, the State Council meeting led by Li Keqiang discussed a number of key issues. Xinhua’s English story basically covers what the PD piece says. The meeting focused on flood prevention and relief, construction of major water conservancy projects, measures to support businesses and stimulate employment, and budget related work.

Second, report on the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2020 online summit, which kicked off on Thursday in Shanghai. This one talks about the expansion at the Zhangjiang AI island.

Third, there are two stories that blend development with human interest, indicative of narrative sophistication. First, this one about Yanling County in Henan. The story covers Yikangyuan, an elderly care institution in the county. It says that the facility focuses on “extremely poor groups, and the government and the market worked together to weave a safety net for poverty alleviation. In this new home, poor and severely disabled people enjoy free centralized care, have professional treatment, have special care, and can also watch theater, exercise, and do handicrafts. The rich life makes the nursing home laughter every day.”

The other story is about the underground pipeline network of Chengdu. Now, this is something that most Indians will relate to. And there’s something about urban planning that the two sides should actually be talking about. Here’s the story: “Electricity, communications, gas, radio and television… Urban pipelines are often faced with dilemmas: they are hung in the air, and the ugly ‘spider web’ above the streets; buried in the ground, easy to corrode, inconvenient to maintain, and often excavated due to construction. Nowadays, with the construction of underground comprehensive pipe corridors, the problems are gradually being solved…So far, the city’s (Chengdu’s) underground pipeline corridor has been completed and put into operation for more than 20 kilometers, and the total length of more than 50 pipeline corridors under construction is about 167 kilometers, covering most of the central urban area.”

Page 2: A report on the State Council’s Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Reform of the Medical Security Fund Supervision System. Here’s the English version of the report: “Due to the unsoundness of the supervision system, as well as of the incentive and restraint mechanisms, the usage effectiveness of the healthcare security fund has remained at a relatively low level, according to the document. The supervision and law enforcement systems for the fund will be basically in place by the year 2025, read the document. Urging the promotion of reform, it requires building the systems for smart supervision, tip-off rewards and credit management, and improving the system for public supervision.”

Page 3: A few pieces to note:

First, Wang Yi’s speech yesterday on Sino-US relations. English version of the speech. To me this was a tempered speech, calling for some sort of peace between the two sides. What’s interesting is that there is a hint of a G2-like proposal. Here’s an excerpt:

“Given the interconnectedness and complexity of issues, it is useful for the two sides to sit down together, run over them, and draw up the following three lists: The first is a list of cooperation areas. It should specify all areas, bilateral and global, where China and the US need to and can work together. The longer this list goes, the better. Cooperation on this list should be immune to the impact of other issues. The second is a list of dialogues. It should itemize the issues of differences that could be solved through dialogues. They should be designated to the existing dialogue mechanisms and platforms as soon as possible. The third is a list of issues that need proper management. It should identify the few tough issues that the two countries have little chance to agree on in the near future. The two sides should manage them well in the spirit of seeking common ground while putting aside differences, so as to minimize their impact on and harm to the overall China-US relations.”

Read the above with this commentary, which takes aim at FBI director Christopher Wray, for his recent comments at the Hudson Institute. These did sting, it seems. Here’s an excerpt:

“Some American politicians are accustomed to inciting ideological confrontation, indulging in the illusion of self-imagined enemies and cannot extricate themselves. The world has long seen clearly that the so-called ‘crimes’ that discredit China come from lies and conspiracy. Now Christopher Wray jumped in and splashed dirty water; it was nothing more than letting the world continue to recognize the reason why ‘Pinocchio’s nose’ is becoming longer and longer. There is no doubt that the more they are passionate about lying, the more stains they leave on themselves in history. Recently, some politicians in the United States seem to collectively suffer from the ‘paranoia’ of stigmatizing and demonizing China. One by one, they all took turns, attacked and smeared China with unjustified charges, lost at least their rationality and justice, and broke through the human civilization and due moral bottom line.”

The piece does, however, end with a call for the US to “return to reason” and engagement.

Next, Wang Yi attended a UNSC meeting on Libya. He called for a “comprehensive ceasefire,” a “political settlement” with the UN, AU and Arab League playing a role, “eliminate the spillover effect of the crisis” i.e., terrorism, and for the UNSC to work effectively. Finally, a bunch of supportive quotes from foreigners about the new HK law.

Page 4 & 7: A few stories to note:

• Rectification is the name of the game. First, it was announced yesterday, although not covered in PD, that after being “demanded by the CCP Central Committee,” there will be a rectification campaign launched in 2021 covering political and legal organs across the country. A pilot campaign will be initiated from July to October this year, covering organs in five provinces. In PD today, you have a report about Zhao Kezhi’s comments during a Education Rectification and Mobilization Conference covering the police. Here’s what he reportedly said:

“adhere to the political construction of the police and strictly manage the police in public security agencies across the country, and strive to achieve the goals of further strengthening the spirit of loyal police, further strengthening the leadership of the party, further optimizing the political ecology, and further strict discipline. Focus on solving outstanding problems such as impure thought, political impurity, impure organization, impure style, etc…”

• Hu Chunhua led the national conference on stabilising foreign trade. Xinhua’s English story covers everything. This tells you about the challenges of a demand side shock on a supplier economy.
• A report on the flood relief efforts.
• A report based on views by mainland criminal law experts about the new HK law.
• On page 7, we have a report based on the Ministry of National Defense’s reaction to recent US DoD comments on the South China Sea. English version here.

Page 8: A few international stories to note:

• First, a long piece by the China Human Rights Research Association on American human rights. This is a tirade against US immigration policy, which it calls “xenophobic,” and racial prejudices in the country. The piece does say that the immigration policy has faced criticism in the US.
• A report on Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology going to court against recent policy changes with regard to international students. I wonder if such reports also prompt thinking among Chinese about how limiting the judicial system in China is if it were to experience similar situations.
• A report on a recent OPCW Executive Council meeting, which gave the Syrian regime 90 days to declare all of the chemical weapons it possesses as well as where they are produced and stored. PD’s report says that China, Russia and Iran voted against the OPCW resolution, and nine countries including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, India and Pakistan abstained. The report says that the Chinese delegation expressed its regret on the voting, saying that the voting “would create further polarization and confrontation among States Parties, and lead to constant politicization of the work of the OPCW.”