Tracking People’s Daily — October 7, 2020

The holiday-mode paper has little interesting today. But here’s what I found useful.

On page 3, there are a few stories to note. First, there’s a story about the tussle over human rights. (Xinhua English has a longer, more detailed piece) China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun “made a joint statement at the General Debate of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, on behalf of 26 countries, criticizing the United States and Western countries for violating human rights, calling for the complete and immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions, and expressing grave concern on systematic racial discrimination.”

Here’s the countries that he represented: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Here’s some choice words by Zhang Jun: “I would like to tell the United States: Your cliches are completely untrue. China’s achievements in human rights development are widely recognized and not to be denied by your lies and deception. China’s adoption of effective measures to combat terrorism, safeguard national security and promote economic and social development is firmly supported by all Chinese people and can stand the test of time and history.”

There was more human rights action at the UN, which PD didn’t cover.

39, mainly Western, countries criticised China’s treatment of minority groups, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet and expressed grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong. The countries called on China to allow “unfettered access” to Xinjiang for independent observers including UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, and to urgently refrain from detaining Uighurs and members of other minorities.

The joint statement read out by Germany’s UN Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, was immediately followed by a statement from Pakistan on behalf of 55 countries opposing interference in China’s affairs when it comes to Hong Kong.

Amid all this, do check out the latest Pew Survey, which shows how badly China’s approval numbers have fallen in industrialised countries amid the pandemic.

Next, there’s a piece by Lei Kezhong, the ambassador to Lesotho. The piece talks about Chinese support in helping the country dealing with Covid-19. And then more about projects being carried out. “In recent years, with the continuous implementation of the results of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, a number of cooperation projects such as the Moser Highway, Mafeteng Photovoltaic Power Station, Maseru Regional Hospital and Eye Clinic have started construction. Or the construction will start soon, which will definitely play an important role in upgrading Lesotho’s infrastructure and improving people’s livelihood.” He added: “The Lesotho government firmly adheres to the one-China policy and sincerely hopes that China will achieve complete reunification at an early date. It clearly supports China on issues concerning China’s core interests and major concerns such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, and provides valuable support to China in important international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, reflecting the high level of the two countries in the international and multilateral fields. Close cooperative relationship.”

Next, interesting that King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk of Cambodia are in China for a “routine medical check-up.”

Finally, a short report on the new China-Italy Industrial Cooperation Fund (CIICF), which was launched by Italian lender UniCredit in partnership with private equity firm Investindustrial and with the China Investment Corporation (CIC). Xinhua reports that the CIICF has an initial capital of 600 million euros (about 700 million U.S. dollars), fully underwritten by Investindustrial, the CIC and UniCredit, and it will “invest primarily in Italian mid-market companies.”