Tracking People’s Daily — September 4, 2020

Page 1: Yesterday’s WWII anniversary is the story on the page (Xinhua English’s got largely the same content, except for details of attendees). So, the CMC, State Council and Party Central Committee held a symposium on “commemorating the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.” Delivering a speech at it, Xi said: “the great spirit of resisting aggression bred during the war is an invaluable source of inspiration, and will always motivate the Chinese people to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and strive to achieve national rejuvenation.” Interestingly, Xi spoke about ties with Japan, highlighting that the “purpose of the commemoration is to draw a lesson from history, look to the future, and jointly cherish and safeguard peace.” In his speech, he also spends some time on the idea of “protracted war.” Remember, this is how he’s apparently also seeing the current nature of competition with the US.

And then this: “In order to realize national rejuvenation, it is necessary to uphold the leadership of the CPC, to forge ahead on the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics, to continue committing to a people-centered philosophy, to carry forward the fighting spirit, and to firmly stay on the path of peaceful development, Xi said, underscoring five ‘never-allow’ scenarios.”

• The Chinese people will never allow any individual or any force to distort the history of the CPC or smear the Party’s nature and mission.
• The Chinese people will never allow any individual or any force to distort and alter the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, or deny and vilify the great achievements the Chinese people have made in building socialism.
• The Chinese people will never allow any individual or any force to separate the CPC from the Chinese people or counterpose the Party to the Chinese people.
• The Chinese people will never allow any individual or any force to impose their will on China through bullying, change China’s direction of progress, or obstruct the Chinese people’s efforts to create a better life.
• The Chinese people will never allow any individual or any force to jeopardize their peaceful life and right to development, obstruct their exchanges and cooperation with other peoples, or undermine the noble cause of peace and development for humanity.

Two other pieces on the page. First, a report about the ceremony yesterday (English version), which I covered yesterday, and again a report about the messages exchanged between Xi and Putin.

Page 2: This page is also dedicated to the commemoration of the warm. Xi Jinping’s full speech is available here. Also another report which informs that 80 new memorial facilities are being set up to commemorate the war; and 185 new groups or individuals are being celebrated for their effort during the war. This includes KMT soldiers and international actors. The details of these sites, individuals and groups are shared on Page 14.

Page 3: First, today begins the 2020 China International Service Trade Fair Global Service Trade Summit. Xi Jinping will be delivering a speech here too. This is the first major trading event being held online since the pandemic hit. The piece basically talks about how China will continue to open up, the significance of service trade to overall global trade and of course, China’s economic recovery amid the pandemic, making it an attractive option for trading partners. Next, a report which says “foreign experts, entrepreneurs, and media professionals interviewed by our reporter believe that in the context of the continuous spread of the international epidemic and the extremely severe and complex global economic and trade situation, the holding of the Service Trade Fair carries a special and important significance and builds exchanges. The platform of cooperation will definitely help boost global confidence, promote the development of service trade, and inject impetus into the recovery of the world economy.”

This is followed by an interview with Margit Molnar, Head of the China Desk at the OECD Economics Department, hailing the importance of the trade fair. She says: “China has effectively controlled the epidemic in a relatively short period of time, the economic recovery has exceeded expectations, and most industries have fully resumed production. This is mainly due to China’s strong economic resilience, and the rapid transfer of major production factors such as labor and capital to industries with strong demand, such as logistics, computer and software services, finance, and high-tech manufacturing.”

Next, a report (English version) on Yang Jiechi’s visit to Spain, where he met with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Wang Yi, meanwhile, spoke at an event organized by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China South China Sea Research Institute. He called China and ASEAN “a natural community with a shared future,” and warned that the SCS “should not become a tool for individual countries to contain and suppress China, let alone a wrestling field for competition among major powers.” Going ahead, he wants “to continue to negotiate relevant disputes by the countries directly involved…to speed up the conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and…to insist on shelving disputes and joint development.

Two more quick stories to note. Song Tao of the CCP’s ILD led a discussion between CCP cadre and members of the Congolese Party of Labour. Next, Chinese embassy in Myanmar also marked the WWII anniversary commemorating the Chinese Expeditionary Army.

Page 4: This report which talks about the rectification activities involving commercial website platforms, self-media, and webcast industry led by the Cyberspace Administration of China. It says that “in the past month, major website platforms have cleaned up 6.03 million pieces of illegal information, handled 5.59 million illegal accounts, frozen 928,000 zombie accounts, and disposed of 169 accounts with more than one million fans.” I think the piece also says that some 72,000 APPs without news service qualification have been removed. “338 illegal live broadcast platforms were dealt with in accordance with the law, 74,000 live broadcast rooms were closed, 105,000 illegal anchor accounts were banned, 13,600 illegal eating broadcast accounts were dealt with.” The last bit is a product of the campaign to curb food waste.

Page 9: A few pieces to note. First, this one from Qiushi about the “Chinese spirit” in the context of the fight against the pandemic. And then this one about “people-centered development.”

Page 16: Here’s what was covered on the international page.