Tracking People’s Daily — September 16, 2020

Page 1: A few key stories on the front page. First, the General Office issued its new “Opinions on Strengthening the United Front Work of the Private Economy in the New Era.” This is really interesting, because it’s basically going to fuel so much more suspicion of Chinese enterprises abroad. And of course, it tells you that the Party clearly plays a domineering role in the private sector.

Here are some excerpts:

• So the Party says that this is needed because: “the united front work is faced with new situations and new tasks because the scale of the private sector has been expanding, risks and challenges have increased significantly, and the values and interests of the private economy personnel have become more diverse as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.”
• And is significant because: “Strengthening the united front work of the private economy is an important way to realize the party’s leadership over the private economy…Strengthening the united front work of the private economy is an important part of the development and improvement of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics…Strengthening the united front work of the private economy is an important guarantee for promoting the high-quality development of the private economy.”
• What’s the guiding ideology and objective for all of this UF work in the private economy? Well, it is to “educate and guide private economic personnel to enhance the four consciousnesses, strengthen the four self-confidence, and achieve the two safeguards, unswervingly listen to the party, follow the party, and make greater contributions to the realization of the two centenary goals and the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
• Also UFDs in private economy must “educate and guide private economic figures to arm their minds and guide practice with Xi Jinping’s socialist thoughts with Chinese characteristics for the new era, maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee on political positions, political directions, political principles, and political roads, and always be politically sensible.”
• “The united front work should be oriented to all private enterprises and private economic personnel. The objects of work mainly include the main investors and actual controllers of private enterprises, the main operators of private enterprises holding shares, the major shareholders of private investment institutions, and private enterprises.”
• Part of this is also about getting policy moving by building linkages between Party and enterprises to ensure that economic priorities are pursued: For instance, the UFD must “guide private economic personnel to plan to promote enterprise reform and development in accordance with the new development concept, make full use of various industry-university-research-use docking platforms established by the government, and give full play to the activeness of private enterprises in technological innovation.” And it must: “Encourage participation in major national strategies…and give full play to the role of the Federation of Industry and Commerce in relevant international cooperation mechanisms. Guide private enterprises to actively participate in the construction of the Belt and Road.”
• There’s also talk about party committees and government officials engaging with private enterprises, the need to conduct regular surveys, and conduct more meetings about development of the private sector.

To understand the context of the above, I recommend reading this August Economist story. Here’s an excerpt: “Mr Xi is not simply inflating the state at the expense of the private sector. Rather, he is presiding over what he hopes will be the creation of a more muscular form of state capitalism. The idea is for state-owned companies to get more market discipline and private enterprises to get more party discipline, the better to achieve China’s great collective mission. It is a project full of internal contradictions. But progress is already evident in some areas.”

Moving on, Wang Yang was in Qinghai talking about the Tibet work conference. PD says: “Wang Yang emphasized that the Party Central Committee has deployed a series of major tasks to promote the long-term stability of Tibet and Tibetan prefectures and counties. These tasks need to adhere to the combination of top-level design and grassroots exploration, and work hard and work for a long time.” He also added that it was important to “guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to the socialist society.” Another PSC member, Wang Huning, was in Beijing celebrating Party cadre who’d been “outstanding” in the Covid-19 battle. Do note: Chen Xi presided over the forum, and Sun Chunlan, Yang Xiaodu and Huang Kunming attended the forum.

Finally, there’s a piece about China’s Covid success, saying: “Looking back at the war and the big test, we have a deeper understanding of the leadership of a political party and the superiority of a system, and we have a firmer awareness of what flag to raise and what path to take.”

There are many parts to it, and it appears like a personal recollection or testament — although I am a little confused as to whose testament this is. One, for instance, says: “The third decade of the 21st century has just begun, and the history of China and the world has once again come to a thrilling moment. The menacing novel coronavirus epidemic, this unknown and ferocious disease, suddenly arrived. At this historical juncture, General Secretary Xi Jinping personally directed and deployed. Party members and cadres took up their responsibilities upon hearing the orders. The whole country was united and worked together to start the people’s war, overall war, and deterrence war of epidemic prevention and control. The pace of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s fight against the epidemic is the clearest thread for us to look back on the course of the fight.” Then this section focuses on Xi Jinping, essentially telling us that he led everything and shaped the campaign.

Next section talks about why the Party apparently put people first. So you have this: “A foreign political scientist commented after observing China’s epidemic prevention and control measures: ‘China’s socialist nature is fundamental. In a crisis or emergency, people’s well-being takes precedence over profits.’ The word “people” is extremely important. The people’s life safety and physical health are above all else, it is the most fundamental value orientation and deepest political ethics of the Chinese system.” The piece also claims this: “Regardless of the cost and conditions, the national per capita medical expenses for confirmed hospitalized patients are 21,500 yuan, and for critically ill patients more than 150,000 yuan, and a small number of critically ill patients are as high as hundreds of thousands or even more than one million yuan. All expenses are reimbursed by medical insurance and the state covers all expenses.”

The next section talks about the Party’s ability to carry out mass mobilisation, which is again seen as a systemic advantage. “A shocking general mobilization was launched and unfolded immediately. All departments perform their duties and cooperate with each other, special funds are allocated quickly, strategic reserves are urgently deployed, material entry is unblocked all the way, and the chain is interlocking and efficient in wartime.”

And this: “Scientific prevention and precise policy implementation are the most powerful weapons. Whether it is wearing masks, washing hands frequently…and maintaining social distance, these are increasingly becoming people’s conscious actions and lifestyles. Whether it is multi-disciplinary joint research, integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment…vaccine research and development, iterative update of diagnosis and treatment plans, or precise traceability of big data, health code tracking trajectory, or implementation of precise and differentiated urban control and community control according to the development of the epidemic…The international authoritative medical journal “The Lancet” evaluated: The efforts of Chinese colleagues have “paved the way” for the international scientific community to jointly respond to this epidemic. We are well aware that to respect science is to respect nature, and that science can save lives. Advocating science and acting in accordance with the law has become the national temperament and national character.”

The next section talks about international collaboration. “When the storm strikes, no tree can stand alone; under the epidemic, no country can survive alone. The novel coronavirus tells the world in such a painful and direct way that mankind is a community of shared destiny, and only by (working) hand in hand can we go through wind and rain and welcome the sun.”

Page 2: This page also has a commentary on Xi’s speech about the Covid fight. It covers about the same talking points about the system, the uniqueness of China and so on. “For a nation to achieve rejuvenation, it needs both strong material power and strong spiritual power. Faced with the risks and challenges on the road ahead, and the arduous tasks of reform, development and stability, we must build a socialist spiritual civilization with strong vitality and creativity, build strong Chinese cultural soft power with strong appeal and influence, and consolidate the ideological basis for the people to overcome obstacles and advance courageously on a new journey in the new era.”

Next a report on China conducting its second seaborne space launch early on Tuesday morning, with a Long March-11 solid propellant light launch vehicle lifting off from a mobile floating platform in the Yellow Sea, in waters off the coast of East China’s Shandong Province.

Page 3: A few pieces to note. First, a piece on China’s concept of new type of international relations. We’ll read more about this once Xi speaks at the UN meeting. Next a commentary on the China-EU summit. PD seems to be positive when it says: “This meeting demonstrated China and the EU’s determination to firmly grasp the general direction of mutual support, solidarity and cooperation, and unswervingly promote the healthy and stable development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.” And this: “During this meeting, China and the EU demonstrated their willingness to further strengthen their solidarity and cooperation, jointly safeguard multilateralism, resist unilateralism and protectionism, and more effectively deal with various global challenges, and demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding the common interests of China and the EU and the international community.” Third, Zhao Kezhi at the SCO meeting, where he spoke about a number of things, including that “all parties should oppose external interference and safeguard regime security, and further establish a consciousness of building a community of common security.”

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