Afghanistan Situation - Pak Terror Attack - Tech Incentives Rollback - Xi Thought Series - Russia-China Drills - Tibet - Rule of Law Guideline - Covid Disinformation - Wendy Sherman Meets Qin Gang
Dear Subscribers,
I hope you are all well. India celebrates its 75th Independence Day today, and I am in holiday mode, with the family taking priority. So this will be a brief edition, but I am sure you’ll still find lots of useful stuff in there.
Also, I do recommend checking out this discussion that we had on India Ahead News on Friday, covering the LAC situation, India-China ties and Afghanistan.
I. India & Af-Pak - Trade - Quad & Tibet
Let’s begin with sparring over the Dasu terror attack, which had killed 9 Chinese workers in Pakistan. The Indian External Affairs Ministry termed Pakistan’s Foreign Minister’s comments linking India to the attack as “absurd.”
“This is yet another attempt by Pakistan to malign India, in a bid to deflect international attention from its role as the epicenter of regional instability and a safe haven for proscribed terrorists,” said the ministry’s spokesperson.
The Pakistani FM on Thursday said that “As per our investigation, Afghan soil was used for this incident. About its planning and its execution, we’re seeing a clear nexus between the NDS and the RAW.” - Shibani’s Region Watch section below also has more on Pakistan and Afghanistan.
What is noteworthy, however, is that the Chinese foreign ministry has endorsed the Pakistani view. MoFA’s Hua Chunying’s commented on the progress with regard to the probe into attack. This comment was framed as a response to a question. The question asked of Hua was that Pakistan’s probe has found that the “planning for the terrorist attack was done in Afghanistan and the attack was executed by the Swat chapter of TTP. The attacker was trained in Afghanistan and the vehicle used in the attack was brought from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Some of those involved in the attack have been arrested in Pakistan, while others are at large in Afghanistan. The terrorist network the attacker is associated with has received support from Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies.”
Hua said:
“The Pakistani side’s investigation into the terrorist attack has seen major progress within a short period of time. China pays great attention to this and expresses appreciation to Pakistan’s active efforts. Further investigation by Pakistan is still ongoing at the moment. China and Pakistan will follow the important consensus reached by the leaders on both sides, ascertain all the facts and truth, and hold the culprits accountable and bring them to justice. In the meanwhile, both countries will keep strengthening security cooperation mechanisms to ensure the safety of Chinese projects, people and institutions in Pakistan. Terrorism is the common enemy of all mankind. China firmly opposes any force using terrorism to seek geopolitical gains and calls on countries in the region to collaborate in eradicating all terrorist organizations so as to uphold common security and development interests of all countries.”
I see this focus on India as significant but not unexpected. Chinese commentators such as Liu Zongyi have in the past pointed to an Indian connection like this. But, of course, it is different for the foreign ministry to endorse such a view. Why I thought this was not terribly unexpected in this case is because once the investigation pointed fingers towards India, I would have been very surprised if the Chinese foreign ministry put out a counter-narrative. That’s because there was a team of Chinese investigators who were sent there to be part of the probe. So this was obviously thought out. Of course, MoFA could have ignored putting out a statement. After all, they are on a break from regular press briefings. So the fact that it put this out tells us that it wants to highlight India. At the same time, they still have not said anything about the disengagement along Gogra, which India confirmed last week.
While we are in the Af-Pak region, there’s been a reasonable amount of writing about India’s role in the evolving situation in Afghanistan. For instance, here’s a Guancha report on the Taliban’s Suhail Shaheen’s comments warning India when it comes to thoughts of sending military force there and calling on New Delhi to adopt a “fair” position. The title carries a mocking chuckle. There’s also a commentary on the site bylined Chen Feng, which argues that while it is very difficult for India to engage militarily in Afghanistan, it’s not like India doesn’t desire some form of influence. The author argues that India’s backing of the Afghan government is a “wasted” effort. He talks about how India supports the Pakistani Taliban, wants to keep pressure on Pakistan via support for the Afghan government and even says that India has lent “covert support for ‘Xinjiang independence’.” The last bit left me scratching my head. But what’s noteworthy is that the piece betrays an anxiety about the Pakistani Taliban.
The author then says that while Indian strategic thinkers have often displayed “foresight,” their strategies have been detached from India’s realities.
“A strategy is a strategy not only because it is visionary, but also because it has a roadmap and timeline that can be achieved. However, strategic thinking in India often ignores achievability or has unrealistic illusions about achievability.” 战略之所以是战略,不仅因为它有远见,还因为它有一个可以实现的路线图和时间表。然而,印度的战略思维往往忽视可实现性,或者对可实现性抱有不切实际的幻想.
An example of this for the author is Indian naval deployment in the South China Sea. He then dismisses any suggestions of India sending troops to Afghanistan and advises New Delhi to focus on livelihood issues and economic development. There’s a lot of condescension and a lot that I do not agree with, but I’ll take the advice to prioritise economic development.
Another commentary to note was by Lou Chunhao from the Institute of South Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. Lou identifies India’s primary interests in Afghanistan as:
Security of Indians, investments and assets in Afghanistan.
The threat of violent terrorism spilling over within India.
“The geopolitical significance of Afghanistan to India is that it provides a springboard to enter Central Asia, and it also provides a means to contain Pakistan.”
He argues that India-US coordination on Afghanistan is not significant. He says that when PM Modi met Donald Trump in February 2020, he had specifically said that “Pakistan cannot be allowed to act in Afghanistan, and the achievements made by Afghanistan in the past 19 years cannot be in vain.” But the US withdrawal has happened irrespective of these concerns. And so now, the most “reasonable” policy for India, as per Lou, is to work with neighbours like China, Pakistan, Russia, Iran and other regional countries. Interesting that he does want China and India to work together on Afghanistan.
Another thought in this direction was shared by Former Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in this interaction below around his new book The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India. Towards the end of the conversation, he talks about India and China having shared interests in Afghanistan.
Anyway while on Afghanistan, I do recommend these two pieces about Chinese perceptions of the situation and engagement:
Analysis: As Taliban advances, China lays groundwork to accept an awkward reality
A reluctant embrace: China’s new relationship with the Taliban
China should pressure Taliban in 2 ways, Afghanistan’s envoy says
Moving on, ThePrint reports that exports and imports between India and China grew at over 65 per cent in the January-June period, trade data sourced from official agencies in both countries shows. The report says that China’s “share in India’s total exports rose two percentage points to 7.3 per cent in 2020-21 from 5.3 per cent in 2019-20, shows data from the Indian commerce ministry, and the Chinese government’s trade data dissemination body. Similarly, China’s share in India’s total imports has also surged, increasing by 3 percentage points and crossing 16 per cent in 2020-21 after seeing a dip in the previous two years.”
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel told Parliament on Friday that Indian exports to China increased to $21.19 billion in 2020-21 from $16.61 billion in 2019-20. Imports from China during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 were worth $70.32 billion, $65.26 billion and $65.21 billion, respectively.
Also, early in August, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the current special envoy on trade for the Australian PM visited New Delhi. Abbott clearly doesn’t believe in a nudge-nudge-wink-wink approach to China. Here’s what he wrote in The Australian after returning home:
“With the world’s other emerging superpower becoming more belligerent almost by the day, it’s in everyone’s interests that India take its rightful place among the nations as quickly as possible. And because trade deals are about politics as much as economics, a swift deal between India and Australia would be an important sign of the democratic world’s tilt away from China, as well as boosting the long-term prosperity of both our countries.”
This remark in the piece was also interesting: “Our challenge is to overcome India’s traditional protectionism, and the tendency to see trade talks as a zero-sum game, in order to seal a deal that will make the world safer for democracy.”
Next, let’s look at Tibet. There’s been an interesting series on the region that’s been running in the People’s Daily. The commentary series talks about development in Tibet, infrastructure, education, etc., emphasising patriotism. The piece on Friday spoke about border defense villages, saying that while 604 of the 628 such villages that are planned were completed in 2020. You can read them in by weekday People’s Daily Tracker. Also in PD this week, there was a special commentary on Tibet bylined 热地 (Wikipedia link on him) - a Tibetan politician who in 2019 was awarded the title “Outstanding Contributor to National Unity.” This is a really long piece and discusses engagement with the Dalai Lama and CTA. Here’s a snippet (full breakdown of the piece here):
“The essence of our differences and struggles with the Dalai clique is not the question of autonomy, the question of religion or ethnicity, or the question of so-called human rights; rather it has always been a pointed struggle between unity and division, progress and retrogression. The Dalai clique’s attempt to split the motherland and restore the old system is very clear to the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet, and they will never agree to it...I often say that as long as Western anti-China forces exist, and as long as the Dalai separatist group exists, the anti-secession struggle in Tibet will never cease...”
While on Tibet, do note this report by Nistula Hebbar and Kallol Bhattacherjee in The Hindu. They write that New Delhi is “positively considering an outreach to the 17th Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorje, the Chief Minister of Sikkim said on Saturday. At a press conference in Gangtok, CM Prem Singh Tamang said the Karmapa, who left India in 2017 without any early warning, may return “very soon” and the State is planning to send a delegation to the monk in this regard. The Karmapa is the leader of the Karma Kagyu branch of Buddhism.”
The report adds: “The importance of the 17th Karmapa is expected to grow and he is likely to play a role in the deliberations to find a successor to Dalai Lama in a future scenario. The Sikkimese government is planning to send Minister of Ecclesiastical Department Sonam Lama as the head of a delegation to meet the 17th Karmapa abroad and bring him back. The decision to send Mr. Lama is being interpreted as a big turnaround by the Indian establishment as the announcement was made by Mr. Tamang a day after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.”
Finally, let’s take a quick look at some other stories. First, there’s a new ORF survey of the views of India’s urban youth on foreign policy. Lack of trust of China was a key finding of the survey. Second, Quad officials held extensive talks on further advancing practical cooperation in areas of infrastructure, maritime security, counter-terrorism and cybersecurity. The US State Department said that they talked about
“strategic challenges confronting the region, countering disinformation, promoting democracy and human rights, strengthening international institutions including the United Nations and related organizations, and supporting countries vulnerable to coercive actions in the Indo-Pacific region. The senior officials discussed the importance of peace and security in the Taiwan Strait, the ongoing crisis in Burma, and reaffirmed the Quad’s strong support for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.”
The Indian readout does not mention the Taiwan Strait. But it does talk about the officials reviewing “the progress of the Quad Vaccine initiative which was announced by the Leaders, with the objective of enhancing vaccine production and equitable access.” The Japanese readout also does not mention Taiwan. It does, however, say that “the officials also exchanged views on regional issues such as North Korea, the East and South China Seas and Myanmar.”
As an aside, the China-Japan relationship appears to be taking a fascinating turn over the past year or so. This week we had Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi and Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura visiting the Yasukuni Shrine. Nobuo Kishi separately had some blunt comments for Beijing while speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Japan’s defence policy is not targeted at any specific nation. But given that the security environment surrounding Japan is getting even harsher, we must build a structure where we can protect ourselves…[China] is trying to change the status quo unilaterally backed by force and coercion. And they’re trying to make it into a fait accompli. The 62-year-old younger brother of former prime minister Shinzo Abe said it was up to the Japanese Parliament to decide if the country needed to change its pacifist constitution to meet its security needs. ‘For us to be able to respond to those challenges, what we must do is enhance our defence capabilities on our own,’ he said. ‘There could be a constitutional debate in [autumn] this year in the national Diet, but this is a matter for the Diet. I will refrain from making such comments’.”
Also Read:
Modi government’s politics with China is evolving. Gogra disengagement is proof - Must Read
Disengagement in Ladakh trades territorial claims for time to meet bigger strategic challenges ahead - Must Read
Efforts on to resolve LAC row, situation under control along LoC: Rajnath
India talks tough in SCO over military drills between China, Pakistan
'Lots of opportunities': India seeing fund inflows after China crackdown, says Mark Mobius / Money fleeing China stocks may overlook pricey India, UBS says
If India contests China’s Asian dominance, there will be no let-up in tensions: Shyam Saran
II. New Rule of Law Guideline
One of the big stories from China this week was the publication of the full guidelines for the Construction of a Government under the Rule of Law (2021-25). Below is my break-up of the document Section 1, the Guiding Ideology section here mentions all previous leaders’ contributions. But before this section, the first point specifically laid out the objective of “in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on the rule of law.”
The key principles for this regulation are:
Adhere to Party leadership
Adhere to the people-centered approach
Adhere to being problem-oriented
Adhere to reform and innovation
Adhere to the overall planning
Section 2 begins by talking about better interagency division of responsibilities and coordination. It broadly mentions the following areas regarding which government functioning must improve: “economic adjustment, market supervision, social management, public service, and environmental protection.”
It adds that the government’s function in formulating development strategies, plans, policies and standards should be strengthened. More legal and institutional efforts should curb unjust interventions in micro-economic activities, says the document. It also specifies that the lists of power and duties of departments of the State Council should be formulated by the first half of 2022. The negative list for market access should also be strictly implemented.
The next bit talks about better coordination to facilitate growth or rather ease of business-linked processes. For instance, it mentions the reform of licenses and permits, referring to the need to implement ‘one industry, one license’ reform, and single permit system, which can be recognised across cities and provinces.
It adds:
“Summarize the experiences and practices that can be replicated and promoted in optimizing the business environment in various places in a timely manner, and upgrade them to laws, regulations and systems in a timely manner. Equal protection of property rights and independent management rights of enterprises of all kinds of ownership in accordance with the law, and effectively prevent abuse of administrative power to exclude and restrict competition.” The guideline also pledges improvements in the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list for foreign investment. It also promises strengthened enforcement of anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition laws.
It says: “Strengthen the rigid constraints of the fair competition review system, promptly clean up and abolish various regulations and practices that hinder the development of a unified market and fair competition, and promote the formation of a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system.” 加强和改进反垄断和反不正当竞争执法。强化公平竞争审查制度的刚性约束,及时清理废除妨碍统一市场、公平竞争的各种规定和做法,推动形成制度完备、治理完善、统一开放、竞争有序的市场体系.
This section also says that the lists of power and duties of departments of the State Council should be formulated by the first half of 2022.
Section 3 talks about the need to “adhere to scientific legislation, democratic legislation, and legislation according to law, strive to achieve equal emphasis on the quality and efficiency of government legislation, enhance pertinence, timeliness, systematicness, and operability, and strive to make all aspects of government governance system more sound and perfect.” 坚持科学立法, 民主立法, 依法立法, 着力实现政府立法质量和效率并重并进, 增强针对性、及时性、系统性、可操作性,努力使政府治理各方面制度更加健全、更加完善.
It talks about the need for legislation in domains like “national security, science and technology innovation, public health, culture and education, ethnicity and religion, biosecurity, ecological civilization, risk prevention, anti-monopoly, foreign-related rule of law and other important areas of legislation to improve the legal system urgently needed for national governance.” In addition, it talks about timely assessments of the legal structures around the digital economy, Internet finance, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, etc., “to make up for the shortcomings, with good law and good governance in order to protect the healthy development of new industries and new models.”
Section 4 talks about decision-making systems. It basically outlines the responsibilities of administrators, in that they need to have some sense of participation and seek opinions.
Section 5 talks about the law-enforcement system. There are a couple of things to note here. First, it talks about strengthening law enforcement “in key areas related to the vital interests of the people.” These include food and medicine, public health, natural resources, ecological environment, production safety, labor security, urban management, transportation, financial services, education and training.” 加大食品药品、公共卫生、自然资源、生态环境、安全生产、劳动保障、城市管理、交通运输、金融服务、教育培训等关系群众切身利益的重点领域执法力度. It talks about rectification as a response to violations, but also “punitive compensation and huge fines for serious violations.”
Second, I thought this was noteworthy too: “Extensive use of persuasion and education, persuasion and demonstration, warning and admonition, guidance and interviews,” which are referenced from the perspective of the need to “strive to achieve leniency and severity, the integration of law and reason, so that law enforcement is both strong and tempered.” 广泛运用说服教育、劝导示范、警示告诫、指导约谈等方式,努力做到宽严相济、法理相融,让执法既有力度又有温度.
Section 6 talks about improved emergency response systems, including monitoring and early warning, information reporting, rapid response, restoration and investigation and assessment of relevant events. Primary-level organizations and the public should be guided and regulated in participating in emergency response to enhance the capability of handling emergencies in accordance with the law. It adds that drills in this regard should be conducted regularly.
Section 7 talks about administrative efforts for prevention, mediation and resolution of social conflicts and disputes. Useful to note that the objective outlined here is to “promote social fairness and justice.” Section 8 deals with supervision over administrative power. It begins with the philosophy that if one has power, it must serve a certain responsibility, and if you have responsibilities, there must be accountability. The accountability defined here is largely in terms of how departments are working to
“implement the “major decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council” perform
implement the “important work arrangements of higher-level and government at the same level”
based on their “performance of statutory duties”
based on the administrative efficiency of subordinate departments of the government at the same level and lower-level governments
In other words, accountability is viewed from the prism of implementing orders and administrative efficiency rather than how effective these agencies have been in identifying governance concerns from the public’s perspective and addressing them.
This section also talks about transparency in government operations. But the caveat here is that it must meet the “reasonable information needs of the people according to law.” It also talks about improving the accountability system to address dishonesty in government with specific focus on areas like “debt financing, government procurement, bidding, and investment promotion.”
Section 9 talks about digitising governance. It talks about:
building a single platform for inquiries with regard to government documents and regulations of all departments under the State Council by 2022 and by 2023 for all provinces and regions.
Establish and improve the coordination mechanism of government data sharing...build a national integrated government big data system, and strengthen the optimization and integration of government information systems.
Establish and improve the system and rules of administrative management by using the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies. While protecting national security, commercial secrets, individual privacy and personal information according to law, we will promote the open sharing of data between the government and public service organizations, and give priority to promoting the orderly opening of government data in areas such as people's livelihood security, public services and market supervision. 建立健全运用互联网、大数据、人工智能等技术手段进行行政管理的制度规则. 在依法保护国家安全、商业秘密、自然人隐私和个人信息的同时,推进政府和公共服务机构数据开放共享,优先推动民生保障、公共服务、市场监管等领域政府数据向社会有序开放.
Strengthen the construction of the national ‘Internet + supervision’ system, with the aim of getting this running effectively by 2022. This essentially emphasizes the importance of technology-enabled law enforcement.
Section 10 talks about strengthening party leadership.
Also Read:
Beijing Signals Yearslong Tech Crackdown as Investors Reevaluate China Bets
China one step closer to rule of law goals with new five-year blueprint
China Signals More Regulation for Businesses in Coming Years
China unveils five-year plan to strengthen control of economy
China investors turn to renewables, chips, to avoid regulators' attention - Do read
New Regulation Plan Pledges ‘Consistency,’ Respect for Rule of Law Amid Roiling Markets
Xi Jinping’s assault on tech will change China’s trajectory - Do read.
III. Region Watch
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that a group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were behind the bus blast that killed nine Chinese nationals. Pakistan believes there is a ‘clear nexus’ between the TTP and Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies that coordinated the attack. The theory is supported by Javed Iqbal, Pakistan’s deputy inspector general of counterterrorism police:
‘Senior officers of the RAW (Indian) and NDS (Afghan) were directing them in Afghanistan,’
The deputy inspector general said video footage, mobile phone data analysis, and forensic examination revealed that the TTP in Afghanistan had planned this attack. Even as the investigation is still underway, China has expressed its gratitude for Pakistan’s swift actions on the matter. Following the disclosure, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it strongly opposes any force that uses terrorism to make geopolitical gains. While it is plausible that the TTP could be behind the attack since it took place in an area where the group is active, the TTP has denied its involvement. This is an unusual move for a group that has readily claimed responsibility for targeting security officials in a car bomb suicide attack at a hotel in Quetta hosting the Chinese ambassador. Furthermore, this seems like a default, template accusation on Pakistan’s part. I’d suspect any Pakistani accusation that connects any terror attack in the country to India and Afghanistan.
As Afghanistan's security situation deteriorates, the leader of the National Congress Party (NCP) of Afghanistan, Dr Latif Pedram said the Afghan people welcome China and its Belt and Road initiative (BRI). The parliamentarian believes that Beijing should step up and undo the destruction ‘American imperialism’ has done in Afghanistan:
‘With the defeat and consequent withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan, China can and should play a greater and more meaningful role. China should take an active part in the reconstruction and socio-economic development of Afghanistan, and even the political development and the construction of infrastructures in Afghanistan.’
It will be interesting to see how Beijing maintains its aspirations along with Afghan expectations and recently elevated ties with the Taliban.
The mention of BRI brings us to Chinese infrastructure in the region. China has opened the biggest air terminal in Tibet, at the provincial capital Lhasa, expanding the transport infrastructure in the Himalayan region. Lhasa Gonggar Airport began operating its newly constructed Terminal 3 on Saturday. The inauguration underlines a milestone in the region's infrastructure development that could significantly increase travel and cargo transport and help it rise as a logistics hub for South Asia. The expansion of the Lhasa airport comes after China launched its first high-speed train from Lhasa to Nyingchi, the strategically located Tibetan town situated near the Arunachal Pradesh border. The new train has already been used for its first military mission by carrying recruits of a combined arms brigade affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Command, signifying its importance for the Chinese military in moving personnel and hardware to the border areas.
Also Read:
What Will Happen to Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Uneasy Border?
Sri Lanka has Rajapaksas all over. It may import autocratic values from CCP model
IV. Key Stories - COVID Disinformation - Russia-China drills - Rolling Back Tech Incentives & Xi Thought Series
In the above report, Josh Ye writes that Beijing is set to roll back tax incentives for software companies in favour of hard tech research and development. He writes that “Chinese media Caixin reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified tax officials, that Chinese regulators are looking to tighten the qualification standard for so-called ‘key software enterprises’, by introducing more stringent requirements for internet firms to enjoy tax reductions. This comes after Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, told investors in a call that the years-long government tax breaks the internet industry has enjoyed may soon begin to fade, as reported by Bloomberg last Friday. Separately, the Securities Times, a newspaper affiliated with the People’s Daily, reported last week that China should increase taxes on gaming companies.”
So what are Key Software Enterprises? Well they:
-must “possess ‘core critical technologies’ and conduct business based with them.
-the companies’ business or products also need to have their own patents or intellectual property
-they must have at least 40% of their employees with a bachelor‘s degree or higher.
- R&D professionals need to account for at least 25% of the total headcount.
-R&D spend of qualifying companies must also account for more than 7% of total revenue as opposed to the traditional 6%
-Income related to software product development should account for at least 55% of revenue from a previous 50%
The report calls this the “latest in a series of steps taken to rein in Big Tech in the country, and to direct more investment into ‘hard tech’ areas like semiconductors and operation systems, as its tech rivalry with the US heats up.”
Beijing-controlled paper labels Hong Kong press union an ‘anti-govt political organisation’
Hong Kong’s population falls after political crackdown - City records a 1.2% decline in residents for first half of year as young people and families depart
Chinese military spokesperson describes China-Cambodia friendship as 'steel-like' for 1st time
China wary of Lithuanian domino effect over de facto Taiwan embassy
China-Russia military drill makes room for combined force against US/ Russian defence minister praises cooperation with China at joint wargames - With this, do check out this thread below:
While on the COVID origins issue, do check out this fantastic thread breaking down the CCP’s narrative duplicity.
‘Arrogant’: China rejects Canada’s claims over ‘unjust’ Spavor and Schellenberg verdicts
Africa-China trade slowed by container shortage as Covid-19 hits shipping
Two Chinese activists sentenced to 15 months’ jail for archiving censored internet material - The headline does not do justice. These people are being jailed because they archived materials that contradicted the official narrative on China’s pandemic response. They were detailed in April 2020. In my book Smokeless War, I had discussed Cai Wei and Chen Mei’s work to archive censored material; work like what they were doing has allowed the world to gain a deeper understanding of China’s COVID-19 challenges. It’s simply horrendous that these individuals are being penalised.
China's new U.S. envoy stresses importance of Taiwan in first high-level meeting - Report on Qing Gang’s meeting with Wendy Sherman.
The State Department put out a short statement, saying that “the Deputy Secretary reviewed issues from her meetings with PRC officials in Tianjin last month and expressed the United States’ commitment to continuing discussions.” The Chinese ambassador, meanwhile, said that ties were at a “crossroads.” He added that they held “in-depth and candid discussions” and Xinhua says that “Qin emphasized that the Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations.”
CIA Weighs Creating Special China Unit in Bid to Out-Spy Beijing
China cranks up carbon-intensive projects as climate crisis grows, research shows
PBOC Offers $31 Billion in Cheap Loans to Boost Struggling Regions
‘China has tried to make Cheng disappear’: Campaign launched to free TV anchor
Finally, I do recommend that you check out the Xi Thought series from this week in my People’s Daily tracker. There are two pieces from the series that I think are really interesting. First, there was one on Friday about Western Constitutionalism vs Governing by Constitution. It argued:
The constitution of our country, in the form of a fundamental law, establishes the core leadership position of the Communist Party of China, stipulates that China’s state system is a people’s democratic dictatorship and the government system is a people’s congress system. When we say that we insist on governing the country according to the constitution and governing according to the constitution, it entails unswervingly insisting on the leadership of the Communist Party of China as determined by the constitution, and adhering to the unshakable state system of the people’s democratic dictatorship and the system of people’s congress as determined by the constitution.”
And this:
“To rule the country and govern in accordance with the constitution is in no way to weaken, deny or abandon the leadership of the Party, but rather to emphasise that the Party leads the people in formulating constitutional laws, the Party leads the people in implementing constitutional laws, and the Party itself must operate within the scope of constitutional laws…Nowadays some people play the ‘constitutional government’ card, that is, by packaging the political concept of ‘constitutional government’ academically, they view China from the prism of Western ‘constitutional government’ standards, argue that China’s is not a ‘constitutional state’ or it is not a country with ‘rule of law’; they allege that the socialist state led by the Party is best placed in the category of a ‘country ruled by man’ or even and ‘authoritarian state’, and use the so-called ‘constitutional government’ conceptualisation to hollow out the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Anyone who denies the leadership of the CPC and the fundamental system of socialism on any pretext is wrong, harmful and absolutely unacceptable, and is also fundamentally violating the Constitution.” 现在一些人打出“宪政”牌,就是通过对“宪政”这一政治概念进行学术包装,拿西方“宪政”的标准来框住我们,攻击我们不是“宪政国家”、“法治国家”,把党领导的社会主义国家打入“人治国家”甚至“专制国家”的另类,用所谓“宪政”架空中国共产党领导. 任何人以任何借口否定中国共产党领导和社会主义根本制度,都是错误的、有害的,都是绝对不能接受的,也是从根本上违反宪法的.
The second piece was about China’s future reform. It says that China in the new era needs strengthening top-level design and crossing the river by feeling the stones, which are both “dialectically linked.” 加强顶层设计和摸着石头过河是辩证统一的.
The piece said that:
“gradual reform avoids social unrest caused by unclear situation and improper measures, and provides a guarantee for steadily advancing the reform and smoothly achieving the goal. On the other hand, some countries engage in so-called ‘shock therapy’, which results in violent political turmoil and social unrest. This is a profound learning.” 这种渐进式改革,避免了因情况不明、举措不当而引起的社会动荡,为稳步推进改革、顺利实现目标提供了保证. 反观有些国家搞所谓“休克疗法”,结果引起了剧烈政治动荡和社会动乱,教训是很深刻的.
Okay, then why is top-level design needed? The answer is a bit convoluted. The argument is that “comprehensively deepening reform involves a wide range of major reform initiatives that may affect the whole body”; therefore, one must be careful and cautious.
Then as best as I understood, it says that:
“The so-called top-level design refers to the overall design of the economic system, political system, cultural system, social system, ecological civilization system and party building system, etc. It is a process that strengthens research into and assessment of the relevance of various reforms; it strives to match the overall situation with the local one; it combines the root cause and cure, and promotes gradual progress and breakthrough. Comprehensively deepening reform is a complex systems project; it involves the whole situation of the Party and the State, both the productive forces and the relations of production, both the economic base and the superstructure, and all fields of economic and social development, involving many major theoretical and practical issues. For this reason, more attention must be paid to top-level design and overall planning. Only by strengthening top-level design, the promotion of reforms in economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization, and the promotion of theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, technological innovation, cultural innovation and other innovations can be organically connected and promoted as a whole.” 全面深化改革不仅需要摸着石头过河,也必须有一个施工图,需要进行顶层设计. 所谓顶层设计,就是要对经济体制、政治体制、文化体制、社会体制、生态文明体制和党的建设制度等作出统筹设计,加强对各项改革关联性的研判,努力做到全局和局部相配套、治本和治标相结合、渐进和突破相促进. 全面深化改革作为一个复杂的系统工程,涉及党和国家工作全局,既涉及生产力又涉及生产关系,既涉及经济基础又涉及上层建筑,涉及经济社会发展各领域,涉及许多重大理论问题和实际问题. 为此,必须更加注重顶层设计、整体谋划. 只有加强顶层设计,把推进经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明等各方面改革有机衔接起来,把推进理论创新、制度创新、科技创新、文化创新以及其他各方面创新有机衔接起来,整体推进,重点突破,才能防止畸重畸轻、单兵突进、顾此失彼,才能保证各项改革的相互促进、良性互动, 形成推进改革的强大合力.