The Politics of Planning
China’s Five-Year Plans are about much more than simply defining medium and long-term goals. They are bold statements about the nature of political power and its relationship to society.
Search Results for “political reform”
Wang Yi and the "Ghost of McCarthyism"
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) has been getting what seems to be a clear uptick in attention in China’s party-state media ever since his launch late last month of a new “Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy.” Both yesterday and today, media have widely reported Wang’s “exclusive interview” with the official Xinhua […]
Diplomatic Moves Toward "Xi Thought"
On July 20, Chinese media reported the formal inauguration of a new research center located within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the “Center for Research of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy” (习近平外交思想研究中心). The news made the rounds on the internet, and here is the notice as it appeared on the website of the official Xinhua […]
A Birthday Gift for Xi?
A commentary published on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s 67th birthday fawningly praises his political thought as “21st Century Marxism.”
Reading the NPC Work Report
As the full import sinks in of China’s announcement last night that the National People’s Congress, opening today in Beijing, will “debate” the introduction of a new national security law in Hong Kong, perhaps it is a good moment to look at the full text of Li Keqiang’s government work report, which runs to just […]
Pompeo, "Public Enemy"
In recent days China Central Television has hurled a series of verbal attacks at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others in the United States. As the US and China lock horns over the question of responsibility for the global coronavirus epidemic, the state-run network’s “International Commentary” (国际锐评) segment, which is featured on the […]
Unsolicited Advice
Use of the word fèngquàn (奉劝), meaning “advise,” in Chinese diplomatic language is an indicator of a new attitude and tone in the country’s foreign relations. But the word is not new.
The Delicate Dance of Loyalty
In the feverish era of the Cultural Revolution, the “loyalty dance,” or zhongziwu (忠字舞), was a way of conveying adulation for Mao Zedong. In the Xi era, such displays of loyalty seem to be returning.
“Speaking Politics,” Rushing Into Disaster
Infectious diseases have no politics. In January 2020, through the course of the Wuhan people’s congress and the provincial people’s congress, no new coronavirus cases were reported in China. But the epidemic continued unabated – paying no heed to the political prerogatives of the Chinese Communist Party. One of the medical facilities hardest hit by […]
The Politics of Gratitude
This month, as China has moved into a new phase in the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic, and as CCP leaders have been keen to claim victory, the question of gratitude has become a contentious one – both inside and outside China. On March 4, a commentary from Xinhua News Agency balked at the […]
