Government/Politics

Recently, many Chinese news websites published a video clip said to be an excerpt of a speech delivered by Kishore Mahbubani at Harvard University. Mahbubani was a Singaporean diplomat and geopolitical consultant once serving as Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In the video, Mr. Mahbubani said:

“I can tell you this, as someone who travels to 30 or 40 countries a year, when I come to the United States and I go to my hotel room in Charles Hotel and turn on the television, I feel that I’ve been cut off from the rest of the world. And literally, the insularity of the American discourse is actually frightening. This is true of the New York Times, this is true of the Washington Post, (and) this is true of the Wall Street Journal. There is an incestuous self-referential discourse among these newspaper journalists and so on so forth. And they reference each other’s perspectives and end up misunderstanding the world.

Because you know the one key point I emphasize is that the era of Western domination of world history was a 200-year aberration. It’s coming to an end. And as a result of it you’ve got to learn to understand non-Western perspectives in the world. And it’s actually quite frightening that in many ways I find American intellectuals behind intellectuals including in Serbia where I just was or Greece or Istanbul. They are much more aware of what’s happening in the world than most American intellectuals are. I don’t know how to solve that problem.”

Source: CCTV, July 20, 2024
https://news.cctv.com/2024/07/20/ARTIIP93CxffUaK0xnqkwwi7240720.shtml

On 7/15, the first day of the Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) 20^th Party Congress, Xinhua News Agency released a special feature titled “Reformer Xi Jinping.” Many media outlets highlighted this title in their coverage, noting that it was the first time the official media referred to Xi Jinping as “reformer (改革家).” The nearly 10,000-word article praises Xi’s commitment to reform, likening him to Deng Xiaoping, who is known as the chief architect of China’s reform and opening-up. It claims that Xi will “lead the entire party and nation on a new journey of further comprehensive deepening of reforms.”

However, starting on the 7/16 (the day after publication), this lengthy “Reformer” article was no longer available on the Xinhua website. Other media linking to or quoting the “Reformer” article have been changed to refer to another article instead. Meanwhile, Ta Kung Pao, a CCP-affiliated media outlet operating in Hong Kong, still has its front-page report on the “Reformer” article.

China observers pointed out that for Xinhua to publish such a lengthy feature, it must have been under the instructions of the General Office of the CCP’s Central Committee; and the designation of “reformer” was clearly meant to position Xi Jinping in a specific light. Now that the article is unavailable, it can only be said that it has been deleted. The reason for the deletion is unclear.

At the same time, there are rumors spreading online that Xi Jinping suffered a stroke during the Third Plenary Session meeting.

Sources:
1. Radio France International, July 17, 2024
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20240717-官媒捧文-改革家习近平-突下架-有评论忧三中全会出状况
2. Wenxue City, July 16, 2024
https://app.xinhuanet.com/news/article.html?articleId=d1b63946dc0ec93f9132f654cf97be27

A “people’s court” known as The Court of the Citizens of the World, held a trial in Hague, against China’s top leader Xi Jinping, from July 8 to July 12. Based on evidence of Xi’s effective control over the state organs committing widespread and systematic violations in Tibet and Xinjiang, the court confirmed charges of crimes against humanity in Tibet and genocide and crimes against humanity to Uyghurs in Xinjiang, against Xi Jinping.

Though the court cannot take forcible actions against Xi, it hopes that its findings can compel countries to impose sanctions or reconsider their economic and political ties with China.

Source: VOA, July 13, 2024
https://www.voachinese.com/a/the-court-of-the-citizens-of-the-world-issues-arrest-warrant-for-xi-jinping-charging-him-with-crimes-against-humanity-and-genocide-071324/7696652.html

Guangming Daily reported that China’s “Patriotic Education Law” came into effect on January 1, 2024. In April, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government established a Patriotic Education Working Group. Recently, Hong Kong has carried out a variety of patriotic education activities.

In May, the Hong Kong government announced that the “Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense” would be reestablished under a new name: the “Hong Kong Museum of Anti-Japanese War and Coastal Defense.” The aim of this change is “is to help visitors gain a deeper understanding of the history of the anti-Japanese War (WWII), appreciate the close ties between Hong Kong and China, and enhance visitors’ sense of national identity, belonging, and pride.”

The government pushed out new middle school curriculum guidelines on the subject of Chinese history: the “Hong Kong National Security Education Curriculum Framework.” The national security education curriculum frameworks pertains to 15 subjects. All elementary and middle schools are required to fly the national flag on every school day, on New Year’s Day, on the Hong Kong SAR Establishment Day, and on National Day. Schools are also required to hold a flag-raising ceremony once a week. Elementary and middle schools are instructed to organize national education activities on major holidays. The General Studies subject at the elementary schools is to include content on national identity and Chinese culture. Chinese history has become a compulsory subject in middle school. The high school’s Citizenship and Social Development subject is to closely align with China’s development.

The Guangming Daily reported that universities and middle and high schools in Hong Kong are actively engaging in various exchange and internship programs in mainland China “to help Hong Kong youth gain a better understanding of the motherland and enhance their sense of affinity towards the country.” The Hong Kong Joint Publishing Group, including Hong Kong Sanlian Bookstore, Hong Kong Zhonghua Book Company, and the Hong Kong Commercial Press, publishes approximately 2,000 new books in Chinese and English each year. Among these, hundreds of publications are on national education, many of which have won prestigious publishing awards both domestically and internationally. For example, they published a series of books of “How Much Do You Know About the National Flag, National Emblem, and National Anthem,” the series of “My Home in China,” and the picture book “Our Country, Our Security.”

Source: Guangming Daily, June 30, 2024
https://politics.gmw.cn/2024-06/30/content_37411267.htm