Government/Politics - 23. page

Qiushi Theory recently published speech given by Xi Jinping. The speech was given on February 7, 2023, following the CCP’s 20^th Party Congress. The audience was the newly “elected” members and alternate members of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Central Committee as well as major leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial level.

Xi stated: “The path of modernization that a country chooses is determined by its historical tradition, social system, development conditions, external environment, and many other factors. Different national conditions will lead to different paths of modernization. Practice has proved that a country’s modernization should not only follow the general law of modernization, but also conform to its own realities and have its own characteristics. Chinese-style modernization has the common features of modernization in all countries, but it also has distinctive features based on its own national conditions.”

Xi further stated twice that China should not take the “old path of Western countries.” {Editor’s note: the problems that Xi highlights as resulting from “the Western path” of modernization have already come to pass in China. See below.}

“Fourthly, the modernization of mankind in harmony with nature. Since modern times, most of the modernization of western countries have gone through the stage of wanton plundering of natural resources and vicious destruction of the ecological environment, often causing serious problems such as environmental pollution and resource depletion while creating huge material wealth. … (I)t is impossible for China to follow the old path of Western modernization.”

“Fifthly, modernization on the path of peaceful development. The modernization of Western countries is full of bloody evils such as war, slavery, colonization, and plundering, and has brought deep suffering to the vast number of developing countries. The Chinese nation, having experienced the tragic history of invasion and abuse by Western powers, is well aware of the preciousness of peace and will never repeat the same old path of the Western countries.”

Source: Qiushi, August 15, 2023
http://www.qstheory.cn/dukan/qs/2023-08/15/c_1129801483.htm

Chinese officials have a reputation for stealing or improperly handling money. Recently, the Henan Province government published an audit report on 2022 provincial-level spending. According to the report, there were about 10 billion Yuan (US$1.4 billion) in improper spending using the relief and reconstruction funds designated following last summer’s floods in the region.

1. Nine counties, including Qi County, spent 405 million Yuan improperly. Two counties, including Weihui County, saw at total of 31 million Yuan withdrawn from government accounts for personal use.
2. Some 162 projects, worth about 3.13 billion Yuan, were carried out at a very slow pace. Twenty four cities and counties, including Boai County, were involved in such practices.
3. Four cities and counties, including Hengchuan County, provided fake status updates on 22 projects totaling about 1.28 billion Yuan. Four cities and counties, including Xinmi County, reported 15 non-existent projects totaling 432 million Yuan in claimed value.
4. Nine cities and counties, including Xinyang County, put 24 projects, worth 523 million Yuan, in use without any acceptance inspection. Seventy three counties, including Zhengyang County, were involved in projects that failed quality requirements. There were 242 such projects worth a total of 3.35 billion Yuan.
5. Three counties, including Jun County, obtained 375 million Yuan for 3 projects that did not qualify for disaster relief funding.

Source: Hanan Provincial Audit Department website, July 28, 2023
https://sjt.henan.gov.cn/2023/07-28/2787185.html