Government/Politics - 65. page

Back in September, the CCP General Office issued the “Opinions on Strengthening United Front Work in the Private Economy in the New Era.” Recently the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China issued a position paper which expressed concerns that the Opinions will further influence a company’s policy and that the CCP will directly intervene in the business decision-making process.

In the Opinions, all private economic enterprises operating in China were required “to strengthen and expand political consensus.” It stated further that the party should “further strengthen its leadership over the united front work in the private companies, let them unwaveringly listen to the party and follow the party, let the entrepreneurs in the private sectors maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee and always be politically sensible persons in their political stance, political direction, political principles, and political path.”

The European Chamber of Commerce stated that this may cause private companies to react to the political elements in the decision-making process, which could pose great harm and hinder the company’s productivity and profitability. This will also impact their business confidence and will make them reconsider their current and future investment strategies in China. These companies worry that, in the long run, such united front policies will appear regularly.

As early as the end of 2017, China passed Article 19 of the “Business Law” which required that a company can have a party sub-branch (in a company) as long as there are three Chinese Communist Party members in any state-owned enterprise, foreign investment company, or joint venture.

In June of this year, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China conducted a survey. Many European companies believed that the major obstacles to operating in China were from imposed scrutiny and from unfair privileges that the state-owned enterprises have. Among the 626 European companies surveyed, 44 percent expect that China will further impose more regulations in the next five years and nearly half expect that the state-owned enterprises will gain growth opportunities this year, while private enterprises will be sacrificed.

The European Chamber of Commerce also mentioned that the Chinese companies operating overseas will also be impacted because foreign companies will face stricter scrutiny from the CCP if they decide to work with any Chinese companies.

Source:
1. Epoch Times, October 18, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/10/18/n12484864.htm
2. Deutsche Welle, October 16, 2020
https://p.dw.com/p/3k14r

The Ministry of Education published an article in the Qiushi journal, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship magazine, and announced that, after the start of school in the fall of 2020, 37 universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University, will launch the course, “Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era.”

The article proposed to use the third volume of “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” and the “Lecture Notes on General Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Speeches on Education” as the new textbooks for the school’s ideological and political courses. It also recommended writing and compiling supplementary teaching materials such as “Readings for Students on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era.”

Japanese media Nikkei Asian Review commented that the purpose of launching Xi Jinping Thoughts as an obligatory course seems to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party next year, and to respond to Chinese intellectuals who recently spoken out bravely against Xi.

Xi Jinping himself even said in one Qiushi article under his name on August 31, “I am very concerned about running ideological and political courses.” “If Ideological and political teachers themselves do not believe it, how can they teach students?”

For example, in Xi Jinping’s alma mater, Tsinghua University, undergraduates in the School of Economics and Management need to take ideological and political courses such as “Outline of Modern Chinese History,” “Basic Principles of Marxism,” and “Introduction to Mao Zedong Thoughts and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” as well as the two-credit course “Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 6, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhengzhi/xx-10062020141252.html

The U.S. released three major measures against the CCP around October 1, which is China’s National Day. On October 2, the U.S. Immigration Service issued a policy announcement prohibiting Communist Party members and those who have joined the Communist Party from applying for U.S. immigration status. On October 1, U.S, Congressman Scott Perry and three other Congressmen jointly introduced legislation to “add the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the Top International Criminal Organizations Target (TICOT) List and to provide United States law enforcement agencies a strategic directive to target the CCP’s malign activities.” On September 30, the Republican China Task Force of the U.S. House of Representatives released the results of an expansive survey on the CCP and an action plan to address the growing danger of the CCP. The Task Force mentioned that the CCP, like the Soviet Union, will be a threat to the United States for generations. The report stated that the United States’ diplomatic strategy towards the CCP has failed, and Washington must respond to the CCP’s challenge and reverse the failed strategy of engagement with China.

Mr. Zhang Lin, a well-known democracy activist from Anhui Province who is now living in the U.S., told The Epoch Times that both the Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. have become more aware of the evil nature of the CCP. Since the U.S. has increased its sanctions against the CCP, the CCP has been facing mounting pressure from the U.S. Every year around October 1, there used to be a meeting of pro-communist leaders to organize the China’s National Day celebration in the U.S. This year, however, it was quiet. In the parade Zhang Lin organized in Flushing on September 27, the pro-CCP groups did not make any trouble at all. They did not even hold up the CCP national flag, which would have been unheard-of in the past.

Source: The Epoch Times, October 3, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/10/3/n12450833.htm

A recent politburo meeting in China decided to include General Secretary Xi Jinping’s name in the “Work Regulations” of the Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP), an important document of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), alongside its Constitution. It is believed that as long as the “Work Regulations” remain in effect, Xi Jinping will remain as the core of the party.

On Monday September 28, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP) held a meeting to study and formulate the 14th Five-Year Plan for the nation’s socioeconomic development, and goals to be achieved by the year 2035. General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the meeting, which also discussed the “Work Regulations” of the CCCCP. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, the formulation and issuance of the “Work Regulations” is an “inevitable requirement for firmly safeguarding the authority and centralized leadership of the CCP Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core. It is also a major move for upholding and improving the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and for promoting the modernization of the national governance system. It therefore carries great and far-reaching significance for winning the great victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.”

Bao Tong was the political secretary of former CCP general secretary Zhao Ziyang, who lost power because he showed sympathy for the students in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Bao told Radio Free Asia, “If Xi Jinping must be maintained as the core in the ‘Work Regulations,’ it is the official party document stating that he will always be the core of the Central Committee, unless this document is abolished. As long as this document stands, he is the core.”

Bao added that it was Deng Xiaoping, the former CCP leader, who first put forward the idea of “core.” “His (Deng’s) definition of the ‘core’ is ‘having the final say.’ …  In the past, Mao Zedong was the core, and Mao had the final say. … Therefore, the ‘core’ is connected with the words ‘final say.’ I think the ‘core’ can only be explained this way, and there is no other explanation.”

This is the second time that Xi Jinping’s name has been written into an official document of the Central Committee of the CCP, after it appeared in the CCP Constitution in 2017.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 29, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhengzhi/ql2-09292020061358.html

On September 26, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council issued the “Opinions on Accelerating the Media’s In-depth Development.” They then issued a notice requesting that all authorities conscientiously implement it.

The “Opinions” asked, with all speed, to develop new mainstream media that is highly competitive and exerts a strong influence.

It also pointed out that “high-quality content, advanced technology, professional talent, and funding should be geared toward the Internet media and mobile platforms, effectively becoming the basis for emerging communication.”

The “Opinions” considers that it is necessary to “drive the development with advanced technology, make good use of the achievements of information technology such as 5G, big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, strengthen research on new technologies in the news communication, and promote the innovation of key technologies.”

The “Opinions” also mandates to make efforts to “tell Chinese stories well, and to spread Chinese culture.”

Source: People’s Daily, September 27, 2020
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2020-09/27/nw.D110000renmrb_20200927_2-01.htm