The Weeks before June 4: Struggling for the Ideological Switch Stands

[Cont. April 23, 1911

Main Link: 1989 年 4 月 24 日 星期日

Li Tieying and Li Ximing both agree with Li Peng that strict measures should be taken against the students' movement. At 8.30 in the evening, Li Peng goes to see Yang Shangkun to analyse the situation. Yang also sees a changing trend and encourages Li Peng to see Deng Xiaoping. Li Peng asks Yang to join him in a visit to Deng, and Yang agrees. During the evening, as Li Peng reads many papers and adds  comments to them, and a flow of public-security bureau, security, education commission staff etc, concerning trends among the students in all places keeps coming in, by phone and cable.

Science and Technology Daily's entering into the forbidden area of coverage receives a great echo, and from the morning on, people call this paper to tell the staff that they had written in fair words. However, vice chief editor Sun Changjiang says that they haven't done something special, and just acted in accordance with professional ethics, in their effort to carry out their duty as the media. Their [Science and Technology Daily] coverage hadn’t been particularly good; rather, he believes, that of some other papers has been particularly bad. The event is authentic, and their attitude is sincere.

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Monday, April 24, 1989

Main Link: 1989 年 4 月 24 日 星期一 (same document)

In the morning, sixty-thousand students from some 38 colleges and universities such as Beijing University, Tsinghua University, People’s University (Renmin University) begin a strike. Some students gather within the universities, conduct sit-ins, demonstrations, put up posters, and others shout slogans like “join the strike quickly”, “no end to the strike without reaching our goals”, and “walk out on lessons and exams, not on learning”.

Some students give lectures on societal issues, put up propaganda sheets, propagate “April 20 massacre”, “crying-and-begging to the non-understanding government” information, and still others take to the streets and lanes, for fund-raising and to call on “all the city’s citizens to become active in strikes”. Students from Beijing University, Tsinghua University and People’s University maintain order, and dissuade students from taking part in lessons. Some university party secretaries point out in reports to the next-upper party level that the current situation, if it lasts, will be absolutely harmful, and that one has to fear that this could take still larger dimensions as May 4 is approaching. They express their hopes that the central committee and the municipal committee issue clear guidelines, policies and instructions to end the strikes as soon as possible.

At 14:40, student committees at Beijing University and other universities hold meetings at the May-4 squares on their campuses, with some eighty percent of students attending. They prepare activities to boycott official May-4 activities and to establish autonomous students unions in Beijing and students unions of national unity all over the country. Some papers report that student delegates from Nankai University,  Nanjing University, Fudan University, Guangzhou University and other universities are also attending. Nearly two-hundred students with red armbands are maintaining order. As several members of students committees publicly push and pull each other on stage in a quarrel twice, more than six-thousand students at the meeting are abuzz. The meeting ends at 16:00 in discord, without having made any decisions. Dozens of foreign reporters have been present and recorded the event. A press conference by the preparatory committee, scheduled for 7 p.m., is subsequently cancelled.

Beijing University posts the “Recommendations to the Preparatory Committee, signed by people from Beijing University” poster, suggesting to redraw the slogans and action principles in order to get public support. The slogans should oppose corruption and bureaucracy, actions should be carried out downtown, at broad daylight, so as to broaden their influence, unified action would be needed between the universities and colleges, preparations be made for a long-term struggle, and extensive contacts be built with people from intellectual and democratic circles.

There is also another poster, under the headline “five points”, about “guaranteeing basic human rights, releasing political criminals, opposing party supremacy, checks and balances by separation of the three powers, defining a democratic constitution” and other political positions.

More than twohundred Beijing University teachers jointly call for maintaining the principles of the thirteen universities to consult the students and to have a dialog with them. A similar call comes from the China University of Political Science and Law [Wu Renhua's university]. The Beijing Students Autonomous Federation (aka Capital Autonomous Federation of University Students) calls on every student to send ten letters to compatriots all over the country. Between two- and threehundred students are to be dispatched to fifteen large cities all over the nation, such as Tianjin, Jinan, Shenyang, Changsha, Chengdu, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Taiyuan, Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan  to deliver speeches and to make contacts.

A peaceful petition meeting at Tsinghua University started a peaceful demonstration within the campus, at eight in the morning, with about ten thousand students participating. It’s an orderly demonstration with a length reaching two kilometers.

The Tsinghua University Students Council puts forward four principles concerning the students’ strike:

1. to maintain the reasonable struggle and the peaceful petition
2. to maintain unity and the power of all that can be united
3. to adhere to the strike on lessons, not on learning
4. to make sure that cool heads prevail among the younger students.

Educational departments from all over the country give their reactions to the State Education Commission, expressing their hope that the situation at Beijing’s universities and colleges can be stabilized soon, as it would otherwise be difficult to control the situation at universities outside the capital.

In the evening, Ren Wanding, who was responsible for the “Human Rights Alliance” time of the Xidan Democracy Wall, speaks on Tian An Men Square. He says: “the people are destitute, robbers arise from everywhere, prices are soaring, and the national economy is in crisis. If the four cardinal principles don’t vanish from the constitution, they will keep hanging over the people’s interests.”

Ren Wanding has also been to the universities of Beijing to speak there, but without much response, as the students didn’t understand him, and because they felt that his views were radical. When Chen Xiaoping and I watched him speaking in front of the dormitory of the University of Political Science and Law, there was only a sparse audience. Both Chen and I felt saddened.

In the afternoon, Li Ximing and Chen Xitong report to National People’s Congress chairman Wan Li. Wan Li was Beijing’s vice mayor prior to the cultural revolution. He suggests that the politburo’s standing committee should analyse the situation in the evening, chaired by Li Peng.

[According to this account by Wu Renhua, this meeting was held on the evening of April 24. This source seems to suggest that this happened on April 23.]

The standing committee, chaired by Li Peng, believes that a variety of events are indicating that under the control and instigation of very few people,  a planned, organized anti-party, anti-socialist political struggle is arranged before their eyes. The decision is made to form a group tasked with stopping the unrest, and requires Beijing’s party and government to stabilize the situation quickly, by winning over the majority of the masses and by isolating the minority, and by calming down the unrest. Standing committe member Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Hu Qili, Yao Yilin, as well as  – with no voting rights – Yang Shangkun, Wan Li, central party secretary Rui Xingwen, Yan Mingfu, Wen Jiabao, (not standing) politburo members Tian Jiyun, Li Ximing, Song Ping, Ding Guangen as well as people in charge at the relevant departments are attending the meeting.

In the evening, Li Peng receives a phonecall from Deng Xiaoping‘s secretary Wang Ruilin, inviting Li Peng and Yang Shangkun to his home at ten a.m. next day for discussions.

The World Economic Herald, a weekly from Shanghai, normally scheduled to appear today, has six blocks of content from a memorial forum held in cooperation with the New Observer magazine (新观察) on April 19. The 25 participants spoke highly of Hu Yaobang’s humanness, as a person of democratic open-mindedness [or liberalism - 民主开明], and of deep humanity. Science and Technology Daily vice chief editor Sun Changjiang [see above, entering into the forbidden area of coverage], Guangming Daily‘s reporter Dai Qing, and Yan Jiaqi of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences political science institute state more clearly that Hu Yaobang was forced to resign, and that he died while being treated unfairly. 300,000 copies of the World Economic Herald were printed by Saturday, some of it already at the post offices, while the remainder is stored at the printing house. But when Shanghai’s municipal party committee is informed about some of the content, it orders the postal offices to stop the dispatch of the papers, and seals the remaining copies in the printing house off. In the afternoon, the CCP municipal committee has a meeting with World Economic Herald chief editor Qin Benli in the afternoon, telling him that what is said in the account of the forum is correct, but that, as May 4 comes nearer, they fear that this could stirr the students’ emotions, add to the pressure on the government, and express their hope that the more sensitive content will be removed. The World Economic Herald does not agree with the cuts and revisions.

At the time, the World Economic Review’s Beijing office is the meeting point for democratic and liberal personalities. The office director Zhang Weiguo has strong campaigning skills and is broadly connected. Because of having led the [memorial] forum and for other reasons, he will be arrested after the June-4 crackdown.

To be continued

Press Review: Tomb-Sweeping Day, and Cemeteries to remember

Recent cases of avian flu are top stories on most of the Chinese press online. Xinhua (via Enorth, Tianjin) reports fourteen cases in mainland China, six of whom had died so far. Four of them died in Shanghai, among them a four-year-old child. A bulletin from Zhejiang Provincial Health Department is quoted as reporting one death today, and a 64-year-old farmer from Huzhou had died previously. Four avian flu cases had been reported from Jiangsu Province, and one from Anhui Province, according to Xinhua. The ministry of agriculture’s information office said late on Thursday that H7N9 viruses had been found during the examination of pigeons sent in by the Shanghai authorities. Much of the article’s emphasis is on prevention and control measures taken by the authorities.

Huanqiu Shibao republishes a photo from Guangzhou, (by China News Service, 中新社), with people bringing rice wine to their deceased relatives’ graves – April 4 was tomb-sweeping day.

In a more detailed article, Huanqiu Shibao mentions the forgotten graveyards and cemeteries, where few people go, be it because the places are too remote and not easy to reach, be it because of past historical taboos (历史“禁忌”).

These cemeteries lie deep in the mountains, near the Chengdu-Kunming railroad, in the mountain laps along the thousand-miles long Sino-Vietnamese border^*) a long distance from the Sino-Vietnamese border, on level ground of curved mountains, in a mostly ignored corner of Chongqing’s Shapingba Park, where young members of the railroad forces, young PLA soldiers and young members of the Red Guards are buried…

这些墓园静静地卧在大山深处成昆铁路的路基旁，千里中越边境一弯弯的山坳中，重庆沙坪坝公园不引人注意的角落里……里面长眠着年轻的铁道兵战士、年轻的解放军士兵和年轻的红卫兵少年……

The places were out of reach for many relatives, and some wouldn’t even know where their loved ones had been buried, writes Huanqiu. Denial of memory played a role, too:

We are really good at talking about successes, but often ignore the suffering behind success. We frequently discuss the wounds suffered in more than a hundred years, but tend to avoid the “stains” on history.

我们非常善于谈成就，但往往忽视了成就背后的苦难;我们也经常提起一百多年来遭遇的创伤，但也往往回避曾经的历史“污点”。

Self-reflection was required to avoid entering past pitfalls once again, writes Huanqiu. Obviously, moments of self-reflection should also assure the visitors to the forgotten cemetaries that the road that has been taken since was the correct path, according to the article, which seems to remain an uneasy one, not only because of the many ellipsis within.

The scenery of Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C. should make [Chinese] people feel ashamed, writes Huanqiu. China had a tradition of faithful bones lying buried in the green hills [青山处处埋忠骨 - a reference to casualties of military conflicts and battles, apparently], but also one of paying attention to the great deceased.

Every life of a deceased has its proper value. Even when it is about the lives of the ignorant youths who died in the non-military struggles of the 1960s, each of their lives, on the path of this country’s history, left a bloody mark.

任何生命的逝去都有其应有的价值。即使是在1960年代末武斗中惨死的懵懂少年们，也都是每个生命在这个国家历史进程的刻度上留下的血的印记。

[.....]

Let’s conserve these cemeteries, let us not leave the regrets behind, and when visiting the dead, they can unhurriedly find their way home.

保护好这些墓园，不要再留有遗憾，当亡灵省亲的时候，他们可以很从容地找到回家的路。

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Note

^*) See Doppelkopf‘s comment

Related

» Bottom of a Dead Volcano, December 27, 2012
» June 4, 23rd Anniversary, June 4, 2012
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Generosity and Truthfulness: 12th CPPCC 1rst Session opens in Beijing

The first Session of the 12th Chinese “Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference” (CPPCC, 中国人民政治协商会议) opened in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing at 7 a.m. GMT this morning, reports the BBC‘s Mandarin service. Member of the permanent committee of the politburo Yu Zhengsheng presides (正声将), and outgoing chairman Jia Qinglin (贾庆林) delivered his last work report. Yu Zhengsheng, formerly party secretary in Shanghai, is expected to succeed Jia Qinglin as CPPCC chairman. The BBC’s reporter Sha Lei (沙磊, apparently John Sudworth) as saying that some measures had been taken to reflect new CCP secretary general Xi Jinping‘s emphasis on thriftiness during the CPPCC sesson as well as during the “National People’s Congress” session which takes place simultaneously. Among other things, less roads than during previous CPPCC and NPC meetings are expected to be sealed off. The BBC also refers to a People’s Daily editorial published on Sunday.

Sohu republished the editorial from People’s Daily, also on Sunday. People’s Daily’s editorial headline  was unity is strength, only democracy is vitality. Sohu’s version carries To govern, the party needs to be generous; CPPCC delegates need to speak the truth as the headline.

Some of the editorial’s remarks are actually Xi Jinping quotes, possibly made on several occasions, but certainly on February 6, when meeting people from all democratic parties’ central committees, old and new leaders from the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and personalities without party membership to celebrate Spring Festival together.

People’s Daily online Sohu also displays emoticons for readers to express their feelings, but during the past six or seven hours, only 24 netizens (apparently) cared to “vote”.

The Feelings of the Masses

On Sohu, a netizen (If I’m translating the emotes correctly) may choose to be moved (感动 – 0), surprised (惊讶 – 9), in awe/supportive? (给力 – 8), mad (抓狂 – 4), or pondering (思考 – 3).

However, more than two-thousand comments appear to have been made, and those found on the latest page are either supportive, or stating conventional words of wisdom about generosity and truthfulness.

Rising China, Rotten Diplomacy: No Game-Changer in Sight

Chinese leaders established a China Public Diplomacy Association in Beijing on December 31 last year. English-language party mouthpiece China Daily carried a news article on page 4 one day later, either because of the expected importance the new organization might carry, or because of the relative prominence of at least two participants in the event, foreign minister Yang Jiechi (杨洁篪) and former foreign minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星, now chairman of the National People’s Congress foreign affairs committee).

What strikes me in the article is that Yang Jiechi isn’t his own party boss in the foreign ministry. His vice minister, Zhang Zhijun, is. Wu Bangguo on the other hand  is both chairman and party secretary of the National People’s Congress (see notes underneath that post). Not sure how many ministers (if any) double as minister and their ministry’s party secretaries. At the ministry of health, it is also the vice minister who doubles as party secretary, while at the ministry of culture, the minister takes both the state and the party function. Minister of Public Security, Guo Shengkun, also doubles in both functions. He took both the positions in December.

Does this indicate something about Yang Jiechi, or about the importance of his job as foreign minister – i. e. the importance of irrelevance of diplomacy? Not necessarily. But there are other indicators, too. Yang wasn’t even a member of the 17th politbureau (let alone its standing committee). Late in November, in an article for CNN, Linda Jakobson pointed out that the power status of diplomacy within the Chinese leadership was unlikely to rise.

So, one shouldn’t expect the China Public Diplomacy Association to become a game-changer. It’s nice for the (public) diplomats that the 18th National Congress – referred to by Yang Jiechi as quoted within the article translated below – gave public diplomacy a mention in its report. But if that’s something to celebrate, it sheds a sad light on the discipline as a whole. No wonder that Zhao Qizheng, director of the CPPCCs foreign affairs committee, longs for the good old days of Zhou Enlai‘s “convivial diplomacy” (official, semi-official and people-to-people diplomacy). Zhou, after all, was a member of the politburo’s standing committee – and for the first nine years after the establishment of the PRC, he was also its foreign minister. In the 1970s, foreign relations were still a job for the top, and in February 1979, Deng Xiaoping celebrated the improving Sino-American relations with an attack on Vietnam.

We probably have to see the inaugural session of the China Public Diplomacy Association in the light of those glory days – it’s a contrast that doesn’t make either official or unofficial diplomacy look important these days.

Maybe the new situation, frequently mentioned by Yang in his congratulatory speech, is just that situation. But then again, maybe not.

Form your own opinion if you can.

Source:
Committee for Friendship with Foreign Countries of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee, January 8, 2013.

Main Link: Tell China’s story well, let China’s voice be heard. China Public Diplomacy Association established, Zhou Taitong attends. (讲好中国故事 发好中国声音 中国公共外交协会成立 周太彤出席)

On December 31, 2012, the China Public Diplomacy Association inaugural meeting was held at Diaoyutai Guest House, with foreign minister Yang Jiechi, foreign ministry party secretary and vice minister Zhang Zhijun and other leaders participating and unveiling the association’s nameplate. Shanghai Municipal People’s Consultative Conference vice chairman and Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association’s vice director Zhou Taitong represented Shanghai’ Public Diplomacy Association at the meeting.

2012年12月31日，中国公共外交协会成立大会在北京钓鱼台国宾馆举行，外交部部长杨洁篪，外交部党组书记、副部长张志军等领导出席并为协会揭牌。上海市政协副主席、上海公共外交协会副会长周太彤代表上海公共外交协会出席会议。

At this first general assembly, the “China Public Diplomacy Association charter (draft) was passed, National People’s Congress foreign affairs committee chairman and former foreign minister Comrade Li Zhaoxing was elected as the association’s first president. [1] Former ambassador to Britain and to the Council on Security Cooperation in Asia and Pacific Region Ma Zhengang; [2] China Museums Association deputy director, China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification director, and [3] Central Research Institute of Culture and History staff member Comrade Shu Yi were elected as deputy presidents, and China Institute of International Studies fellow Song Ronghua was elected secretary-general.

在协会召开的第一次会员大会，通过了《中国公共外交协会章程（草案）》，选举全国人大外事委员会主任委员、前外交部长李肇星同志为首任会长，选举中国前驻英国大使、亚太安全合作理事会中国委员会会长马振岗、中国博物馆学会副会长、中国和平统一促进会理事、中央文史研究馆馆员舒乙同志为副会长，中国国际问题研究所研究员宋荣华为秘书长。

Minister Yang Jiechi delivered the congratulatory speech. He pointed out that public diplomacy, in a new situation, is an objective requirement for perfecting the design of our country’s diplomacy, and important in broadening our country’s diplomatic work. The 18th National Congress report says that “we must sturdily promote public diplomacy and cultural exchanges”. This exacts higher demands on the promotion of public diplomacy under the new situation. In the new situation, promoting public diplomacy and cultural exchanges means putting efforts into mutual knowledge between China and the world, deepening China’s relations with the world, as well as promoting China’s and the world’s benign interaction and common development. We must develop and expand equality and mutual trust, be tolerant of each other and learn from each other in the spirit of win-win cooperation, we must strengthen dialog and exchange with the peoples of the world, promote mutual understanding, trust, friendship, and cooperation. Developing public diplomacy requires ample use of resources from all walks of life and bringing all factors from society into play. We hope that the China Public Diplomacy Association will carry out and implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress, make major contributions to the cause of China’s public diplomacy, and build fine foundations for the public-opinion environment and the will of the people.

杨洁篪部长在会上致贺辞。指出，公共外交是新形势下完善我国外交布局的客观要求，是我国外交工作的重要开拓方向。党的十八大报告提出，“我们将扎实推进公共外交和人文交流。”对新形势下推进公共外交提出了更高要求。新形势下，推进公共外交和人文交流，就是要着力促进中国与世界的相互认知，深化中国同世界的关系，推动中国与世界的良性互动和共同发展。我们要大力弘扬平等互信、包容互鉴、合作共赢的精神，加强同世界各国人民的对话交流，促进相互了解、信任、友谊与合作。开展公共外交需要充分利用各界资源，发挥全社会的作用，希望中国公共外交协会认真贯彻落实党的十八大精神，为推进中国公共外交事业做出重要贡献，为国家发展和外交工作营造良好的舆论环境和民意基础。

Yang Jiechi emphasized that public diplomacy absolutely needed innovating ways and means, strengthened communication and exchanges with the masses, it needed to draw on the wisdom and the will of the people, domestic and foreign coordination, wholistic planning of the overall domestic and foreign situations, it needed to tell China’s story well and let China’s voice be heard, it needed to explain a real China to the world, and to establish a just and comprehensive view of China.

杨洁篪强调，一定要创新公共外交方式方法，加强对民众的沟通与交流，汲取民智和民意，国内国外相互配合，统筹国内国外两个大局，讲好中国故事，发好中国声音，把一个真实的中国介绍给世界，树立公正全面的中国观。

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Related

» Destined to Fail, The Diplomat, January 7, 2013
» A related discussion, Peking Duck, Jan 7, 2013

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Quality Assurance: How to Cover China?

When David Barboza, a correspondent for the New York Times in China, reported on the Wen Jiabao clan’s wealth, he did what a good reporter needs to do. Beijing seems to think otherwise.  Now, Chris Buckley, one of Barboza’s NYT colleagues, has visa problems.

According to the Guardian, Buckley has reported from China for twelve years. Those who complain that most media send correspondents without great Chinese language skills to China should think again: does it make sense to send correspondents to China who invested heavily into their China-related skills? It may occasionally make sense, but not as a rule. And once a correspondent with a lot of “China background” gets tricked out of the country by “sensitive” authorities, a paper or broadcaster who wants to make sure that their coverage on China isn’t influenced by the CCP should provide such a correspondent with a follow-up stint in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Taiwan. There’s too little coverage from Taiwan anyway.

A correspondent won’t necessarily allow the CCP to intimidate him or her anyway. But it’s not only for the correspondents to make sure about that – it’s a task for their employers (i. e. the media), too.

In short: the media should do their share to make sure that their correspondents can’t be tacitly or openly blackmailed by the Chinese “authorities”.

Those who can’t put their correspondents into a sufficiently independent position shouldn’t have permanent correspondents in China at all – and they should state this publicly, to their readers. Quality assurance and building trust is the issue here.

It may be a double-edged sword for correspondents to speak out about the conditions under which they report from China. But their employers – and their readers -  should encourage them to be transparent about the forms of harrassment they encounter.

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Related

» An Increasing Number, China Law & Policy, July 16, 2012
» Self Censorship, many forms, FEER, April 2007

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Current CCP Politbureau Members, and a few Guesses

Red line numbers (column 1): new to the politbureau. Red crosses (column 4): new to the standing committee.

#	name	born	stand ing com mit tee	majors	party func tion	state func tion	leanings
1.	Xi Jinping (习近平)	1953	x	chem. engin eering	gen. secre tary	vice chair man	prince ling
2.	Ma Kai (马凯)	1946		pol. eco nomics		state coun cil
3.	Wang Qishan (王岐山)	1948	x	history (fina nce?)	dis cip line	state coun cil	prince ling
4.	Wang Huning (王沪宁)	1955		French inter- natio- nal poli tics	re sear ch
5.	Liu Yunshan (刘云山)	1947	x	journal ism (pro bably)	pro pa gan da		youth league
6.	Liu Yandong (刘延东)	1945		chemi stry		state coun cil	youth league
7.	Liu Qibao (刘奇葆)	1953		econ omic plan ning	Sichu an party secr.
8.	Xu Qiliang (许其亮)	1950		de fense	CMC
9.	Sun Chunlan (孙春兰)	1950		party crash cour  ses			youth league
10.	Sun Zhengcai (孙政才)	1963		agri culture	Jilin party secr.
11.	Li Keqiang (李克强)	1955	x	law, eco nomics		state coun cil	youth league
12.	Li Jianguo (李建国)	1946		literat ure	NPC secre tary gen.	NPC vice cha ir
13.	Li Yuanchao (李源潮)	1950		math, e conom. manag ement	org gan izat. dept.
14.	Wang Yang (汪洋)	1955		political econo mics	Guan gdo ng party secr.		refor mist
15.	Zhang Chunxian (张春贤)	1953		engin eering	Xin jiang party secr.
16.	Zhang Gaoli (张高丽)	1946	x	econon omics	Tian jin party secr.
17.	Zhang Dejiang (张德江)	1946	x	Korean, econ omics	Chon gqing party secr.		hardline
18.	Fan Changlong (范长龙)	1947		Xuan- hua Artillery College & others	CMC
19.	Meng Jianzhu (孟建柱)	1947		systems engin eering		state coun cil (pub lic se curi ty)
20.	Zhao Leji (赵乐际)	1957		philo sophy	Shaan xi party secr.
21.	Hu Chunhua (胡春华)	1963		Chinese, literat ure	Inner Mong olia party secr.		youth league
22.	Yu Zhengsheng (俞正声)	1945	x	electron ic engin eering, automa ted mis siles	Shang hai party secr.		keeper of the Deng Xiao ping grail
23.	Li Zhanshu (栗战书)	1950			centr al com mittee office	Hei long jiang gov er nor
24.	Guo Jinlong (郭金龙)	1947		physics, acou stics	Bei jing party secr.
25.	Han Zheng (韩正)	1954		econom ics		Shang hai mayor	Shang- hai Cli que (but) Hu Jintao

The exclusion of a role held by Zhou Yongkang could be a message for Zhou and his supporters, rather than an indication of policy, suggests the Committee to Protect Journalists blog (CPJ). Zhou ranked 9th in the previous standing committee, and in his state (rather than party) function, he oversaw China’s security forces and law enforcement institutions.

Propaganda, of course, has a seat in the standing committee, with Liu Yunshan, and diplomacy stays out, as it did previously (unless a now sitting member becomes foreign minister next year).

Indirectly, the “United Front” is also represented at the standing committee. Liu Yandong headed that department for special party relations from 2002 to 2007. The “United Front” is also the organization whose website carries news about telegram exchanges between Hu Jintao / Xi Jinping  with Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou, as the top headline. They reportedly communicated in their capacities as former CCP secretary general (Hu), the CCP’s new secretary general (Xi), and the KMT’s chairman (Ma).

Zheng Lücheng: Thoroughly into Factories and the Countryside

Much of the following is based on CCP folklore and, and therefore not necessarily accurate. Links within blockquotes added during translation – JR.

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Main Link: 中国人民解放军军歌作曲者郑律成

Zheng Lücheng, famous composer. Born in Korea’s South Jeolla Province, Guangju, Yanglin Village in 1914, into a poverty-stricken family. Original name Zheng Fu’en, later, for his passion for music, changed into Lücheng. His father was a patriot, his three older brothers all gave their lives for the cause of Chinese and Korean revolution. In spring 1933, Zheng Lücheng and a group of Korean patriots came to China, entered the Korean anti-Japan resistance organization[s] in China, and ran the Nanjing “Korean Revolutionary Cadres’ School”. After graduation, he was active in resisting Japan in Nanjing, Shanghai, and other places, and in his spare time, he studied music.

郑律成，著名作曲家。１９１４年出生在朝鲜全罗南道光州杨林町一个贫苦家庭。原名郑富恩，后因酷爱音乐，改名律成。他的父亲是个爱国者，他的3个哥哥先后为朝鲜和中国的革命事业献出了生命。１９３３年春，郑律成和一批朝鲜爱国青年来到中国，进入朝鲜在华抗日团体开办的南京“朝鲜革命干部学校”。毕业后，他一边在南京、上海等地从事抗日救亡活动，一边利用业余时间学习音乐。

After the outbreak of the National Anti-Japanese War, Zheng Lücheng whole-heartedly went to Yan’an in October 1937, joined the Shaanbei Public School [for training cadres] and studied at the Lu Xun Academy of Art and Literature. At the beginning of 1938, he became the Anti-Japan-Resistance University of Military Administration’s musical director and vocal-music instructor at the Lu Xun Academy of Art and Literature. In January 1939, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In May 1942, Zheng Lücheng took part in the Yan’an Arts Work Conference and attentively listened to Chairman Mao Zedong’s teachings. In August 1942, Zheng Lücheng was sent to the headquarters of the Eighth Army at the Taihang Mountains, as education director of the North China “Korean Revolution Military Administration School”. In January 1944, he returned to Yan’an.

全国抗日战争爆发后，郑律成怀着满腔热情，于１９３７年１０月奔赴延安，先后入陕北公学、鲁迅艺术学院音乐系学习。１９３８年起任中国人民抗日军政大学音乐指导、鲁迅艺术学院声乐教员。１９３９年１月加入中国共产党。１９４２年５月，郑律成参加了延安文艺工作座谈会，聆听了毛泽东主席的教导。１９４２年８月，郑律成被派往太行山八路军总部工作，任华北“朝鲜革命军政学校”教育长。１９４４年１月回延安。

Zheng Lücheng frequently joined the anti-Japanese front and created a great number of musical works that reflected the soldiers’ battles against the Japanese. In April 1938, he wrote the “Ode to Yan’an” which spread from Yan’an to the whole country right after it came out, and inspired many progressive young people to hurry to Yan’an and to throw themselves into the revolution. In 1993, the “Ode to Yan’an” was included into the twenty Chinese Classics of the 20th Century, to enter the Chinese annals of music forever. In fall 1939, he completed the “Eighth Route Army Choruses” together with Gong Mu, among these, the “March of the Eighth Route Army Song” and “Eighth Route Army Anthem” which became military songs being sung in many places. During the liberation war, the “March of the Eighth Route Army Song” was changed into the “Military Anthem of the People’s Liberation Army”, with some changes to the text.

郑律成经常深入抗日前线，创作了大量反映抗日军民斗争生活的音乐作品。１９３８年４月间，他创作的歌曲《延安颂》一经问世，就由延安迅速传遍全国，对许多进步青年奔赴延安投身革命起了直接的鼓动作用。１９９３年，《延安颂》被评为２０世纪华人音乐经典，永载中国音乐史册。１９３９年秋，他同公木合作完成了《八路军大合唱》，其中的《八路军进行曲》和《八路军军歌》成为广为传唱的人民军队战歌。解放战争时期，《八路军进行曲》更名为《中国人民解放军进行曲》，歌词略有改动。

After the victory in the Japanese War, Zheng Lücheng returned to North Korea and served successively as the Korean Workers Party Kangwon Province Committee’s propaganda director, North Korean People’s Army club director, the North Korean People’s Army Orchestra director, the Korean National Music University’s composing department director, etc.. During this time, he wrote songs in praise of Korean people’s struggles and Sino-Korean friendship, “Korean People’s Army March”, “Sino-Korean Friendship” and many other works. In 1950, he returned to China and took Chinese citizenship, settling in Beijing. He worked at the Beijing People’s Theater and Ensemble. He went thoroughly into factories, the countryside, and borderposts, left his footprints in many places, seeking for material for new works, and wrote a great number of musical works for workers, peasants and soldiers.

抗日战争胜利后，郑律成返回朝鲜工作，历任朝鲜劳动党黄海道委宣传部部长、朝鲜人民军俱乐部部长、朝鲜人民军协奏团团长、朝鲜国立音乐大学作曲部部长等职。在此期间，他谱写了歌颂朝鲜人民斗争和中朝友谊的《朝鲜人民军进行曲》《中朝友谊》等许多作品。１９５０年回到中国，随即加入中国国籍，定居北京，先后在北京人民艺术剧院和中央歌舞团从事音乐工作。他深入工厂、农村、边防，足迹踏遍了中国大地，到处寻找新的创作原料，为工农兵创作，谱写了大量的音乐作品。

Within several decades, Zheng Lücheng wrote more than 360 songs of different forms and genres, which won universal acclaim. Among them, the “Military Anthem of the People’s Liberation Army”, by its simple and succinct language, its sonorous rhythm, solemn and heroic melody, created a deep impression of the People’s troops’ image, the overwhelming way it pressed forward with an indomitable will, advancing fanfare, following the route of the army’s growth and its victory, and became part of the People’s Liberation Army’s combat effectiveness and political work. On July 25, 1988, the Military Central Commission officially made the song the People’s Liberation Army’s military anthem.

数十年间，郑律成谱写了３６０余首（部）不同形式、体裁的脍炙人口的音乐作品。其中《中国人民解放军进行曲》以淳朴简练的语言、铿锵有力的节奏、庄严豪迈的曲调，深刻地刻画了人民军队的形象，表现了人民军队一往无前的战斗风格和排山倒海的气势，如进军的号角，伴随着人民军队成长壮大和人民战争胜利的历程，成为中国人民解放军战斗力量和政治工作的一个组成部分。１９８８年７月２５日被中共中央军委正式定为中国人民解放军军歌。

Zheng Lücheng passed away in Beijing, on December 7, 1976.

１９７６年１２月７日，郑律成于北京逝世。

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Main Link: 郑律成 (baike.baidu)

Note: Ding Xuesong (丁雪松), born in Sichuan Province in 1918, was a cadre in Yan’an and married Zheng Lücheng there. She was a Chinese citizen; Zheng took Chinese citizenship around 1950.

On the eve of the birth of New China, Ding Xuesong was appointed to build Xinhua’s Pyongyang branch office as the office’s director. In October, one week after the branch office’s establishment, China and Korea announced the establishment of diplomatic relations. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War suddenly broke out. With the tensions on the Korean peninsula and domestic decisions on their mind, it was decided to immediately establish an embassy in Pyongyang. Its main task was to maintain contacts between the two parties and armies, and to get aware of changes on the battlefield without delay. With Ding Xuesong as the Xinhua branch office director and a member of the embassy, Zheng Lücheng’s situation became more difficult, and each of them having separate things of their own to do, their feelings for each other were [still] too deep to part with each other. So the only way was for Zheng Lücheng and Ding Xuesong to return to China. Ding Xuesong, with help by a letter written by the ambassador to Chief State Councillor Zhou Enlai, asked for both her and Zheng’s return to China, plus requesting a renewal of Zheng’s party membership, and Chinese citizenship for Zheng. Even though Zhou Enlai was very busy, he quickly approved the requests, and Mao Zedong obtained Kim Il-sung’s agreement. Kim Il-sung was very generous, saying “Zheng Lücheng wants to return to China? That’s alright. The Chinese Communist Party developed so many cadres for us, and if you want a Zheng Lücheng now, that’s no problem.”

新中国诞生前夕的9月中旬，丁雪松受命筹建新华社平壤分社并任社长。10月，新中国成立后一星期，中朝宣布建立外交关系。1950年6月25日，朝鲜战争突然爆发。考虑到朝鲜半岛的紧张局势，国内决定立即在平壤筹建大使馆。主要任务是保持两党、两军之间的联系，并及时了解战场的变化。丁雪松如留任使馆官员或新华社平壤分社社长，郑律成的处境将更加困难；或者从此分离，各自东西，可是两人感情非常深厚，不能割舍。那么，就只有是郑律成和丁雪松一道返回中国。丁雪松通过使馆给周恩来总理写信，要求回国，同时提出郑律成和她一起回去，转回郑律成的党籍并加入中国国籍的要求。周总理百忙中很快批复，并亲笔致函征得了金日成首相的同意。金日成同志十分大度，说：“调郑律成回国？可以嘛，中国共产党给我们培养了那么多干部，现在你们要一个郑律成，不成问题”。

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He [Zheng] and Ding Xuesong were both persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and he fell into a deep depression. Tragically, when he heard of the fall of the Gang of Four, which signaled the end of the Cultural Revolution, he suffered a stroke and died.
From 1979 to 1984, Ding Xuesong represented the PRC as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Netherlands and later to Denmark.

Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Lily Xiao Hong Lee (ed), New York, 2003, page 145.

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Related

» Wen and Jang: Joint Efforts, Aug 17, 2012
» The People’s Heroic Models, CCTV, Sep 26, 2009

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Update/Related

» Zheng Lvcheng, CRI/Soundcloud, Aug 4, 2012
[Update, Dec 23, 2012: now removed, but if you want the soundfile, contact me by email or comment.]

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Press Review: “I don’t want to comment, but I guess…”

Main Topics: Senkaku Islands, Xi Jinping

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

China’s automobile market had slowed, but that the past eight months’ numbers suggested that the overall trend was good, People’s Daily quotes Dong Yang (董扬), president and vice secretary of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (中国汽车工业协会).

与其他行业相比，中国汽车产销在经济增长放慢、消费意愿低迷的形势下，能够保持一定增长，并且逐月走高，着实不易。从前８个月的统计数据来看，中国车市总体发展趋势继续向好。

——中汽协常务副会长兼秘书长董扬认为。

For the next step in its chain of arguments, People’s Daily quotes Jin Baisong (金柏松), a researcher at the ministry of commerce’s Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (商务部国际贸易经济合作研究院, CAITEC):

Japan must understand that if it wants to welcome bright economic prospects, it must get along with its neighbors in a friendly way. Only if there is peace, it can drive its economic development. China may tell Japan that Chinese economic sanctions could make it [Japan] pay a huge price for its provocation concerning the Diaoyu Islands [Senkakus] issue.

日本必须认识到，想迎来经济上的光明前景，必须与周边国家友好相处，只有和平才能带动自身经济的发展。中国会告诉日本，中国的经济制裁足以令其明确将为在钓鱼岛问题上挑衅付出巨大代价。

——商务部国际贸易经济合作研究院研究员金柏松强调。

While the first two “voices” probably don’t follow each other coincidentally, the third is about another kind of “consumer choice” Changsha Municipal Price Bureau and Tobacco Monopoly Bureau demand controls that ensure reasonable retail prices for cigarettes, and Chen Pingfan (陈平凡), a lawyer and professor at Xiangtan University, analyzes:

As the consumer market becomes more diverse by the day, “astronomical prices” for cigarettes, wine, and similar products are actually part of consumer choices just as well. To ban cigarettes sales “at astronomical prices” spells a wrong approach on variable taxes run counter to the development rules of a market economy.

在消费日益多元化的市场经济时代，“天价”烟、酒等物品的选择其实也是消费者的一种正当选择的自由。禁售“天价烟”其实不仅搞错了端口环节，有悖于市场经济内在的发展规律，其合法性只怕也尚需接受一番拷问。

And Wang Renxiu (王仁秀), Zhejiang LQ Bamboo Fiber Company’s general manager, awakens to a new managerial truth:

In the past, I used to believe that as long as the products are getting out, everything is alright. Now I know that the company needs to successfully go out [go global, 走出去], that it first needs to train its own basic skills.

Wang is just back from a U.S. tour, and reportedly said that the first thing she needed to do now is to apply for trademarks for her company’s products.

以前以为只要产品出去就行，现在才知道企业要成功走出去，先得练好自己的基本功。

——王仁秀是浙江绿卿竹业科技有限公司的总经理，从美国考察回来后，她首先要做的就是为自己的产品申请商标，她说。

As for the first two “voices” quoted by People’s Daily, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted a more explicit statement by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers’ Dong Yang, as long as five days ago:

While August had otherwise been positive for auto sales in China, some Japanese auto makers bucked the trend, the WSJ wrote on Monday.

At a press conference on Monday, Dong Yang, secretary general of the state-backed China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, linked slowing sales of Japanese cars to the countries’ growing diplomatic tussle over islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

“I don’t want to comment much but I guess Japanese brands sales slowed in August mostly due to the Diaoyu issue,” Mr. Dong said.

Meantime, Xi Jinping (习近平) took a botanical tour of the China Agricultural University to celebrate Science Popularization Day on Saturday. The activity is to continue until September 21, and one of its main topics is “food and health”. Television reports all seem to show the same officially-published two pictures, but no motion pictures of Xi.

The BBC‘s Mandarin website quotes Xinhua as the original source of the latest Xi coverage. The BBC quotes Boxun with sources that didn’t want to be named as saying that Xi had cancelled public appearences during the first half of the month as he had been too busy with assuming party-leadership tasks from Hu Jintao, and with managing Beijing’s reactions to the Senkaku Islands issue.

It can hardly be denied that an incoming CCP chairman is very busy indeed, and this information will probably never turn out to be unfounded, but it should also be said that not every bit of news that Boxun publishes turns out to be correct.

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Related

» Physical and verbal insults, Ministry of Tofu, Sept 15, 2012
» 在华日本公民人身安全依法得到保护, Xinhua, Sept 14, 2012

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