Xi Jinping in the Evening News

If you wonder why a discussion of a book about Xi Jinping in Germany was cancelled by the relevant Confucius Institutes, here’s the most likely answer: the book simply didn’t mention Xi frequently enough.
Learn from Chinese televion. The following are the first seven headlines (out of a total of 18) from Tuesday’s main evening news in China.

Already full of confidence:
CCTV News anchor Kang Hui

Main Link: CCTV Network News – “Xi Jinping visits National “13th-Five-Year-Plan” Technical Innovation Achievements Exhibition, emphasizes …”

习近平在参观国家“十三五”科技创新成就展时强调 坚定创新自信紧抓创新机遇 加快实现高水平科技自立自强	Xi Jinping visits National “13th-Five-Year-Plan” Technical Innovation Achievements Exhibition, emphasizes need to staunchly innovate and confidently grasp innovation opportunities, and to accelerate the implementation of self reliance in high-level science and technology
习近平对全军装备工作会议作出重要指示强调 全面开创武器装备建设新局面 为实现建军一百年奋斗目标作出积极贡献	Xi Jinping gives the all-army equipment conference important instructions, emphasizing the need for active contributions in the new situation to a comprehensive start into the building of weapons and equipment, to reach the [second]*) two-centenary goal
习近平致信祝贺人民出版社成立100周年强调 赓续红色血脉为推动社会主义文化繁荣发展 建设社会主义文化强国作出新的更大的贡献	Xi Jinping sends a letter to People’s Publishing House at its 100th founding anniversary, emphasizing that continuation of the red blood will drive the development of socialist culture and prosperity, and make new and still greater contributions to the building of a socialist and culturally strong country.
习近平致电祝贺米尔济约耶夫当选乌兹别克斯坦总统	Xi Jinping sends telegram to Shavkat Mirziyoyev to congratulate him on his election as president
习近平同巴基斯坦总理通电话	Xi Jinping has a telephone conversation with Pakistan’s president
习近平同巴布亚新几内亚总理通电话	Xi Jinping has a telephone conversation with Papua New Guinea’s prime minister
携手实现世界永续和平发展——习近平主席在中华人民共和国恢复联合国合法席位50周年纪念会议上的重要讲话引发与会中外人士热烈反响	Joining hands to achieve global sustainable peaceful development – Chairman Xi Jinping’s important speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China’s legitimate seat at the United Nations meets with enthusiastic reactions among Chinese and foreign public figures

If this interests you, maybe that (24 hours later) interets you, too – CCTV News Network, Wed, Oct 27:

Xi Jinping has telephone conversation with French president / Xi Jinping has telephone conversation with Uzbek president / Xi Jinping has telephone call with president of Equatorial Guinea / Xi Jinping’s keynote speech, “Staying Connected with the World and Abreast with the Times And Making Big Strides on the Path of Sustainable Development”, held at the opening ceremony of the Second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference, now published as a single-volume edition / Under “Xi Jinping’s ideological guidance of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era”, organize the Winter Olympics well, ignite enthusiasm for winter sports, promote participation of three-hundred million people in winter sports / Secetary-general Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter to China Media Group on the launch of the CCTV Olympic Channel and the start of its digital platform meets with enthusiastic response.
(Only the first five, out of a total of 21 items.)
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Note

^*) I think that this must be the second “centenary goal”, because according to Xi, the first one has already been achieved.

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North Korean Foreign Ministry Statement on Taiwan

The following press release was published by KCNA on Saturday, in Chinese, English, and probably in other languages, too.
No link from here, because KCNA doesn’t provide permalinks.

Saturday’s KCNA headlines

Pyongyang, October 23 (KCNA) — Pak Myong Ho, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, on Oct. 22 made the following press statement:	朝中社平壤１０月２３日电　朝鲜民主主义人民共和国外务省副相朴明浩２２日发表了谈话。谈话内容如下：
Recently, the U.S. is building up military tension by inciting independence of Taiwan, which is an inseparable territory of China.	近期，美国鼓吹中国不可分割的领土——台湾的独立，正在加剧军事紧张。
This year alone, the U.S. dispatched all kinds of battleships into the Taiwan Straits on the plea of “freedom of navigation” whenever occasion called. Some time ago, it even mobilized a battleship of its ally only to escalate tension in the Taiwan Straits.	仅在今年，美国打着“航行自由”的旗号，频频派遣各种军舰驶入台湾海峡，日前还动员盟国军舰，使台海紧张局势逐步升级。
The U.S. announced its plan for arms sale to Taiwan worth 750 million US$ by putting forth the unlawful “Taiwan Relations Act”, and it is staging large-scale joint military exercise in the waters near Taiwan. Like this, it is increasing all the more its military threats against China.	美国借用非法的“与台湾关系法”，出台价值７．５亿美元的对台军售计划，在台湾周边水域进行大规模联合军演等进一步加大对中国的军事威胁力度。
It is an open secret that the members of the U.S. special forces and the detachment from U.S. Marine Corps have trained the Taiwanese army while stationing in Taiwan for more than one year.	美军特种部队队员和美海军陆战队分遣队一年多时间驻扎在台湾且训练台湾军队，这已经是公开的秘密。
This is an actual proof that the U.S. is using Taiwan as a tool to put pressure on China and an outpost to overpower China in an emergency though it outwardly maintains “One China” policy.	这证实虽然美国表面上声称坚持“一个中国”政策，但实际上把台湾用做反华打压工具、有事时压制中国的前哨基地。
Taiwan is an integral part of China. The Taiwan issue, from A to Z, belongs to the internal affairs of China.	台湾是中国的一部分，台湾问题彻头彻尾是属于中国内政的问题。
The U.S. acts constitute a naked interference in the internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and cause a grave threat to the international peace and stability.	美国此举是对中华人民共和国的露骨的干涉内政行为，也是对国际和平与稳定的严重威胁。
It is too natural and just demand that the Chinese government has, on several occasions, called for the U.S. to be as good as its word in abiding by the “One China” principle as well as a solemn commitment it made to China, not to have any kind of government-level exchanges with Taiwan, not to send a wrong signal to the separatist forces of Taiwan and to refrain from any action which aggravates the situation of the Taiwan Straits.	中国政府在各个场合敦促美国应以实际行动恪守“一个中国”原则和向中国作出的庄严承诺，不与台湾进行任何形式的官方往来，不要向台湾的分裂势力发出错误信号，不给台海形势制造麻烦，是理所当然的正当主张。
We fully support the Chinese government and people in their stand to defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity and to realize the unification of the motherland without fail.	我们完全支持中国政府和人民要维护国家主权和领土完整，一定要实现祖国统一的立场。
The situation of Taiwan is, on no account, irrelevant to the situation of the Korean peninsula.	台湾形势与朝鲜半岛局势并非无关。
The indiscreet meddling by the U.S. into the issue of Taiwan entails a potential danger of touching off a delicate situation on the Korean peninsula.	美国在台湾问题上的无端干涉具有可能进一步促进岌岌可危的朝鲜半岛局势紧张的潜在危险。
It is a well-known fact that the U.S. troops and its military bases in south Korea are in use to put pressure on China and that the huge forces of the U.S. and its satellite states, which are being concentrated near Taiwan, can be committed to a military operation targeting the DPRK at any time.	驻南朝鲜美军兵力和军事基地都在用于反华打压工具，集聚在台湾周边的美国及其追随势力的庞大兵力可能随时投入到针对我国的军事作战行动，这是众所周知的事实。
The hostile forces are already speeding up the deployment of their forces from all directions which are aimed at our country and China while making lame assertion, like a guilty party filing the suit first, that the DPRK and PRC can, in cooperation, cause military tension in Taiwan and on the Korean peninsula. This reality proves that the U.S. is in its bid to stifle our country and China, both socialist countries, in order to hold its supremacy.	敌对势力早已采取“恶人先告状”的手法，传出朝中两国可能携手在台湾和朝鲜半岛加剧军事紧张的无赖主张，大举加快针对我国和中国的全防卫性军力部署步伐。这一现实证明，美国为了维持其霸权地位，企图同时扼杀我国和中国这两个社会主义国家。
The U.S. should bear in mind that its reckless interference in internal affairs, its attempt for division and an open act of double standard would only invite tragic consequences of lifting an ax to drop it on its own foot.	美国要搞清楚，其冒险的内政干涉、分裂活动和露骨的双重标准行为只会带来搬起石头砸自己脚的悲惨苦果。
It is in correlation with the situation on the Korean peninsula that we would continue to watch the U.S. very closely in its stance to hold hegemony over the issue of Taiwan. -0-	我们将美国在台湾问题上的霸权主义行为与朝鲜半岛局势联系起来，继续保持警惕予以严密注视。（完）

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Related

“development path of their choice”, Sept 28, 2021
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Xi Jinping’s Heroes (1): the Blood of countless Martyrs

Every once in a while, a topic or text looks too big (or too much of a tasteless nuisance) to me to be processed in a blog, although I still want to translate it. When it’s too much in one go, I might opt for a serial.

Update, Dec 12, 2020: Part 2 is there.

This blog is meant to be more than just a public waste book, but it certainly fulfills a waste book’s tasks, too, and helps to tidy up my mind.

The following are excerpts from an article published by “People’s Daily” (the CPC’s central party organ), and republished, probably among many others, by “The Paper” (澎湃新闻), Shanghai.

Note the frequent references to movies – Xi Jinping (or his advisors, or both) appear to have been impressed by Ronald Reagan’s use of cinema, or cinema-worty, propaganda during the 1980s.¹⁾

Main Link: “The Secretary General has talked about Heroes like these”, by Wen Hongyan and Song Jingsi, published on Sept 29
Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Jiangxi inspection tour 2019, background left:
Red Army Long March Starting Point Monument,
Yudu County

“A nation with hope cannot be without heroes, a country cannot be without pioneers.”
“一个有希望的民族不能没有英雄，一个有前途的国家不能没有先锋。”

Ever since the 18th National Congress, Secretary General Xi Jinping has attached great importance to praising heroic models, carrying forward the heroic spirit, looking for heroes, commemorated the heroes’ footprints north and south of the Yangtse River, told moving stories about heroes on many occasions, expressed his veneration for heroes, called on the whole party and the whole country to hold the heroes in high esteem, to defend them, to learn about them, and to show concern and care for them. The Secretary General emphasized: only high esteem for heroes can bring about heroes, and only the strife to become heroes can make heroes come forth in large numbers.
党的十八大以来，习近平总书记高度重视褒奖英雄模范、弘扬英雄精神，踏寻英雄、缅怀英烈的足迹遍布大江南北，在多个场合讲述英雄感人故事，表达对英雄的崇敬之情，号召全党全国崇尚英雄、捍卫英雄、学习英雄、关爱英雄。总书记强调：“崇尚英雄才会产生英雄，争做英雄才能英雄辈出。”

[…..]

Never to be forgotten
永志不忘——

“The republic is red, and can’t weaken this color. The blood of countless martyrs gave our flag its color. There is no way that we would not build the republic well that they hoped, fought and sacrificed for.”
“共和国是红色的，不能淡化这个颜色。无数的先烈鲜血染红了我们的旗帜，我们不建设好他们所盼望向往、为之奋斗、为之牺牲的共和国，是绝对不行的。”

On the median of Tian An Men Square, the Monument to the People’s Heroes stands tall and towering.
On November 29, 2012, not long after the party’s 18th national congress, Secretary General Xi Jinping entered the National Museum east of the Monument to the People’s Heroes, visiting the “Road to National Rejuvenation” exhibit. The Secretary General pointed out: “During modernity²⁾, the scale to which the Chinese nation has suffered and made sacrifices is something rarely seen in the history of the world.
天安门广场的南北中轴线上，人民英雄纪念碑巍然耸立。
2012年11月29日，党的十八大闭幕不久，习近平总书记走进人民英雄纪念碑东侧的国家博物馆，参观《复兴之路》展览。总书记指出：“近代以后，中华民族遭受的苦难之重、付出的牺牲之大，在世界历史上都是罕见的。”

The October revolution’s momentous events gave China Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism’s dissemination in China advanced the great awakening of the Chinese people, drove the birth of the Communist Party of China, and ignited the light of the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation.
十月革命一声炮响，给中国送来了马克思列宁主义。马克思列宁主义在中国的传播，促进了中国人民的伟大觉醒，催生了中国共产党，点亮了中华民族的复兴之光。

“China surely has an admirably bright future.” During that grim era, Fang Zhimin and countless other people all had lofty ideals, with their hearts full of hope and expectations.
“中国一定有个可赞美的光明前途。”在那个风雨如晦的年代，方志敏等无数仁人志士都如此满心期待、满怀憧憬。

[…..]

On May 22, 2019, Secretary General Xi Jinping, while ending an inspection tour in Jiangxi, pointed out: “‘The enemy can only chop off our heads, but he can’t shake our faith’ – this was Comrade Fang Zhimin’s resounding promise before sacrificing his life.”
2019年5月22日，习近平总书记在江西考察工作结束时的重要讲话中指出：“‘敌人只能砍下我们的头颅，决不能动摇我们的信仰’，这是方志敏同志牺牲前留下的铮铮誓言。”

“The light of ideals can’t be extinguished, and the light of faith can’t be extinguished.” Secretary General Xi Jinping told many moving stories about the revolutionary martyrs’ selfless pursuit of the light of ideals, and how they gave their lives to protect the revolutionary faith.
“理想之光不灭，信念之光不灭。”习近平总书记曾在不同场合讲述许多革命先烈忘我追寻理想之光、舍身保护信仰火种的感人故事。

“Before martyr Liu Renkan was killed for the righteous cause, the enemy mercilessly cut off his tongue. Still, he used his foot and his spilling blood to write ‘Long live the revolution’.”
“刘仁堪烈士在就义前，敌人残忍地割下了他的舌头，他仍然用脚蘸着流下的鲜血写下‘革命成功万岁’。”

“Martyr Jiang Shanzhong left a letter behind, written with his own blood, ‘Death to the underworld will not turn back water, and protect the Communist Party for thousands of years’.”³⁾
“江善忠烈士留下血书，‘死到阴间不反水，保护共产党万万年’。”

“Xia Minghan went to prison, faithful and unchanging. In a letter to his wife, he sent the heroic oath of ‘persist in our aspirations, vow to spread the truth to the earthly world’.”
“夏明翰身陷牢狱坚贞不屈，在给妻子的家书中发出‘坚持革命继吾志，誓将真理传人寰’的豪迈誓言。”

“In the Battle of Xiangjiang River, martyr Chen Shuxiang‘s feats, ‘heartbreakingly showing his sincere convictions’, touch people, it really is ‘a thousand drops of blood from the Red Army on every inch of the ground, and an honorable hero’s body on every step’.”
“在湘江战役中，陈树湘烈士‘断肠明志’的事迹十分感人，真是‘寸土千滴红军血，一步一尊英雄躯’。”

Continued there.
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Notes

Stuff like this:

1)	1/11/84 Lars‑Erik Nelson suggests another source for the Medal of Honor story: an apocryphal item in the April 1944 issue of Reader’s Digest, a magazine known to be a life‑long Reagan favorite. “The bomber had been almost ripped apart by German cannon,” it read. “The ball turret gunner was badly wounded and stuck in the blister on the underside of the fuselage. Crewmen worked frantically to extricate the youngster, but there was nothing they could do. They began to jump. The terror‑stricken lad screamed in fear as he saw what was happening. The last man to jump heard the remaining crewman, a gunner, say, ‘Take it easy, kid. We’ll take this ride together.’”
2)	Seems this could be translated as after modernity, but that wouldn’t make sense to me because 近代 – among Chinese, and not among Americans or Taiwanese – usually refers to the times from around 1912 and 1949. Among the latter, it would be from the late Ming dynasty to 1912 (according to Wikipedia as of Oct 20).
3)	Not necessarily a correct translation; found online, on a site full of commercials and reroutings

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Tendencies: Germany’s next China Policy

China didn’t feature prominently in Germany’s 2021 federal election campaign – at least not at the surface.
Somewhat underneath, and not really overreported in the German media, are donations and sponsorships that benefitted the political parties – or one or two of them – in the run-up to the Bundestag elections on September 26.
The picture, according to statista.de (quoting Germany’s federal parliament administration and only recording donations of more than 50,000 Euros):

CDU/CSU (center-right):	3,340,860 Euros
FDP (neoliberal):	2,055,454 Euros
Greens (ecological):	1,790,548 Euros
AFD (right-wing, neoliberal):	100,000 Euros
SPD (social democrats):	50,000 Euros

This is not the full picture, of course. Donations from 10,000 to 50,000 Euros will probably only appear in the political parties’ annual accounts, likely to be published around a year and a half after they happen.
Also, [Update, Oct 8: committed event] “sponsoring” [of party congresses, for example] amounts don’t need to be published in detail – there is no way of knowing who donated, and which amounts.
Still, the above-50,000 statistics give us an idea: the social democrats were considered dead in the water. That, at least, was a general belief into August this year, and that’s as far as the statistics go. Some corporations and lobby organizations may have tried to make up for their negligence when the SPD began to soar in the opinion polls.
Before we get to the China issues, let’s take a look at the 50,000-plus donations in relation to the actual votes for the parties.

Blue: donations >50,000
Red: actual votes
(relations, no numbers)

This doesn’t mean that the SPD wouldn’t like to get donations, and grassroot donations can make a difference too, but it is obvious that the industry didn’t bet on the social democrats and the left party.

China issues in the campaign

Hong Kong’s political activist Ray Wong, now living in German exile, German sinologist David Missal and other activists and human rights groups put a “China elections check” online for those who were interested in the party’s positions concerning China.
They asked each political party represented in Germany’s incumbent federal parliament, the Bundestag, eight questions, and according to the organizers, only the AFD didn’t respond.
That said, the CDU/CSU were “neutral” on seven out of the eight statements.
All eight statements can be considered a demand Missal, Wong and the organizations supporting the project would subscribe to.

The parties’ positions in detail

Statement 1

–

Statement 2

–

Statement 3

–

Statement 4

–

Statement 5

–

Statement 6

–

Statement 7

–

Statement 8

–

Political parties by rates of agreement, neutrality or disagreement with / towards the statements, in descending order (respectively)
Party / party group agrees with the statements (pro)
The Greens		6
SPD		4
FDP		3
The Left		3
CDU/CSU		0
Party neither agrees nor disagrees with the statements (neutral)
CDU/CSU		7
FDP		5
SPD		1
The Left		0
The Greens		0
Party / group doesn’t agree with the statements (opposed)
The Left		5
SPD		3
FDP		0*)
The Greens		2
CDU/CSU		1
________ *) corrected (Oct 8), down from 3

Outlook

At least for now, the CDU/CSU’s chances of heading (or even just joining) a government coalition have deminished, as both the FDP and the Greens are currently moving closer to the SPD, with some unfriendly noise especially from the CSU, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party.
This would mean that exactly the three parties that find most common ground with the Wong/Missal statements would be in government.
The picture would become much friendlier for pro-China lobbyists if the tide turned again,in favor of the CDU/CSU.
The proof of the pudding is the eating, and the industry will almost certainly become more generous with its donations to the Social Democrats, but for those who want to see a government with clear-cut positions on Chinese crimes against human rights, the trend isn’t looking bad.
The CDU/CSU didn’t really care, and documented that publicly.
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Related

Germany after the federal elections, Sept 27, 2021
Guanchazhe flatters Austrian Supernova, April 7, 2018
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