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.
____________

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

____________

News from “People’s Daily’s” Be-afraid-lazy-Cadre Column

1. News item

CPC News Website, Beijing, March 2, 15:17. (Ren Jiajun reporting.) According to “Hubei Daily’s” WeChat public account, Hubei provincial prison administration office held a cadre meeting and announced the provincial party committee’s and the provincial party committee’s organization department’s decision:

中国共产党新闻网北京3月2日电　(任佳晖)据《湖北日报》微信公众号消息，今日下午，湖北省监狱管理局召开干部会议，宣布省委和省委组织部决定：

Comrade Jia Shisong is appointed the provincial court office’s party committee member, provincial prison administrative bureau party secretary, and its director.  Comrade Dong Yuhua is appointed provincial prison administration bureau deputy party secretary and political commissar;

贾石松同志任省司法厅党委委员、省监狱管理局党委书记、局长，董煜华同志任省监狱管理局党委副书记、政治委员；

Comrade Hao Aimin is removed from his posts as provincial court office party committee member, as provincial prison administrative bureau party secretary, and its director. Comrade Hu Chenghao is removed from his posts as provincial prison administration bureau party committee member, as provincial prison administration bureau’s deputy party secretary, and as the bureau’s director,

免去郝爱民同志的省司法厅党委委员、省监狱管理局党委书记、局长职务，免去胡承浩同志的省监狱管理局党委委员、副局长职务，

Comrade Zhang Xinhua is removed from his posts as provincial prison administration bureau party committee member, and as political department director.

免去张新华同志的省监狱管理局党委委员、政治部主任职务。

The column’s red keywords are about personnel (人事), anti-corruption (反腐), and examination (观察). The items can be found on “People’s Daily’s” main page, some scrolls down and to the right.

2. Background

Fourteen minutes before “CPC News Website” (i. e. “People’s Daily”) published the appointment and removal notices, “China News Service”, a “state-level” news agency, published an article with details about the removed cadres’ alleged shortcomings.

Here’s a translation by “Teller Report” (no warranty for correctness), and the original article.

____________

Related

“The Masses aren’t satisfied,” Mar 2, 2020
Citizen-Power Fantasies, Dec 6, 2014
____________

China Media Group and the Coronavirus: Independent Television quotes China Media Group’s inspiring News

The following is a translation of an article published by People’s Daily, on January 29.

A few explanations to make it more readable:

China Media Group is a  state-owned Chinese multi-media, multi-language conglomerate, resulting from a merger of China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI) and China National Radio (CNR, or, in Chinese, Central People’s Broadcasting Station/CPBS). All these flags are still up in the national media landscape, but under the “Media Group’s” more or less centralized control. China Radio International’s last director Wang Gengnian reportedly retired in 2018 from his now obsolete job, and Yan Xiaoming, who used to head the domestic CPBS radio service, became the new organization’s deputy director. Shen Haixiong became China Media Group’s first director (and party secretary).

The level of China Media Group’s international “successes” can’t be measured from the People’s Daily article. However, it may count as an indicator of the pressures under which the state-owned media giant has to justify its budget. The CPC has become more demanding of the propaganda industry after Xi Jinping became the party’s secretary general, and less tolerant of fiefdom’s within the propaganda structures.

Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Main Link: International mainstream media pay attention to China’s epidemic prevention and control work, widely transmit China Media Group coverage

In the last few days, China Media Group’s coverage of prevention and control work against the new coronavirus viral infection pneumonia epidemic has been widely republished by American, British, German, French and other country’s mainstream media. According to unfinished statistics until January 28, some ninety mainstream media, including Fox Broadcasting Company, the BBC, CNN, Russia National Television, French BFM Business television, German ZDF channel two television, Italian RAI national broadcaster and other have quoted from relevant China Media Group coverage.

连日来，中央广播电视总台有关新型冠状病毒感染肺炎疫情防控报道，受到美英德法等国际主流媒体的广泛转发。据不完全统计，截至28日，包括美国福克斯广播公司、英国广播公司、美国有线电视新闻网、俄罗斯国家电视台、法国BFM BUSINESS电视台、德国电视二台、意大利广播电视公司等近90家主流媒体引用了总台相关报道。

In recent days, American Fox Broadcasting Company news channel, the BBC’s international news channel, America’s CNN international channel have all transmitted relevant China Media Group coverage and presented the measures taken by China in its prevention and control work against the epidemic, and America’s, Asia’s, Europe’s and other regions’ epidemic situation.

近日，美国福克斯广播公司新闻频道、英国广播公司国际新闻频道、美国有线电视新闻网国际频道均转引了总台相关报道，介绍中国在防控疫情方面所采取的措施以及美国、亚洲、欧洲等地疫情情况。

CMG media review: Just look at our incredible propaganda!

On January 28, Russia National Television, Russia Today TV, Independent TV [Dozhd TV]  and other mainstream media continued to pay close attention to China’s new coronavirus epidemic situation, with several television broadcasters using China Media Group coverage on that day. Dozhd TV reported that inspiring news was coming from China, with Chairman Xi Jinping stating that China had full confidence and the ability to win the battle of preventing and controlling the new coronavirus epidemic pneumonia.

28日俄罗斯国家电视台、今日俄罗斯电视台、独立电视台等主流电视媒体继续关注中国新型冠状病毒疫情，多家电视台当天引用了总台报道。独立电视台报道称：从中国传来令人振奋的消息，习近平主席表示中国完全有信心、有能力打赢新型冠状病毒肺炎防控攻坚战。

Also on that day, Russia National Television gave a full rebroadcast of China Media Group reporters’ interview with Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang, reporting the city government’s resolve in handling and overcoming the epidemic.

俄罗斯国家电视台当天全文引用总台记者对武汉市长周先旺的采访，报道武汉市政府处理疫情的考量和战胜疫情的决心。

Russia National Television channel 1’s primetime “Sixty Minutes” live broadcasts at noon and in the evening invited China Media Group reporters and Russian experts to interpret together the epidemic in China and the Chinese government’s active steps against it. An edited video of the program was uploaded to Youtube and viewed there nearly 100,000 times.

俄罗斯国家电视台1频道收视率最高的时事评论节目《60分钟》28日播出的午间和晚间两档直播节目，邀请总台驻站记者与多位俄罗斯专家一同解读中国国内的疫情和中国政府的积极应对。节目视频经过剪辑上传到YouTube平台上后观看量近10万次。

Italy’s biggest privatly-run television station, Mediaset TgCom24 TV, in its live news program “Behind the Incident”, repeatedly contacted China Media Group’s Italian-department reporter(s) to get information about the epidemic’s latest developments, and prevention and control measures, reporting the Chinese people’s confidence in overcoming the epidemic, and China’s desire to actively participate in international cooperation.

意大利最大的私营电视台——梅地亚塞特传媒集团TGCOM24电视台——的新闻直播节目《事件背后》，多次连线总台意大利语部记者，了解中国疫情最新进展及防控措施，报道中国民众战胜疫情的信心以及中国积极参与国际合作的意愿。

France’s BFM Business TV cooperated with China Media Group’s French department on January 23, inviting  Foundation for Strategic Research Antoine Bondaz to invite the in the program’s discussion. He said that “the Chinese government has taken active and fast measures to control the spread of the epidemic. The Chinese government’s quick response deserves recognition.”

法国BFM BUSINESS电视台23日与总台法语部合作，邀请法国战略研究基金会中国问题专家安东尼奥（Antoine Bondaz）参加节目访谈。安东尼奥表示：“中国政府采取了积极迅速的措施，控制了疫情蔓延。中国政府做出的快速反应，值得肯定。”

DRF Deutschland‘s [Germany] “China Info” changed its originally planned program on January 27, quoting from material from China Media Group’s German department, with a focus on the active measures taken by China to fight the epidemic.

德国DRF电视台《中国新闻》栏目27日改变原播出节目，转引转发总台德语部稿件，重点报道中国抗击疫情所采取的积极举措。

Also, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Israel and other countries’ media have amply used China Media Group’s multilingual coverage, informing their countries’ national audiences about the Chinese government’s active measures in preventing and controlling the epidemic, and its work together with the international community to maintain regional and global confidence in public health.

此外，巴西、印度、印尼、泰国、土耳其、以色列等国的媒体也充分采用总台多语种报道，向本国受众及时介绍中国政府在防控疫情方面所采取的积极措施，以及与国际社会一道，共同维护好地区和全球公共卫生的信心。

[…]

____________

Related

The true story, Montsame, Febr 14, 2020
Borrowed boats, Jichang Lulu, Nov 4, 2015
This content in Swahili, Nov 13, 2014

____________

People’s Daily: “A Test for our Governance System, and an Examination for our Ability to Govern”

Xinwen Lianbo coverage, Jan 24, 2020 –
click picture for video

Main Link – People’s Daily online editorial: The more difficulties and dangers may unfold, the more the unity of the masses’ will shall form an impregnable wall (人民网评：越是艰难险阻，愈益众志成城)

From ten o’clock on January 23, all the city’s public transport, railways, ferries, long-distance passenger traffic will be suspended, and without particular reasons, city residents must not leave Wuhan. Traffic leaving Wuhan from the airport or train station is suspended.” That night, Wuhan issued an announcement which sent a clear signal: Just now, Wuhan is taking more careful, thorough and tangible preventive action, making every effort to contain the spread of the epidemic situation.

“1月23日10时起，全市城市公交、地铁、轮渡、长途客运暂停运营；无特殊原因，市民不要离开武汉，机场、火车站离汉通道暂时关闭。”武汉市连夜发出公告，传递明确信号：武汉正在采取更细致、更深入、更扎实的防控举措，全力遏制疫情扩散蔓延。

Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. This casts light on a fundamental logic, to protect the masses’ lives and safety: don’t be afraid of involving many people, to “use manpower and resources generously”, and don’t be afraid of doing whatever it takes to defend!

非常之时，非常之举。这昭示了一个基本逻辑，为了守护人民群众的生命安全：不怕兴师动众、不怕“劳民伤财”、不怕十防九空！

Prevention and cure of this contagious disease has its complexities, and even more so its regularities, and when the times demand it, extraordinary measures must be taken, and both emotions and reason will lend them firm support. Extraordinary measures must crush routine and affect normality. The lives of Wuhan’s citizens will inevitably be affected, and we send them our respect for this! For winning this fight, every Wuhan citizen deserves grateful admiration, and everyone who is actively involved deserves our respect.

传染病防治有其复杂性，更有其规律性，必要时候必须采取非常之举，这于情于理于法都有坚实支撑。非常之举，必然要打破常规、影响常态。武汉市民的生活将不可避免地受到影响，我们向武汉市民的付出致敬！打赢这场防疫硬仗，每一位武汉市民都值得感佩，每一名积极参与者都值得我们呈上敬意。

Extraordinary measures require even more that government departments follow the principle of wholeheartedly serving the people. To answer the masses reasonable demands and to limit the disadvantageous effects from the measures taken is also a matter of vital importance. This is a test for our governance system, and an examination for our ability to govern. Apart from Wuhan, no city can keep out of this. This is not only so because of the epidemic’s interlinked effects, but to fulfill our solemn promise to the people.

非常之举，更需要政府部门遵循全心全意为人民服务的常理。积极回应民众的合理诉求，最大限度减少应急措施带来的不利因素，也是当务之急。这是对我们治理体系的测试，是对我们治理能力的检验。除了武汉，没有哪一座城市可以作壁上观。这不仅是因为疫情的联动效应，更是因为我们对人民的庄严承诺。

The epidemic has been fast, and now, some places and connections are facing challenges. Supplies with medicine, disinfectants, instruments and other prevention and control goods is urgent. It should be  noted that as the world’s factory, China isn’t short of material and production capacities; and to fill the material gaps is no poses no problems. The shortages that have occurred in some places fall into a structural category, constituting “local mismatches”, even more so as factories being on holiday create further lacks in supplies. We call on the manufacturers of goods such as face masks to respond to the situation and go to full production speed; emergency rescue efforts can be made from all across the country, for mutual support.

疫情来得迅疾，目前一些地方、一些环节面临挑战，做好药品、消毒、器械等防控物资的储备供应，显得迫在眉睫。需要看到，中国作为世界工厂，并不缺少物质生产力，补上物资缺口并非难事。一些地方出现物资短缺属于结构性的，只是“地域错配”，加上春节工厂放假因素而导致缺货。我们呼吁，口罩等物资的相关厂家能急疫情之所急，开足马力生产；全国各地也能紧急驰援、相互支持。

If the whole country stands as one, coordinates its arrangements, and advances in a concerted way, there is reason to be confident that shortage issues can be solved very quickly. At this moment, we must unleash our society’s long-trained abilities to mobilize, and our institutional superiority. Our party cadres must play a pioneering and exemplary role in the face of crisis, and show everyone the way into belief in victory, and into fighting and winning this hard battle!

只要全国一盘棋，统筹安排，协调推进，相信很快就可以解决物资短缺等难题。在这个时候，我们就是要把长期培育的社会动员能力和制度优越性充分释放出来。我们的党员干部在危机面前尤其要发挥先锋模范作用，引领大家增强必胜的信心，打赢这场硬仗！

Go Wuhan, the whole country is with you. The more we face difficulties and dangers, the more the unity of our masses’ will shall form an impregnable wall. This logic of China has constantly been validated by history and reality.

武汉加油，全国人民支持你们。越是遭遇艰难险阻，我们愈益众志成城。这是被历史和现实不断验证的中国逻辑。

____________

Related

不人道，不统一的, Tweet, Jan 25, 2020

____________

Abe’s Visit to Darwin: Kneeling PM, Crouching PM

^{ABC coverage, Nov 16, 2018}

Guanchazhe online (Observer), a news website from Shanghai, publishes a report, referring to Reuters newsagency coverage, writing that Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe and Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison held a ceremony at Darwin Cenotaph on Friday, commemorating the dead from Japan’s air raids on Darwin during WW2, 76 years ago. The article also mentions discussions concerning strengthened trade and defense cooperation between the two leaders.

The article refers to a liquid natural gas (lng) investment project in Darwin, with a planned Japanese investment of 54 billion Australian dollars (about 274.7 billion RMB), with INPEX Holdings Inc. as the main shareholder and operator, as one of the cooperation projects.

Without comment, Guanchazhe also quotes Morrison as saying^*) that

Australia and Japan remain consistent about the importance of sholving the South China Sea dispute. Both Japan and Australia strongly oppose any behavior that could intensify the tense situation in the region.

莫里森还表示，他期待与日本加强合作，维护地区的海上安全。两国领导人在会晤后表示，他们希望明年年初就加强两国防务合作达成协议，包括举行更多的联合军事演习。

Both Guanchazhe and Haiwainet (the latter is the online portal of People’s Daily‘s overseas edition) feature a photo showing the two prime ministers laying wreaths at the cenotaph, but Haiwainet points out the obvious in writing: “The Australian prime minister kneels, Abe crouches.”

ABC (video at the beginning) discusses Japan’s and Australia’s motivation to strengthen military cooperation.

According to reports earlier this year, an Australian dockyard, ASC Pty Ltd, is reportedly set to build nine Hunter class frigates from 2020 (designed in Britain), with the first of them to be operational by 2027. In a report this summer, ABC referred to the project as Australia’s largest peacetime warship building program.

____________

Note

^*) as quoted by AP newsagency: “Australia and Japan also stand united on the importance of resolving disputes in the South China Sea, peacefully and in accordance with international law, and we are strongly opposed to any actions that could increase tensions within the region.”

____________

Blog and Press Review: Frugal New Year

–

Warning: the following translation from a classic is just my guesswork – if you copy that for your homework, the mistakes will be your fault, not mine. Links within blockquotes added during translation.

–

Frugal New Year: the Xi Style

The year of the dog is upon us, and it must be a dog’s life if you are a cadre in the Xi Jinping era. That’s what you might believe, anyway, if you read secretary general Xi Jinping’s spiritual nourishment for comrades. After all, in a totalitarian society, administration, legislation, crackdowns and Something Understood all need to come from the same source.

People’s Daily has published three instalments of Xi Jinping thought. The first: go and visit the poor, and ask about their suffering, find solutions to the problems and dump the worries. The second: have an affectionate reunion with your family, as a good family style promotes virtue.

For the third instalment, the sermon turns to the New Book of Tang:
奢靡之始，危亡之渐 (which means something like “what begins lavishly will move towards danger”, I suppose).

I can only find the Chinese original [no English edition] of the  New Book of Tang online, and there, in chapter 105, Chu Suiliang, an advisor with morals, tells his surprised sovereign the meaning of things that only appear to be innocent at first glance:

帝尝怪：“舜造漆器，禹雕其俎，谏者十馀不止，小物何必尔邪？”遂良曰：“雕琢害力农，纂绣伤女工，奢靡之始，危亡之渐也。漆器不止，必金为之，金又不止，必玉为之，故谏者救其源，不使得开。及夫横流，则无复事矣。”帝咨美之。

The emperor said: “Shun made the lacquer, Yu gave us the embroideries, but the remonstrances never seem to end. How can small things be evil?”
Suiliang said: “ornate artwork harms the peasantry, and embroidery hurts the working women. What begins lavishly, will indeed move towards danger. It doesn’t end at lacquerware, it takes gold, too. It doesn’t end there, but jade will be required, too. Those who remonstrate do not want to see things pass the point of no return.”

If my impression of the Chinese texts is basically correct, Xi seems to present himself as someone who speaks truth to power – which is corny at best, and quite probably populist. The latter, anyway, is a tool lavishly handed around among the Davos jetset more recently, and it probably works fine, especially at the grass-roots level, with people who routinely delude themselves.

Roar back, if you still dare, fly or tiger.

Xi Jinping probably found a lot to copy from Ronald Reagan. His May 4 speech in 2013 resembled Reagan’s endless-opportunities speech in 1984. While frequently considered risk averse when it comes to reform, optimism, a “determination … to educate his audience” and “unobtrusive and imperceptible moral influence” (OK – it depends on how much corniness you’ve grown up with) are features Xi’s propaganda style seems to share with the late US president’s.

Footnote: when it comes to education on the ground, education of the public appears to be anything but imperceptible, as The Capital in the North reported in January.

–

Central Europe (1): After the “Czech Reversal”

The China Digital Times has an article by a Czech academic, describing Chinese influence in Eastern Europe (although the Czech Republic is hardly “eastern” European), and more particularly about a “China Energy Fund Committee” (CEFC). Czech president Miloš Zeman, who is quoted there with some of his characteristically tasteless remarks (about Chinese eyes, before he changed his mind), has explicit opinions about journalism, too.

–

Central Europe (2): German Mittelstand’s Main Thing

If the German Mittelstand can’t be found in China, it’s probably because they are investing and selling in the Visegrád countries, and beyond. the Handelsblatt‘s English-language edition has a critical assessment of Mittelstand companies role in Central Europe, quoting an apolitical German trade functionary to prove its point:

Ultimately, politics is not that important for businesspeople. Order books are full: That’s the main thing.

Obviously, German politicians (and journalists, for that matter) aren’t nearly as sanguine, and following US President Trump’s attendence at a Three Seas Initiative summit in July 2017, the Economist even recorded Teutonic tremors:

Germany is already concerned about China’s “16+1” initiative with central and eastern European states, a series of investment projects that the Chinese expect will build influence in the region. The Germans are also putting pressure on the Polish government over its illiberal attacks on independent newspapers, judges and NGOs. And they are fending off Polish criticisms that their proposed “Nord Stream 2” gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will make Europe more dependent on Russia.

But the Mittelstand shows no such unease. In fact, smaller and medium-sized companies often feel easier about countries that are closer to Germany, both regionally and culturally – it takes less time to travel, less time spent abroad, less worries about intercultural competence (or its absence), and less worries about market barriers or technology theft.

–

Hualien, Taiwan

Most people will have heard and read about the earthquake that caused deaths and injuries, especially in Hualien, on Tuesday.

But the place should be known for its beauty, too. There’s a travel blog about the Taroko Gorge, apparently written by a Singaporean, with some practical advice which  should be quite up to date (based on a visit in November 2016). That, plus some history.

–

The Spy Radio that anyone can hear

No, that’s not the BBC. They’ve only produced a video about numbers stations.

But what’s the fun in them if anyone can listen? I want some numbers of my own.

____________

Related

Budapest Guidelines, in Chinese and in English, Nov 2017

____________

Political Time Check (Febr 2017): “Synchronized Efforts”

The following is a translation of an article published by the “People’s Daily”, online and in its printed edition, on February 14 this year, by an author named Zhao Zhenyu (赵振宇). Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Main link: “Time Culture – Galloping into the Realms of Dreams”

“A leading cadre’s time of reign is limited, and even more limited is the time he works in the same place. As leading cadres, we must, in the spirit of strife from dawn to dusk, cherish time just the more, make use of this limited time, to do practical and good things for the masses.” During the past few days, when I reviewed secretary general Xi Jinping’s discussion of time, I felt the style of pragmatic and careful work again, and experienced again the time civilization, which is indispensible to the era of pursuing the Chinese dream.

“一个领导干部，在位的时间是有限的，在一个地方工作的时间更有限。我们每一个领导干部都要以‘只争朝夕’的精神，倍加珍惜在位的时间，充分利用这有限的时间，多为群众办实事、办好事。”近日重温习近平总书记关于时间的谈话，再次感受到务实、精细的工作作风，体会到逐梦时代不可或缺的时间文明。

The seasons come and go, untouched by the words that try to describe them. In the beginning, time was an abstract concept, and something hard to grasp. When the forefathers of humankind began to record things by tying knots, measuring time was still something people strived to understand and to master, and became a criterion of civilisational expansion and progress. Of course, in history, people from ancient times formed an awareness of time under the impression of “work from sunrise and to rest after the sunset”, and they developed an attitude that appreciated time, by “attributing little value to a jade ring, but great importance to a single ray of light”. They were careful “not to miss the farming season, so as to reap the harvest in due course”. Time culture, with its connotations of understanding and cherishing time and respecting punctuality, reminds us to scientifically master time, and to effectively use time.

天不言而四时行，时间最初是一个抽象而难以把握的概念。从人类先祖结绳记事开始，定量化的时间才被逐渐认识和掌握，成为文明拓进的一个向度。当然在历史上，古人很早就形成了“日出而作，日入而息”的时间意识，形成了“贱尺璧而重寸阴”的惜时态度，形成了“不违农时，谷不可胜食也”的守时观念。以识时、惜时、守时为内涵的时间文明，提醒我们科学把握时间、有效利用时间。

No blossoming dream can occur without irrigation, and no civilizational advancement can do without the helping hand of time. Time pushes ahead without turning back, and any waste of time amounts to affecting a society’s civilization negatively. Time is the material that forms life, and wasting other peoples’ time means nothing less than scheming murder. In particular, it is the context of “infinite time” and “finiteness of life” that magnifies the value of time and the significance of struggle. That’s why Marx said that all savings ultimately amounted to saving time. As we enter the modern era of milliseconds and microseconds, the architectures-dream value of time becomes yet more apparent. Only by conserving time culture and renovating the notion of time, can we surge forward to enrich human life, and gallop into the realms of dreams.

一切梦想的花开，都离不开时间的浇灌，一切文明的进阶，都离不开时间的助力。时间总是不可逆转地向前推进，对时间的浪费，不啻对社会文明的怠慢甚至贻误。时间是组成生命的材料，浪费别人的时间无异于谋财害命。尤其在“无限的时间”与“有限的生命”的语境下，更凸显出时间的宝贵、奋斗的意义。所以马克思说，一切节约归根到底都是时间的节约。当时代的车轮驶入以毫秒、微秒计时的现代社会，时间的筑梦价值更加显现。涵养时间文明，刷新时间观念，我们才能激荡出彩人生、驰骋梦想国度。

“dit dit dit … Beijing time is x hours.” On December 15, 1970, the National Time Service Center began to broadcast Beijing standard time to the nation on shortwave. From that time on, this familiar timecheck became a reference for peoples’ coming and going. Achieving the goals of the struggles for the Chinese dream and of the “two two-hundreds”, on this brave march forward and the center’s^*) strategic dispositons and reform guidelines equally depend on synchronization by Beijing time. All regions, all departments, and all units, in the process of reform and development, are united in action, in unanimous efforts. Connection with the center^*) by synchronization and example guarantee that our ideology and our actions serve as rules, and only this enables the entire nation’s chessboard implementation of cooperation, to rise to the cohesive effect of “pearls falling into a jade plate”.

“嘀嘀嘀……北京时间×点整。”1970年12月15日，国家授时中心开始向全国进行短波广播标准的北京时间。从那时起，这个耳熟能详的报时声成为人们出入起居的时间参照。实现中国梦、实现“两个一百年”的奋斗目标，在这条奋进之路上，中央的战略部署和改革方针，同样是我们需要不断对表的北京时间。各地区、各部门、各单位，在改革发展中同中央步调一致、力度一致，一以贯之地与中央对表、看齐，确保我们的思想与行动都以此为准，才能产生“全国上下一盘棋”的落实合力，起到“大珠小珠落玉盘”的聚合效果。

From the venturing cry of “ten thousand years are too long, seize the day, seize the hour” to the firm exploration of “Development is the unyielding argument”, and to the magnificent journey of “reform does not stall, opening up does not stop”, time culture on the national level has amply broken new ground of meaning. We must continue to cultivate this kind of time consciousness. In reality, there is no action of reform and development without a time frame. When it comes to structural reform of production capacities and supply, it is true that resisting forces remain strong, and policies to enable access to pure resources, clean energy etc. comes at high costs, but if we can’t resolutely and decisively implement reform, we may lose the exceptionally favourable opportunity of economic transformation. As for realizing the key issue of moderate prosperity, to seize the opportunity that time provides us with, from an insightful position, is exactly the best attitude to welcome the future.

从“一万年太久，只争朝夕”的创业呐喊，到“发展才是硬道理”的坚定探索，再到“改革不停顿、开放不止步”的壮丽征程，国家层面时间文明充满开拓进取意味。今天，我们仍然需要培育这样的时间意识。现实中，各项改革发展举措，莫不有时间窗口。去产能、去库存等供给侧结构性改革任务固然阻力重重，置备污染净化设备、普及清洁能源等治霾之策固然成本高企，但我们现在如果不能毅然决然地落实改革，就可能丧失经济转型的绝佳时机。对冲刺在实现全面小康关键一程上的中国而言，把握时间给予的机遇，正是眺望前路、迎向未来的最好姿态。

As the times are changing, the dream advances. [Reference to the lunar calendar.] In the new growth ring of the years, our energetic mood shows promise, the struggle forges ahead, and they will certainly carve beautiful memories that won’t drag the mission and the era.

时序更替，梦想前行。农历丁酉年是鸡年，雄鸡司晨昭示时光宝贵，闻鸡起舞激扬勤奋精神。在新的时间年轮里，我们奋发有为、拼搏进取，一定能刻写下不负使命不负时代的美好回忆。

____________

Note

^*) the central committee and/or the central government – probably the central committee in this context

____________

Related

Strategic inflection point, A. S. Grove, 1996, 1999
Grundrisse (in English), Karl Marx, 1857 – 61

____________

KCNA: North Korea “has contributed to protecting China’s peace and security”

North Korean newsagency KCNA published an article on Wednesday evening this week, criticizing Chinese press coverage and commentary. According to China’s state-owned newspaper Huanqiu Shibao, it is the third article in recent days that criticizes Chinese pundits and media on North Korea, but the first to mention China by name.

Rather than criticizing Pyongyang, Beijing should cherish the long-standing alliance with North Korea, which had benefitted China, rather than causing problems, KCNA wrote, and added:

One must clearly understand that the DPRK’s line of access to nukes for the existence and development of the country can neither be changed nor shaken and that the DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is as precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is.

The DPRK, which has already become one of the most powerful nuclear weapons state, does not feel the need to think over how many options it has now.

KCNA, who provide news and articles in Korean, English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Japanese – but no permalinks – wrote as follows (the name “Kim Chol” should probably not be attributed to the country’s former vice minister, or  Kim Jong-un’s murdered elder brother):

Pyongyang, May 3 (KCNA) — Kim Chol released a commentary on Wednesday, urging Chinese newspapers to refrain from making reckless remarks undermining the DPRK-China relations.  Noting that a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from big neighboring countries, perhaps frightened at the U.S. blackmail and war racket, every day only to render the acute situation of the Korean peninsula more strained, the commentary says:		朝中社平壤５月３日电 金哲３日发表题为《不要再做乱砍朝中关系支柱的贸然言行》的评论。文章摘要如下： 或许是因为被最近美国高调的威胁恐吓与轰隆的战争机械动音吓坏了，临近的大国内部连日传来不谙事理、失去分寸的言论，使日趋尖锐的朝鲜半岛局势更加紧张。
The People’s Daily and the Global Times, widely known as media speaking for the official stand of the Chinese party and government, have recently carried commentaries asserting that the DPRK’s access to nukes poses a threat to the national interests of China. They shifted the blame for the deteriorated relations between the DPRK and China onto the DPRK and raised lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the U.S.		被人认为代表中国党和政府正式立场的《人民日报》和《环球时报》最近发表几篇评论声称朝鲜拥核威胁中国的国家利益，把朝中关系恶化的责任完全推给朝鲜，同时极力辩解中国对美国随波逐流的卑鄙做法。
Those commentaries claimed that the DPRK poses a threat to “the security in the northeastern region of China” by conducting nuclear tests less than 100 km away from its border with China. They even talked rubbish that the DPRK strains the situation in Northeast Asia and “offers the U.S. excuses for deploying more strategic assets” in the region.		评论说，“朝鲜在距离中国边界不到一百公里的地方搞核试验，威胁到中国东北的安全”， “朝鲜刺激东北亚局势，给美国加强在这一地区的战略部署提供了借口”。
Not content with such paradox, the commentaries asserted that to remain averse to the DPRK’s access to nukes is to preserve interests common to the U.S. and China, calling for slapping harsher sanctions against the DPRK in order to avert a war which would bring danger to China.		甚至诡称反对朝鲜发展核导技术是中美两国的共同利益，就是为避免危及自身的战争也得强化对朝制裁。
The newspapers, even claiming China holds the initiative in handling the DPRK-China relations, made no scruple of letting out a string of provocative remarks urging the DPRK to choose one among such options if it doesn’t want military confrontation with China–“whether to face protracted isolation or to preserve national security by making a U-turn” and whether to break Sino-DPRK friendship or to dismantle its nukes.		更有甚者，悍然放出“中朝关系的主动权掌握在中国的手中”，如果朝鲜不愿与中国军事对立，就要在“长期孤立和另走一条国家安全道路之间”、中朝友谊和弃核之间作出抉择的极为挑衅的妄言。
This is just a wanton violation of the independent and legitimate rights, dignity and supreme interests of the DPRK and, furthermore, constitutes an undisguised threat to an honest-minded neighboring country which has a long history and tradition of friendship.		这是对朝鲜自主合法的权利、尊严和最高利益的严重侵害，也是具有悠久的友好历史和传统的善良邻国露骨的威胁。
China is hyping up “damage caused by the DPRK’s nuclear tests” in its three northeastern provinces. This only reveals the ulterior purpose sought by it, being displeased with the DPRK’s rapid development of nukes.		中国有些人大谈东北三省的“核试灾害”，只能暴露出中国不喜欢朝鲜核武高度化的内心。
As far as “violation of national interests” oft-repeated by politicians and media persons of China is concerned, it is just the issue that the DPRK should rather talk much about. It is just the DPRK whose strategic interests have been repeatedly violated due to insincerity and betrayal on the part of its partner, not China at all.		至于中国政治家和媒体人动辄提到的“侵害国家利益”，反而朝鲜有更多的话要说。由于对方背信弃义的行动，国家战略利益屡遭侵害的不是中国，而是朝鲜。
Some theorists of China are spouting a load of nonsense that the DPRK’s access to nukes strains the situation in Northeast Asia and offers the U.S. an excuse for beefing up its strategic assets in the region. But the U.S. had activated its strategy for dominating Asia-Pacific long before the DPRK had access to nukes, and its primary target is just China.		中国有人荒唐地主张朝鲜拥核加剧东北亚局势，给美国加强在这一地区的战略部署提供借口，但美国的亚太支配战略早在朝鲜拥核很久以前就开始启动，其主要目标本来就是中国。
China should acknowledge in an honest manner that the DPRK has just contributed to protecting peace and security of China, foiling the U.S. scheme for aggression by waging a hard fight in the frontline of the showdown with the U.S. for more than seven decades, and thank the DPRK for it.		中国倒是应当老实承认长达７０多年在反美对抗战的第一线艰苦作战，挫败美国的侵略阴谋，为维护中国大陆的和平与安全做出贡献的到底是谁，先向朝鲜表示感谢才合乎道理。
Some ignorant politicians and media persons of China daringly assert that the traditional relations of the DPRK-China friendship were in line with the interests of each county in the past. They are advised to clearly understand the essence of history before opening their mouth.		悍然胡扯传统的中朝友好关系“当时契合了各国的利益”的愚昧无知的一些中国政治家和媒体人，应首先搞清楚历史的本质后再来理论。
Their call for not only slapping stricter sanctions but also not ruling out a military intervention if the DPRK refuses to abandon its nuclear program is no more than an extremely ego-driven theory based on big-power chauvinism that not only the strategic interests but also the dignity and vital rights of the DPRK should be sacrificed for the interests of China.		只要朝鲜不弃核，不仅加强对朝制裁力度，而且不惜使出军事干涉手段的说法，不过是极为霸道的大国主义逻辑而已，即为了中国的利益，朝鲜的战略利益乃至主权和生存权都要牺牲。
One must clearly understand that the DPRK’s line of access to nukes for the existence and development of the country can neither be changed nor shaken and that the DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is as precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is.		必须明白，不管是谁，决不能改变或摇动朝鲜为国家的存在和发展拥核的路线。无论朝中友谊怎样宝贵，朝鲜也不会拿如同生命的核武来交换或乞求。
The DPRK, which has already become one of the most powerful nuclear weapons state, does not feel the need to think over how many options it has now.		毋庸赘述，朝鲜已是最强的核国家，有很多路可以选择。
China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK’s patience but make proper strategic option, facing up to the situation.		中国不要再无谓地企图考验朝鲜的忍耐的界限，而应当冷静看待现实并作出正确的战略选择。
China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations. -0-		中国要深思，现在乱砍朝中关系支柱的危险妄动可能带来的严重后果。（完）

The wordings in English and Chinese aren’t always identical. For example, according to the English version, People’s Daily and Huanqiu Shibao are widely known as media speaking for the official stand of the Chinese party and government, while in KCNA’s Chinese version, the two publications are believed to represent China’s party’s and government’s official position. And while the English version says that [t]he DPRK, which has already become one of the most powerful nuclear weapons state, does not feel the need to think over how many options it has now, the Chinese translation says that with no need to go into unnecessary details, the DPRK is already the strongest nuclear country and can choose from many roads.

Huanqiu Shibao, one of the two Chinese papers mentioned by KCNA, lost no time to react: an article, written by “Shan Renping” (that would be editor Hu Xijin‘s (胡锡进) pen name, according to Feichang Dao),  appeared in Chinese at 8 a.m. the next day – KCNA’s commentary had been published the evening before. At 10:18 a.m., an English version of the same article followed on the “Global Times” website.

Neither Western nor Chinese media may take a great interest in reproducing the case Pyongyang is trying to make: that doesn’t fit in either America’s nor into China’s interests, as KCNA noted in the Wednesday editorial: […] the commentaries asserted that to remain averse to the DPRK’s access to nukes is to preserve interests common to the U.S. and China, calling for slapping harsher sanctions against the DPRK in order to avert a war which would bring danger to China.

From the official North Korean perspective, America, not North Korea, poses problems – and KCNA adds a warning to Beijing (whose politicians have left it to scholars and media so far to voice discontent with Pyongyang):

Some theorists of China are spouting a load of nonsense that the DPRK’s access to nukes strains the situation in Northeast Asia and offers the U.S. an excuse for beefing up its strategic assets in the region. But the U.S. had activated its strategy for dominating Asia-Pacific long before the DPRK had access to nukes, and its primary target is just China.

On Friday, Taiwan’s Liberty Times quoted a South Korean foreign ministry spokesman as saying that sanctions on the North were showing effects, as demonstrated by North Korea’s reaction. According to the Liberty Times report, US secretary of state had previously revealed that Pyongyang had received a warning from Beijing to either refrain from further nuclear tests, or to face sanctions voluntarily imposed by China.

____________

Related

Big country, small countries, Wikipedia, last edt. March 19, 2017

____________