At a gathering held by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese State Council during this year’s Spring Festival, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) reviewed the achievements of the past year.
“Good scenery on this side only” (風景這邊獨好), he said about the global situation.
The phrase comes from late Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) poem Qing Ping Le (清平樂), written when he lost power in 1934.
It was full of the “Ah-Q” (阿Q) spirit of self-deception. Did Xi not know about this history, or was it a trap laid by his aides?
Originally, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP should have been held in fall last year. However, for the first time in 40 years, it did not take place. Neither did the plenary session that should have been held before its annual “two sessions.”
So what exactly was the cause for these cancelations?
At the Beidaihe Conference last year, former Chinese vice president Zeng Qinghong (曾慶紅帶) brought along former defense minister Chi Haotian (遲浩田) to criticize Xi.
Chi was the military officer who assisted then-general Geng Biao (耿?) in taking over the central media during the October 1976 coup when the so-called “Gang of Four” was arrested. He later served as the People’s Daily’s first editor-in-chief.
The relationship between Chi and Geng made it difficult for Xi, who served as Geng’s secretary for a time, to use Geng’s name as a shield.
Xi later launched a counterattack, which led to the mysterious death of former Chinese premier Li Keqiang (李克強), eliminating the potential threat of Li’s succession.
Since Xi has not yet dared take action against Zeng, he should at least achieve something regarding his governance so that he could report them at the Third Plenary Session.
Xi continued to hold extreme leftist and blind views.
He has been widely resisted by Western countries in economic, diplomatic and military arenas, so he is only able to abuse his power when it comes to Hong Kong and Taiwan issues.
Hong Kong has started to conduct a so-called “consultation” on Article 23 of the Basic Law, targeting “foreign hostile forces.”
However, this has completely ruined Hong Kong’s efforts to bring itself back from the brink of financial disaster.
There is also a censorship campaign in Hong Kong, leading to the cancelation of some stage performances.
For example, a friendly match between Inter Miami CF and Hong Kong XI was originally considered the biggest sports event of the year in Hong Kong.
However, when Argentine forward Lionel Messi did not join the game due to an injury and did not issue an apology, disappointed local fans demanded refunds, presumably regarding the soccer star as a “foreign hostile force” who was deliberately attempting to embarrass Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Chinese military aircraft have been harassing Taiwan and balloons continued to fly over the nation during the Lunar New Year holiday.
After an incident between the Taiwanese coast guard and a Chinese speedboat in Kinmen, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office declared that there are no “prohibited or restricted waters” between Kinmen and China’s Xiamen.
The Chinese Coast Guard even searched Taiwanese tourist boats in Kinmen’s waters.
This shows “good scenery on Taiwan’s side only,” which is why Xi is so jealous and hostile.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated by Eddy Chang
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
As Taiwan’s domestic political crisis deepens, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed gutting the country’s national spending, with steep cuts to the critical foreign and defense ministries. While the blue-white coalition alleges that it is merely responding to voters’ concerns about corruption and mismanagement, of which there certainly has been plenty under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT-led governments, the rationales for their proposed spending cuts lay bare the incoherent foreign policy of the KMT-led coalition. Introduced on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the KMT’s proposed budget is a terrible opening
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed