The Communist Party's ruling elite entered their second day of a key annual meeting yesterday with a silence that extended even to the party's own newspaper, which let the event pass without a single official mention that it had convened at all.
Nor did state television's midday newscast take note of the plenum of the 16th Party Congress. Party leaders are expected to approve putting former president Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) theories of entrepreneurialism -- and possibly notions of private property ownership -- into the country's constitution.
Such moves would push the ostensibly communist system even further toward the capitalism that its founder, Mao Zedong (
But unlike the pomp and fanfare that accompanied last autumn's party congress meeting, this year's plenum of the inner leadership, a lesser meeting, is shrouded in secrecy and is being oddly lowballed by the state-controlled media. One possible reason: The outcome might not be entirely certain.
The party newspaper People's Daily made no mention of its meeting in yesterday's editions. It opted instead to use the top of the front page for a picture of the town where China's first manned space capsule will be launched this week and articles about reform in central Henan Province and re-employment efforts in Fujian Province. Reform and employment are both major party issues.
One rather staid paper, the China Youth Daily, ran a report from the official Xinhua News Agency touting, essentially, the party's official message -- that "improvement of the socialist market economy is a major issue."
"After 25 years of practice and development, China has effectively set up a socialist market economy. Now improving that is the next major task," the newspaper said. "People believe that this meeting will push forward the development of our economic system in the new century."
It recommended restructuring of sluggish major state-owned enterprises, long a goal of economic reform.
The meeting takes place at a crucial time for China's new generation of leaders. While economic growth continues, millions of Chinese -- particularly in the industrial northeast -- are out of work. Rural poverty remains endemic.
The new leadership, under President Hu Jintao (
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese