It is a book promotion that puts Harry Potter in the shade: rave reviews, front-page headlines, lead stories on TV and a must-buy recommendation by the former president of the world's most populous dictatorship.
Add the distinct possibility of demotion, imprisonment or the withdrawal of publishing licenses for any critic, and there is every reason to believe that the The Selected Works of Jiang Zemin (
Published in three tomes, the collection of 203 speeches, articles, letters and decrees is difficult to carry, let alone read.
PHOTO: AP
But since its launch last week, the work has been extolled as one of the three ideological foundations of the Chinese Communist party. Along with similar works by Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), it forms the closest thing the party has to a Bible, guaranteeing its place in every library, university and military barracks.
President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) called a special meeting of the party's Central Committee on Monday to discuss the book. He called on all party members to study Jiang's words, saying the Central Committee had decided to push forward "the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics."
The Selected Works cover 1980 to 2004, when Jiang resigned his last important post. A 7,000-word summary issued by the Xinhua news agency suggests Jiang is focused on protecting his legacy rather than re-examining contentious issues. He claims credit for China's accession to the WTO, its successful Olympic bid and the economic growth that followed the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, about which there is almost no mention.
A large chunk is devoted to the "Three Represents," Jiang's theory justifying the party's embrace of market economics.
On the day the book was launched, Xinhua reported lines at bookshops from Beijing to Lhasa. Strangely, on the same day, foreign journalists at one of Beijing's biggest bookstores expressed disappointment when the expected crush of customers failed to materialize.
Seventy-five thousand copies of the first print run were reserved for the military.
The newspaper of the People's Liberation Army said: "Officers and men were absolutely elated to receive their elegantly bound copies ... and one after another vowed to diligently study it in order to fully grasp its spiritual essence."
The political significance of the publication is open to question. Several commentators believe Jiang is trying to reassert his influence before next year's 17th party congress, when key personnel and policy decisions will be made.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS