You can get the long version, the Chinese Communist Party communique about its work at the Third Plenum (full of lines about “fully and faithfully applying the new development philosophy on all fronts” and “adhering to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability”); or the short version, presented by journalist Zhang Shuang.
Radio Free Asia says that Zhang is “disappointed by the lack of content in the 5,000-character statement” (“China’s third plenum offers little in the way of economic help,” July 18, 2024).
“The communique did not contain any inspiring news,” observes Zhang, “which was in stark contrast to the propaganda and praises of reforms in the run up to the meeting and while it was going on. It was just filled with old slogans and empty words. The only thing that was clear was that Qin Gang remains a party member.” (In addition to uttering empty words, the communique also lists some of the CCP leaders who have been ejected from high positions lately.)
Business as usual?
In RFA’s summation:
While state media has been at pains to laud party leader Xi Jinping as a “reformer” in the mold of late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping, the communique from the third plenary session of the party’s Central Committee, which ended in Beijing on Thursday, offered scant details on specific reforms.
Instead, it threw its support behind a litany of political jargon favored by Xi, headlining its role as “seeking progress while maintaining stability.”
The communique vowed to “continue to strengthen propaganda, ideological and cultural work” while “resolutely safeguarding national and social stability.”
Economic recovery appeared further down the list, under the “comprehensive and strict governance of the party.”….
In a possible indicator of the direction of any “reforms,” the communique also vowed to improve the party’s grasp of Marxist economics, including improved handling of the relationship between the forces of production and the “economic base” of the general population.
It also said it would improve its “macroeconomic governance,” suggesting that Xi’s administration will forge ahead with its top-down, government-directed approach to economic management, at the expense of the market forces that were given freer rein under the reforms of Deng Xiaoping.
So: more of the stiff, vapid, hortatory, mind-clogging sloganeering that have been the lard and sinew of CCP propaganda since Mao; more inculcating of Xi Jinping “Thought” on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era (plus Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, the Theory of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development); more “stability” to be achieved by wiping out minority cultures and repressing dissent; more “comprehensive and strict” interference in market processes.
The Communique says that the Third Plenum “stressed that, to further deepen reform comprehensively, we must review and apply the valuable experience we have gained from our efforts to deepen reform comprehensively since the launch of reform and opening up, particularly in the new era.”
Also, if all goes as planned, the People’s Liberation Army is to be modernized and even more countries are to be sucked into Xi’s totalitarian “shared future for mankind.”
Also see:
StopTheChinazis.org: “Third Plenum Tips to Advance Unity, Etc.”
