Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on CCP
News (1)
Fax from Zhongnanhai: Beidaihe Conference, Xi's mother launched the "Empress Dowager Coup"
Reporter : Wu Zuolai / Editor : Fang Xun / Image : Web Screenshot / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0811/2089712.html
Manshan commented: Later contemporary Chinese historians called the political changes that occurred after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee the "Empress Dowager's Coup" or the "Two Empresses' Coup".
Xi fell ill during the meeting, and the central government set up an emergency team, with Peng as the leader, Cai, Wang and Li as members. They basically maintained the completion of the Third Plenary Session according to procedures.
However, because Xi's mother Qi Xin came to Beijing and directly admonished the main members of the emergency team, opposing their personal worship with Xi as the core, and received Peng's support, when Xi was unable to govern, the CPC had a series of subtle changes from propaganda to policy. For example, the CPC mainstream media reduced the length of propaganda on Xi by three quarters, tried not to mention Xi's name in reports, and replaced it with General Secretary, no longer mentioned the "two safeguards", and no longer mentioned the "core" theory and the "Chinese Dream". More emphasis was placed on reform and opening up, but Xinhuanet, which had sworn allegiance to Xi, still insisted on worship-style propaganda on Xi, and Xi's network household registration (Internet access certificate) was still being promoted.
Xi's layout of military and political affairs is actually the Fujian Gang. The rise of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang faction and Shandong forces has destroyed the CCP's principle of employing people from all corners of the country. The old dinosaurs of the CCP still have a trace of power, which will be activated at a historical moment and will gather in Beidaihe to jointly deal with the national crisis of the past 40 years.
Last time in Beidaihe, Xi and Hu had a secret meeting. Xi completely betrayed his promise, the Youth League faction was wiped out, and Hu was dragged out of the 20th National Congress. This time in Beidaihe, the people on a boat had to confront the captain face to face in order to save the rapidly sinking ship. The captain has been identified by the doctor as a person who cannot work normally. Intermittent sudden illness: mania, dementia, dissatisfaction with everyone, admonishing and doubting everyone, making the people on the boat full of fear. His greatest political performance is that in front of the elders, he can nod his head to everything, like an honest man. Once he returns to the throne of Zhongnanhai, he will do his own thing and be the core of the world.
The most difficult problem to solve at this Beidaihe meeting is still this big problem.
The following content is published by Wu Manshan. Dear readers, you can read it as a palace secret or as a drama. It is up to you to decide. Legends or literature are sometimes more true than the truth. In historical moments, truth and legend coexist in a conjoined symbiosis.
Text:
Continuing from the last chapter, Xi's mother believes that Xi is no longer her son. His willful actions and preparations for war will bring disastrous consequences to the country and the family. So she does not visit her son in the ward and wants to return to Shenzhen.
At this time, granddaughter Mingze appears.
Mingze persuades her grandmother to stay, saying that this is a critical moment and the best time to persuade her father. Peng also said: "I will persuade Xi. After all, the state power is in the hands of the emergency team. Xi cannot run the country for a while. I hope my mother-in-law will stay and work together to prevent Xi from going down a road of no return and becoming a national sinner."
Mingze listens to her mother, and her mother listens to her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law used to listen to Zhongxun, but now she listens to Mingze. Originally, all three of them had to listen to the core, but now that the core is ill, Mingze seems to be the most important in the family's power relationship, and her mother-in-law has a greater influence on Xi.
The three Standing Committee members went in to visit Xi on the bed, and the three members of the Xi family left the wartime medical center and returned to the Xi family's Yuquanshan villa.
At dinner time, Xi's mother, Peng, and granddaughter Mingze basically reached a consensus:
First, do not regard Xi as propaganda and worship like Mao;
Second, be friendly with the United States and the West, reform and open up to develop the economy, and do not prepare for war;
Third, hold the Beidaihe meeting, where the elders (at the state level) and the Politburo Standing Committee will meet to decide the future political direction of the party and the country;
The important family decision is: Mingze will continue to study in the United States. Xi's mother believes that letting her children live in a civilized world is the wisest decision made by Zhongxun and herself. She believes that Jintao's daughter is wiser than his son and has made the wisest choice in life. Mingze also wants to learn from Jintao's daughter.
Peng agreed, and Mingze was moved to tears.
(Wang Dan, a Harvard PhD who is one of the leaders of the 1989 student movement and settled in Los Angeles, recently received a text message from an insider, suggesting that he go to Harvard to find Mingze and have a frank conversation with her about China's future and destiny, which may have an impact on Xi Jinping. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please leave a message on Wang Dan's video or X, or leave a message @wangdan1989王丹 at the end of this post)
After dinner, Peng will discuss the major emergencies with the members of the emergency team, and Mingze will walk with her grandmother in the garden.
Xi's mother looked up at the Yufeng Pagoda on the main peak of Yuquan Mountain, and her eyes became moist. She thought of Yan'an and her youth. The editorial in the Xinhua Daily was still fresh in her mind. The new China was a free China, the army belonged to the country, and the Communist Party and the democratic parties consulted politically to decide the country's major policies. As a result, Mao Zedong became the emperor, betrayed the country and the people, and also betrayed his comrades and the democratic parties, and created a great disaster. Now her son has become the emperor again, and is creating a great disaster again. Xi's mother did not dare to think further, and turned to ask her granddaughter: Do you know what this pagoda is called? Mingze said, pagoda, the same as the pagoda in Yan'an. "Three Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future" refers to the past Buddha Dipankara, the present Buddha Sakyamuni, and the future Buddha Maitreya. Xi's mother said that it was different from the pagoda in Yan'an. This is called Dingguang Pagoda, which enshrines the past Buddha. The pagoda for the present Buddha is Tathagata, and the future Buddha is Maitreya. Mingze asked her grandmother: The Communist Party is atheist, why do so many people believe in Buddhism?
Xi's mother said: People have souls, believing in Buddhism can make people's souls peaceful, people without faith are terrible, and their souls can easily turn to the devil. Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong were devils. Now those people want to elevate your father to a god, but they will still be devils in the end.
As she was talking, Mingze's phone rang. She knew it was her father calling, so she asked her father with concern if he was well. After getting the answer, she said that her grandmother was with her.
Xi's voice came from the other end of the phone, saying, "I know", give the phone to grandma.
Xi's mother hesitated for a moment, but still picked up the phone. Xi said on the phone that he hadn't talked to her mother for a long time and wanted to see her.
Xi's mother was not in a good mood and said, you are as great as Mao Zedong, how can I see you? If I want to call you, I have to go through the General Office of the Central Committee.
There was silence on the other end.
Xi's mother said: I discussed with Liyuan and decided to let Mingze go back to the United States to study. Sino-US relations can only be improved, not damaged.
The other side nodded and said, OK.
Xi's mother advised: You have to let go of many things, especially the scepter, and don't act on your own. I said, the Beidaihe meeting should be resumed. You can't make the mistakes of Mao again. You must know that many cities are going bankrupt, the people are bankrupt, and the country is bankrupt.
Xi was silent.
Xi's mother said, you should have a good rest. If there is something, discuss it with Liyuan and everyone. Don't always listen to those words that make you happy. I tell you, those who praise Mao Zedong are bad people, and those who praise you are not good. Those things that Mao did in the square will sooner or later be cleared by the people as garbage, so you don't have any thoughts.
Everything is empty, you must remember.
After that, she hung up the phone and returned the phone to her granddaughter.
After the walk, Xi's mother faced the Dingguang Pagoda on Yuquan Mountain, burned incense and worshiped Buddha, praying that the Buddha of the previous life would use the light of the past to illuminate her present.
She suddenly realized something and wanted to call those elders. According to the principles of the party organization, they have the right to exercise supervision.
Her first call was to Hu Jintao's home. It was Mrs. Hu who answered the phone. Xi's mother apologized for Xi's appointment of an assistant to carry Hu away at the 20th National Congress. Mrs. Hu said that it was all in the past. She thanked Xi's mother for calling her and said that Peng still helped. Her son was transferred back to Beijing from Zhejiang, which made his parents feel at ease, so she expressed her gratitude.
Xi's mother said that if the Central Committee held a Beidaihe meeting, she hoped that General Secretary Jintao would be able to attend and provide guidance to the current Central Committee.
Mrs. Hu said that Jintao was powerless. He went to Beidaihe every year, but could not say a word.
She called Song Ping, and Song Ping asked Xi's mother, do you know the secret agreement between China and Russia? The secret agreement signed by Xi and Putin has brought serious international problems. His current physical and mental difficulties are related to this. The central government is also facing difficulties. In addition, a serious economic crisis is happening. At the Beidaihe meeting, he must face the problem and take responsibility. Without causing social unrest, he must retreat to the second line or fade out of the central core.
Xi's mother did not expect that the problem was so serious. It was not only his physical problem, but behind the physical problem, he made a promise to Russia on behalf of the central government without authorization, which directly led to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Xi's mother called Wen Jiabao and asked him for guidance.
Wen said that the Beidaihe meeting should indeed be resumed. Personal totalitarianism has once again brought serious consequences to the country and the people. International and domestic political and economic crises have come at the same time. The central leadership group must not only face it, but also take responsibility, and solve the problem from an institutional perspective. He himself is also a small person with little influence. In the past, no one listened to his words about political reform. What will be the result of the Beidaihe meeting? We can only leave it to fate.
Xi's mother roughly understood the serious problems faced by the core of the Central Committee, and had a premonition that another Cultural Revolution-style disaster was happening. As an old Yan'an and the mother of a general secretary of the Communist Party of China, what could she do? She could only help her granddaughter continue to study in the United States, and perhaps promote the Beidaihe Elders Conference, and through the elders, Xi's totalitarian expansion would be restrained.
Through the window, she saw the Dingguang Pagoda on Yuquan Mountain again. The lights on the tower flickered, and she felt that the light was very distant and ethereal, unable to illuminate her heart. After so many years of revolution, she thought that she had not committed any sins, so why did her son become like this? After sitting on the throne, he became another great man Mao. A great man ruined the entire country and nation for more than half a century, while his own son reduced the achievements of thirty or forty years of reform and opening up to zero. I don't know how many people will suffer from the suffering brought by the economic crisis and social unrest.
Xi's mother clasped her hands together and chanted: Amitabha, the sea of suffering is boundless, I hope my son will turn back. (Wu Manshan)
News (2)
Is Beijing changing leadership? It is said that three major events have happened in succession
Editor : Zhongkang / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0812/2090167.html
A few days ago, Zhao Lanjian, a former mainland media person, posted a message from inside the Chinese Communist Party’s military unit on the X social platform, saying that the image of Xi Jinping had been removed from a billboard in a military retirement home that said “the military obeys the party.” The CCP’s wind direction had changed, and things were about to change. The message was accompanied by two before-and-after comparison pictures.
The picture shows that the original SS billboard had a large image of Xi on the left and "obeying the party's command, winning battles and having a good style" on the right. After the billboard was replaced, the image of Xi disappeared. Perhaps in order to prove the authenticity of the news, the picture was deliberately supplemented with a sentence: "The high-end military accurately reported it" and "It is a propaganda board in the military retirement home where the comrade's father is..."
On July 30, the Chinese Communist Party think tank "Chinese Academy of Social Sciences" published an article entitled "It is time to increase institutional openness and innovation to create the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area 2.0" on its "China Social Sciences Network". The article pointed out that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee passed a decision earlier, proposing a clear requirement of "deepening cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, strengthening the connection of rules and mechanisms", and for this reason, the Greater Bay Area should be actively upgraded to a "national offshore economic center" as a whole, forming a super economic special zone that is fully connected with the world, and integrating the "rules, regulations, management, standards, etc." of Hong Kong, Macao and the nine cities in Guangdong.
However, Radio Free Asia discovered on 7 August 2024 that the article was suddenly removed from the official website, and only a small number of websites that reprinted the content in the mainland "survived".
Commentator Yan Chungou said that the so-called Greater Bay Area is simply a monster created by the CCP behind closed doors to show the supreme leader's ability to "personally command and personally deploy". This shitty article, which was intended to please Xi Jinping, was originally intended to be a false alarm and create some topics, but it went too far, beyond Xi Jinping's imagination, so it was removed from the shelves as soon as it was published. Not only did the author not receive any reward, but he may also "eat a fart". Hong Kong people should just treat it as a joke and do not take it seriously.
More and more signs indicate that there must be a big problem within the top leadership in Beijing. The latest sign is the information revealed in the article "Adhere to Scientific Decision-making, Democratic Decision-making and Legal Decision-making" published in the news column of the CCP Military Daily and Military Network on August 10.
The article said that recently, the "Democratic Centralism Reader" organized and edited by the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China was printed and distributed to the entire army.
Epoch Times commentator Zhou Xiaohui wrote that this is a big deal, because in the past few years, although the CCP has occasionally mentioned "democratic centralism", everyone knows that this is just verbal. The reality is that the CCP leader is trying to concentrate all kinds of power in one person, pointing out the direction for various fields and various issues. The party is basically a "one-man show", and the other standing committee members are basically decorations. At the same time, China's economy is irreversibly deteriorating, people's livelihood is difficult, the national finances are on the verge of bankruptcy, people's resentment is boiling, officials are lying flat, and a comprehensive social crisis is imminent.
So, under such a background, the entire army suddenly wants to learn democratic centralism and go against the CCP leader's way. What else is this if it's not a big deal?
News (3)
The unusual statements made by Chinese CCP ambassadors abroad further prove that Beijing is not peaceful
Reporter : Zhou Xiaohui / Editor: Fang Xun / Source: Epoch Times / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0812/2090120.html
Another unusual phenomenon that proves that something has happened in the top leadership of Beijing is that recently, when many Chinese ambassadors abroad published articles, made speeches or accepted interviews to introduce the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in their host countries, at least in the Chinese version, there was an abnormality. Many people did not mention the name of the CPC leader, which is another obvious difference from the past.
So far, there are dozens of Chinese ambassadors or consuls general who have expressed their views. Their attitudes towards the party leader can be roughly divided into three categories. The first category does not mention the name of the party leader at all, and emphasizes more that the CPC adheres to the policy of opening up to the outside world.
For example, Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, accepted an exclusive interview with Tom O'Connor, a senior foreign policy reporter of Newsweek, on 2 August 2024. The content of the interview was published on the front page of the website of the weekly on 5 August 2024.
In the interview, Xie Feng said that "the theme of the plenary session is to further deepen reforms in an all-round way and promote Chinese-style modernization", and the most important achievement is the adoption of the "Decision". Regarding how to solve the challenges facing the CPC, such as consumption, real estate market and local government debt, Xie Feng said, "The answer given by the plenary session is to promote high-level opening up and achieve high-quality development. We will continue to promote development through reform and seek momentum from reform." He also emphasized that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee continued to emphasize the need to give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and better play the role of the government. Xi Jinping's name was not mentioned anywhere in the entire interview.
On 8 August 2024, Ambassador to Uzbekistan Yu Jun published a signed article on the front page of the Uzbek and Russian editions of the People's Voice. The article stated that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee "sent a strong signal that China is unswervingly holding high the banner of reform and opening up." The article mentioned that President Mirziyoyev paid a state visit to China in January this year, but did not mention the name of Xi, who met with him, but said that the "heads of state of the two countries" decided...
On 8 August 2024, Ambassador to Slovakia Cai Ge published a signed article in the Slovak Financial Newspaper, saying that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee "adhered to the principle of keeping the right path and making innovations, and sent the strongest signal of unswerving reform and opening up", without mentioning Xi's name.
Others who did not mention the party leader’s name in the article and interview include: Ambassador to Cape Verde Xu Jie, Ambassador to Hungary Gong Tao, Consul General in Kazan Xiang Bo, Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Yemen Shao Zheng, Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong, Ambassador to Canada Wang Di, Consul General in Chiang Mai Chen Haiping, Ambassador to Grenada Wei Hongtian, Ambassador to Lesotho Yang Xiaokun, Consul General in Medan Zhang Min, Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese CCP Embassy in Armenia Chen Ming, Ambassador to Barbados Yan Xiusheng, Consul General in Zamyn-Uud, Mongolia Ke Yousheng, Ambassador to Congo (Brazzaville) Li Yan, Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Switzerland Mao Jun, Ambassador to Morocco Li Changlin, Consul General in Karachi Yang Yundong, Ambassador to Turkey Liu Shaobin, Ambassador to Italy Jia Guide….
The second category is to downplay Xi’s authority and only briefly mention the party leader’s name in the middle or at the end of the article.
For example, on 8 August 2024, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chang Hua published a signed article on the website of the Middle East mainstream media "Al Arabiya TV", which only mentioned "implementing the global development initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping" in one place.
On 3 August 2024, Ambassador to India Xu Feihong published a signed article in The Hindu, which only mentioned Xi in the last paragraph, saying "President Xi Jinping pointed out that China and India speak with one voice..."
On 2 August 2024 Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui published a signed article in the Russian government's official newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta", which also mentioned the name of the party leader twice, once "Last March, President Xi Jinping chose Russia as the first country to visit after being re-elected as President", and once "The plenary session fully reflected the Party Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core".
On 1 August 2024, Chinese CCP Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian published a signed article in the Australian Financial Review titled "Chinese-style modernization will benefit Australia and the world". Only in the last paragraph was there such a statement: "This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping's state visit to Australia and the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Australia."
Similarly, there are Chinese CCP Ambassador to Mozambique Wang Hejun, Consul General in Penang Zhou Youbin, Chinese Ambassador to Chad Wang Xining, Consul General in Almaty Jiang Wei, Chinese CCP Ambassador to Syria Shi Hongwei, Chinese CCP Ambassador to Dominica Chu Maoming, Chinese CCP Ambassador to Spain Yao Jing...
The third category is to continue to put the party leader in an important position in the article, but compared with the past, the degree of flattery has decreased.
For example, on 6 August 2024, Granma, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, published a signed article by Chinese CCP Ambassador to Cuba Hua Xin. The article reviewed Xi Jinping's historic visit to Cuba in 2014, mentioned Xi's name many times, and only talked about the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee at the end.
Similar ones include Ambassador to Maldives Wang Lixin, Ambassador to Kuwait Zhang Jianwei, Ambassador to Poland Sun Linjiang, Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan Shi Yuanqiang, Ambassador to Egypt and Plenipotentiary Representative to the Arab League Liao Liqiang, Ambassador to Dominica Chu Maoming...
In addition, some Chinese ambassadors abroad have not made any statement.
The abnormality of whether the Chinese Communist ambassadors abroad mentioned the name of the party leader indicates that these ambassadors abroad should have received some unclear instructions from CCP China, and interpreted the spirit of the Third Plenary Session according to their own understanding, which reflects the unrest in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, because if Beijing is fine, these ambassadors will definitely mention the name of the party leader as often as before. From this, it can be inferred that the rumours about the high-level incident are not groundless.
News (4) to (5) / Editor : Fang Xun / Source : RFA / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0813/2090360.html / Image : The picture shows a scene in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
News (4)
China promotes the Belt and Road Initiative through archaeology, experts worry about the reappearance of colonial thinking
The ancient "Silk Road" passed through the city, and Chinese archaeologists have also visited there in recent years to carry out field excavations and cultural relics restoration work. In order to further tell the "Chinese story" and promote the "cultural confidence" of the Chinese nation, China has actively cooperated with Central Asian countries in large-scale archaeological projects in recent years. Recently, it used cultural relics unearthed in Uzbekistan to say that CCP China has been a peaceful participant in the region since ancient times. However, the international archaeological community is worried that China is interpreting newly unearthed cultural relics from a Chinese perspective, which is no different from Western colonialism in the past.
When meeting with visiting Italian Prime Minister Meroni on 29 July 2024, Chinese Communist President Xi Jinping called on the two countries to uphold the "Silk Road Spirit" to promote bilateral relations, and reiterated that "let the bridge of communication between the East and the West built by the ancient Silk Road shine with new era glory."
Since Xi Jinping took office, the Chinese Communist government has launched the "Belt and Road" initiative in 2013, and has also made a lot of investments in seeking China's footprints on the ancient Silk Road. According to the Hunan Daily, in the past decade, CCP China has promoted 44 joint archaeological projects across 24 countries.
Michael Storozum, an American-Chinese archaeologist, told the Danish weekly Weekendavisen in 2021 that Chinese President Xi Jinping is very keen on archaeology because he believes it is a discipline that can truly build a country's history.
Judith Lerner, a Silk Road scholar who studies the art of the Sogdians who came to China, told this station, "I am worried that the countries or governments that support archaeological excavations have nationalistic purposes, compared to the academic institutions and private donations that support them, that is, to prove who got there first, and then trace it back to the country that speaks that language, that is, China, because the ethnic group uses a certain language, or to claim that these ethnic groups came from the East and took over a certain place, but we really can't know... I think we have to look at it from a cultural and social perspective as a whole."
In the archaeological projects on the Silk Road, Wang Jianxin, an archaeologist at Northwest University who has been tracking the traces of the "Yuezhi" who migrated from China for many years, recently excavated the relics of the Kushan Empire and its underground tombs built on the plains along the Surkhan River in Uzbekistan. According to the "Historical Records" and "Book of Han", the Yuezhi originally lived in northwest China. Under the attack of the Xiongnu, some of them moved west to Central Asia and "founded" the Kushan Empire.
Since the Yuezhi people were used to burying their people at the foot of the mountain, while the Kushan Empire used above-ground tombs, Wang Jianxin's team therefore determined that these tombs either belonged to local ethnic groups influenced by the Yuezhi or to Yuezhi people who gradually integrated into the local farming life. They further inferred that the Yuezhi people did not establish the Kushan Empire by force, but lived in peace with the local people, which echoed the Chinese government's image of itself as a benevolent participant in the region.
Wang Jianxin told the Wall Street Journal in Uzbekistan that he believes that the world's understanding of the Silk Road is mainly from a Western perspective, and he hopes to "add Chinese voices" to the archaeological field of the Silk Road.
However, some archaeologists are worried about the practices of their Chinese counterparts. Sören W. Stark, professor of Central Asian archaeology at New York University, told this station: "The Chinese team is not looking for traces of Han people scattered in Central Asia. They want to verify whether the Chinese historical data is right or wrong. Therefore, they start from the Chinese point of view, but do not question whether such a narrative is problematic from the fundamental source."
Stark said that the so-called Yuezhi people who migrated westward in the early 2nd century BC may be just an elite or powerful class. After several generations, they finally settled in Bactria before being discovered by the Han people. Although the Kushan Empire was the main regime in the area at that time, this does not mean that the Yuezhi people were the founders of the regime; it is very likely that the Han Dynasty called the people in that area Yuezhi: "Currently, the name "Yuezhi" has only appeared in Chinese literature, and no other language has appeared."
Stark said: "The tombs excavated by the Chinese archaeological team largely conform to the burial traditions of nomadic groups in Central Asia, and are not limited to Bactria..., but also in the southwest of Central Asia and Xinjiang."
The picture shows a scene of the ancient city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The ancient "Silk Road" passed through the city, and Chinese archaeologists have also gone there in recent years to carry out field excavations and cultural relics restoration work. (Reuters photo)
News (5)
Experts: Archaeology is not about tracing or defining ethnic distribution. The "Silk Road" is originally diplomatic in nature
In May 2022, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held the 39th collective study on deepening the Chinese civilization exploration project. Xi Jinping made strategic arrangements for the study of Chinese civilization history, emphasizing that cultural relics and cultural heritage carry the genes and blood of the Chinese nation and are non-renewable and irreplaceable resources of China's excellent civilization.
In July, Li Qun, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, pointed out in an article that the "14th Five-Year Plan for Cultural Relics Protection and Scientific and Technological Innovation" issued by the State Council in 2021 for the first time upgraded the planning of cultural relics to a national special plan and included "Chinese Civilization Exploration Research" in the national key of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
However, The Economist reported last month with the title "China is using archaeology as a weapon" that the pagoda at the Mor Temple site in Xinjiang, which took three years to excavate, was initially judged to be a Han Buddhist building because some of its structures and cultural relics have the characteristics of Central Plains Buddhist temples. Although such interpretations sound quite "academic", they are "used by the Chinese government to rationalize its brutal rule over Xinjiang" and are intended to forcibly assimilate millions of Uyghurs into the Han nationality under the pretext of combating extreme terrorism.
On 12 June, Pan Yue, deputy director of the Central United Front Work Department and director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, said at the "History and Future of Xinjiang, China" International Forum that "there is an untrue narrative in the international community that separates Xinjiang culture from Chinese culture and even sets them in opposition but a large amount of archaeological evidence tells us that Xinjiang has been an important part of the Chinese cultural circle since ancient times." At that time, Pan Yue cited the Neolithic period, when the painted pottery culture of the Yellow River Basin spread to the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains through the Gansu-Qinghai region; Xinjiang's Hetian jade was discovered in cultural sites such as Yangshao, Longshan, Qijia, and Yinxu in the Central Plains; and fragments of Confucian classics such as the Book of Songs, the Book of History, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Zuo Zhuan, the Analects, and the Book of Rites, which spanned dynasties, were unearthed in the ancient city of Loulan in southern Xinjiang, the Niya ruins, and the Astana cemetery in Turpan.
Stark, a professor of Central Asian archaeology at New York University, reminded that since humans have mobility, China and the West have had close trade exchanges, and many rare cultural relics or daily necessities can be found in various places. This phenomenon can be traced back to the Stone Age, the Neolithic Age, and the Bronze Age. However, there were no written records at that time. Merchants stopped and wandered in different markets or strongholds, and went wherever there was an opportunity to make money; as for the long-distance, expeditionary "Silk Road", it originated from diplomatic activities, such as Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty. In order to bring the sweat-blooded horses of "Dayuan" back to the Central Plains, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not hesitate to go to war in the Fergana region of Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that the term "Silk Road" is also a concept proposed by the academic community in the 19th century.
News (6)
Four strange phenomena have appeared in Shanghai and Shenzhen and have begun to spread
Editor : Zhongkang / Source : Head Finance / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0811/2089909.html
Shanghai and Shenzhen are the two most important foreign trade cities in China. Data show that in the first half of this year, the total value of Shenzhen's foreign trade imports and exports reached 2.2 trillion yuan, surpassing Shanghai and ranking first in the country. However, the total foreign trade volume of the Shanghai Customs District reached 3.91 trillion yuan, far exceeding Shenzhen, and its status as China's international trade center is unshakable.
It can be said that these two cities are not only important centers of China's economy, but also a paradise that countless young people dream of. However, there must be something wrong when things are abnormal! Today, these two cities have four strange phenomena, and they are rapidly spreading to other cities.
These four strange phenomena seem normal on the surface and are inevitable phenomena of social development. However, in-depth analysis shows that they have affected people's normal life and mental health.
.01
The cost of living is getting higher and higher
It goes without saying that the housing prices in first-tier cities are sky-high compared to the wages earned. From the perspective of the housing price-to-income ratio of international first-tier cities, Shanghai ranks first with a housing price-to-income ratio of 47.33, and Beijing ranks second with a housing price-to-income ratio of 44.11.
This is equivalent to that for an ordinary family to buy a house in a big city like Beijing or Shanghai, even if they don't eat or drink, it will take at least 40 years, which is simply as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Of course, in addition to high housing prices, high property prices are also a common phenomenon in big cities. For example, after entering 2024, some prices have started to rise again, and once prices go up, it is not so easy to fall, and prices in cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen are often easy to rise and difficult to fall.
Let's talk about a plate of shredded potatoes. The ingredients are simple and the cost is low. We used to order this dish in a restaurant. It's only seven or eight yuan, what about now? It has doubled. 15 or 16 yuan is considered cheap. Other dishes with meat have doubled or tripled in price. A bowl of sliced noodles with only a few slices of beef is sold for more than 30 yuan. I really can't afford it!
Moreover, not only can we not afford it outside, but we also buy it back and cook it ourselves, which is not cheap.
For example, vegetables and fruits used to be normal at 40 or 50 cents per pound, and 1 yuan per pound was expensive. But now? Such vegetables are almost gone. 5 yuan per pound may be a cheap vegetable, and some vegetables are even more than 10 yuan per pound. The price of vegetables has caught up with the price of meat.
It is said that cheap vegetables hurt farmers, but now expensive vegetables hurt people. The cost of living is getting higher and higher, making everyone's life more and more tiring, and the happiness index is getting lower and lower.
There must be something wrong when things are abnormal! Four strange phenomena have begun to appear in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and they have begun to spread
There must be something wrong when things are abnormal! Four strange phenomena have begun to appear in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and they have begun to spread
.02
The polarization is too obvious
The bigger the city, the more serious this polarization is.
For example, on one hand, young people from other places rent small basements, go out early and come back late every day, work overtime, and some even have two or three part-time jobs. However, after deducting rent, commuting, daily living expenses, etc. from the wages they receive, even if they work hard, their monthly income can only struggle to make ends meet, let alone save money.
What about the other side?
Many locals have become large households of demolition because of urban development and construction. They have lived a retirement life before they reach retirement age. They sleep until they wake up naturally every day, bask in the sun, take a walk, play games, and their monthly rent income cannot be spent at all.
Some netizens joked that the high housing prices in big cities are simply out of reach for young workers. Houses cost tens of thousands per square meter, and some even hundreds of thousands. Young people work hard to buy houses in such cities, and it will take at least a hundred years. Instead of living in a dark and damp basement in a big city, it is better to return to the third- and fourth-tier cities and live a superior life with a house, a car and a job...
So now many young people have come to their senses and have fled from the first-tier cities, resulting in more and more empty houses in big cities.
.03
Elderly diseases are infecting more youths
For many years, Shanghai and Shenzhen have been a paradise for young people, providing excellent job opportunities, but at the same time, there are also higher professional requirements.
Although there are many job opportunities and higher salaries in big cities, the reality is that there are also many excellent people. So if you want to stand out from a group of "elites", you can only work harder than others.
What is the result? Working overtime and staying up late to rush work have become the norm for young people, and high-intensity work and irregular work and rest have also brought a new problem-that is, more and more diseases are "targeting" the young group.
For example, various elderly diseases such as hypertension, high blood lipids, high blood sugar, stroke, hemiplegia, dementia, etc. frequently appear in young people!
Moreover, young people are suffering from more and more emotional diseases, such as depression, aphasia, madness, auditory and visual hallucinations, etc.!
Nowadays, many people have already developed chronic diseases before the age of 30. Many even die early because of this. The physical fitness of young people has to attract widespread attention.
.04
Middle-aged people work, young people live
I don’t know if you have noticed that many of the hurried pedestrians on the streets of Shanghai and Shenzhen are middle-aged people. They are in a hurry. Some are constantly contacting customers on the phone, and some are holding a simple breakfast or lunch in their hands. They use the time on the road to quickly finish it. The pressure of having old people above and young people below makes them dare not slack off at all.
However, there is also a slow pace in big cities. Many college graduates live a very comfortable and free life. Even if they are working, their status is: if they are not happy today, they will quit tomorrow; overtime does not exist, and it is normal to go to work and get paid on time... They don’t get married or have children. They have afternoon tea every now and then, and travel for a vacation during the short holidays...
Compared with middle-aged people with elderly parents and young children, they obviously pay more attention to life, so as free people in the new era, they have to admire the status of young people.
News (7)
Building a federal republic? Open letter from a professor at the National People's Congress: Xi is seriously ill, and the work of the party, government and military falls on Zhang Youxia and He Weidong?
— University professor sends another letter urging the CCP to withdraw and establish a federal republic
Reporters : Ling Haizhong , Luo Ya, Epoch Times / Editor : Fang Xun / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0813/2090295.html / Image : File photo of Leng Jiefu, a retired professor at Renmin University of China. (Provided by the professor)
The top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have been hiding in Beidaihe, and there has been no news of their public appearances until 12 August 2024. Recently, Leng Jiefu, a retired senior cadre of the Chinese Communist Party and a retired professor of Renmin University, published an open letter to two vice chairmen of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, proposing a plan to establish the China Federal Republic for the peaceful “unification” of Taiwan, and calling on the Chinese Communist Party to withdraw.
Since Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China, went to Beidaihe to “visit vacationing experts” on 3 August 2024, the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have collectively been hiding, and have not made public appearances so far. Various news have been circulated online, including an open letter from Leng Jiefu, a retired professor of Renmin University, to the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. (Full text link of the open letter)
On 11 August 2024, Leng Jiefu himself confirmed to the Epoch Times reporter that he wrote the open letter.
Leng Jiefu’s letter was written to two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, and was sent to compatriots across the country and overseas Chinese.
He said that he learned that Xi Jinping was very ill and could not work, and the overall work of the party, government and military fell on Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, so he hoped that the two would support him.
Leng Jiefu is a veteran soldier. Perhaps for safety reasons, he first expressed his loyalty to the party in his letter, and then said that as early as September 2012, he wrote an open letter of advice to Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping. The main content was to use the federal system as a framework to work with the government of the Republic of China to create the Chinese Federal Republic and a coalition government, so that the CCP would withdraw from the stage of history. At that time, Hu and Xi supported him to serve as the vice chairman of the CPPCC to attend the 2013 CPPCC meeting to handle this matter. But "due to the interference of bad people, my opinion was shelved." He also said, "They support my suggestion, which shows that they are the leaders of democratic constitutionalism, not dictators." He said, "Today I once again published an open letter and insisted on the suggestion I made in September 2012 because the current situation facing the Communist Party is extremely serious." Leng Jiefu mentioned that in 2022, people on the overpass in Beijing hung a large banner "The Communist Party must step down", and people in several major cities held high banners "Down with the Communist Party" and marched, "The situation is not optimistic." Therefore, he suggested taking a compromise route and establishing the Chinese Federal Republic. Using the "Chinese Federal Republic" as a state form to unify the two divided regimes on both sides of the Taiwan Strait is "the best policy".
He said that if the Communist Party took the initiative to give up the one-party dictatorship, it would be a great achievement. At the same time, the transition to a democratic constitutional system would not pursue eternal rule. In the end, the Communist Party "completed the historical cycle and withdrew from the historical stage, which was in line with the historical trend." In this way, the "great, glorious and correct" was preserved.
He also proposed specific operational methods, including the formation of the "Great United Committee of the Chinese Nation".
Leng Jiefu was the director of the Department of Politics at the Renmin University of China Branch. In September 2012, he wrote a letter to the then leader of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao, the soon-to-be-appointed Xi Jinping, and the then head of the Communist Party of China's Military Commission, pointing out that if the increasingly turbulent ethnic conflicts, the Taiwan issue and the "June 4th Incident" were to be resolved, the "federal system" was the wisest choice. He even proposed specific implementation suggestions, including the establishment of a new "Democratic Republic of China" and the establishment of the "Taiwan Strait Democratic Republic", "New Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Democratic Republic" and "Inner Mongolia Democratic Republic".
In September 2020, Leng Jiefu's "Open Letter to CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang, Suggesting President Xi Jinping to Resign from All Party, Government and Military Posts" written on 29 April 2020 also circulated on the Internet.
Professor Leng Jiefu made three main suggestions in the letter. First, Wang Yang convened a meeting of the Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to conduct a political consultation and proposed that Xi Jinping temporarily resign. Xi Jinping must resign from all posts "to retreat in order to advance, which is the best way to deal with the crisis"; the second suggestion is that China should implement a "federal system" to solve the problems of Taiwan's reunification, ethnic minority issues, and Hong Kong issues; the third suggestion is: China's current priority for developing the national economy is to develop the agricultural economy.
The letter pointed out that this is because many countries demanded that the Chinese President be "responsible" for the spread of the plague and proposed a claim of 350 trillion US dollars.
On 16 September 2020, the Epoch Times reporter interviewed Professor Leng Jiefu himself. He further explained the open letter, but he thought his suggestions were outdated at the time. "My letter no longer counts. It's too late. The situation has developed to this point. It may not be able to establish the federal government."
News (8) to (10) / Editor : Li Hua / Source: Epoch Times / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0810/2089660.html / Image : The picture shows the police on high alert in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
News (8)
Beidaihe meeting over? CCP media's front page shows abnormality
On 9 August 2024, the CCP’s party media People’s Daily published a report about experts’ “vacation” in Beidaihe, but the CCP’s top leaders are still invisible. The front page of People’s Daily did not have any articles titled Xi Jinping, the party leader, for two consecutive days, sparking speculation. The CCP has been caught in a turbulent period recently, and the propaganda department has also had problems in the past few days.
News (9)
Is the Beidaihe meeting over? The front page of the party media is abnormal again
On 9 August 2024, the CCP’s party media People’s Daily published a report about “Beidaihe vacation” related to experts. However, major official media currently do not have any information about the activities of the CCP’s top leaders.
Some netizens posted pictures on the overseas X platform saying that Xi Jinping was not on the front page of People’s Daily on the 9th (link). Netizens commented: “Where did the core go?” “I vaguely remember that there was a Beidaihe meeting before, and he didn’t come out for a long time. At that time, it was also rumored that he had an accident. Let the bullet fly for a while.”
Epoch Times reporters checked the electronic version of People’s Daily on 10 August 2024, and there was no article titled Xi Jinping on the front page.
Since Xi Jinping came to power, he has emphasized that the party media belongs to the party, and the official media has increased the level of personal propaganda for Xi. At one time, all the news headlines on the front page of the People's Daily included Xi Jinping's name without exception.
In the past five years, there have been many similar cases of Xi Jinping disappearing from the front page of the party media.
In 2018, when Xi Jinping amended the constitution to extend the term of the presidency and the personal cult propaganda was close to Mao Zedong, causing controversy, Xi Jinping's name did not appear in the news headlines on the front page of the People's Daily on July 9. On Sunday, July 15, the newspaper's front page headlines again did not include Xi Jinping's name.
The second abnormal phenomenon on the front page of the People's Daily within a week attracted the attention of observers in China and abroad. At that time, some analysts believed that this was related to the split within the CCP caused by the US-China trade war. Because in the mid-1960s, there was a split in the top level of the CCP, and Mao Zedong was unable to control the People's Daily to publish the articles he wanted to publish advocating the "Cultural Revolution".
However, Xi Jinping later continued to occupy a major position on the front page of the party media.
On 19 May 2022, David Bandurski of the China Media Research Project at the University of Hong Kong counted the number of times Xi Jinping was absent from the front page of the People's Daily over the years. According to his definition, "absence" means that Xi Jinping's full name, the title of General Secretary or Chairman, did not appear in the main title, subtitle or column title of the front page of the People's Daily. According to statistics, from November 2012 when Xi Jinping took office to the time of Bandurski's publication, he was absent from the front page for nearly 500 days. Among them, there were 111 times in 2013, 74 times in 2014, and 97 times in 2015.
In 2016, Xi Jinping established his position as the "Xi core" at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. That year, he was absent from the front page 88 times. In 2017, there were 73 times, and in 2018, there were only 20 times.
Bandurski said that Chinese observers are right to pay close attention to the visual signals conveyed by the People's Daily, but these signals are numerous and confusing.
In May 2022, Xi Jinping did not appear on the front page of the People's Daily for many days, but Li Keqiang rarely appeared on the front page on the 17th. On the 14th, a 9,000-word speech by Li Keqiang at the State Council's anti-corruption work conference in April was published by the People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency. At that time, there were rumors that "Xi was down and Li was up." But the People's Daily later resumed publishing many reports related to Xi Jinping on the front page, and attached a photo of Xi Jinping emphasizing the continued expansion of opening up.
News (10)
Rumours arose before and after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, and the Communist Party of China was caught in a turbulent period
As of July 28, 2024, the front page of the People's Daily not only did not have Xi Jinping's photo and name, but also placed a photo of Coal Hill (Beijing Jingshan) in the most prominent position in the upper right corner. Coal Hill is related to the death of Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty. Many people on overseas social media took the opportunity to insinuate that Zhongnanhai might change.
During the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee held from July 15 to 18, 2024, the official did not release any footage of the meeting, and rumors appeared online that Xi Jinping had health problems, including stroke, and was absent from the meeting. However, CCTV released footage on the 18th showing Xi Jinping attending the closing ceremony of the Third Plenary Session.
Another strange thing happened during the Third Plenary Session. On the opening day of the Third Plenary Session (July 15), the party media Xinhua News Agency launched a 10,000-word article "Reformer Xi Jinping", packaging Xi as a "reformer" after Deng Xiaoping, and calling the so-called "new era reform" "Xi-style reform." However, before the Third Plenary Session ended on 18 July 2024, the article was completely removed from the Chinese Internet. The outside world said that the reason for the removal of this article was excessive praise, and some said it was "high-level black", and various statements were widely circulated on the Internet.
Wu Zuolai, a scholar living in the United States, wrote in "Yi Bao" at the time that rumours directly or indirectly affected China's political situation. Some rumors were confirmed, and some could not be confirmed, but one thing is certain, it is an information weapon for high-level attacks on each other. "When more people believe in rumors or gossip, it becomes a necessity, and protesters use it as an invisible weapon to fight against power.
Recently, the CCP has had many political and economic incidents. Before the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the two former defense ministers of the CCP, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were expelled from the party and the military on the same day, their ranks of generals were revoked, and they were sent to the military procuratorate for judicial disposal. Former Foreign Minister Qin Gang was removed from the Central Committee before the Third Plenary Session. They were all promoted by Xi. A group of generals were purged before, and more senior party and government officials were dismissed than in previous years. The infighting in the CCP officialdom has attracted attention.
On the other hand, in terms of economy, the economy has not recovered after three years of lockdown, and the 300 measures announced by the CCP to "deepen reform" have not had the expected effect. The stock market has fallen one after another after the Third Plenary Session. On 9 August 2024, the A-share market fell overall, with the Shanghai Composite Index closing at 2862.19 points, falling below the 2900-point mark.
During the Beidaihe holiday since early August, the CCP propaganda department seemed to be out of control, and officials within the system intensively reported other officials online by real name.
On 8 August 2024, mainland lawyer Yi Shenghua exposed online that a central enterprise with a background bought corpses on a large scale to produce "allogeneic bone implant materials", which shocked the whole society. Many mainland media reports were deleted after being reported, and Weibo topics were banned, but related reports were rarely banned.
In addition, Beijing's official media "Beijing Youth Daily" published three articles on 5 August 2024 to criticize the "all-people throwing eggs" trend, but it triggered sieges from several local official media including Jiangsu, the birthplace of the "throwing eggs" game. The real reason for the official media melee is still unknown.
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