19th Communist Party Congress

[Randy W]

The Big Question, of course, is Will your VPN still work? So what's China's Communist Party Congress all about?

 

Starts on Oct. 18

 

from the SCMP

 

Published on Oct 4, 2017

 

China's Communist Party Congress sets the political and economic agenda for the next five years. Here's all you need to know in two minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

[Allon]

When I was in China, the 17th was convening. A real study in what makes China tick. No one but me watched it.

 

One comment was: we don't have a choice like you do. And then complete silence.

 

I think Xi has a right to brag about his anti-corruption movement.but he still has a long way to go. I always compare the Chairmen to Mao and think how things have gotten better. At least they are talking about it more.

[Greg.D.]

While waiting for all the dust to settle, an easy read, dense with links:

Badiucao: Xi’s the One

It has long been said that the second of Xi's 5 year terms (starting now) will focus on economic reform. I guess it is his belief that he needs very tight control of social functioning before he begins what could be unpopular, difficult reforms. The culture still relies too much on graft, patronage and disregard of laws. But, dealing with all the loans - known and unknown - and winding down some of the traditional government supported activities that are a drain on the 6+% growth targets, will cause some hard times.

 

 

Some have speculated that Xi has used his first five-year term to focus on “politics” in order to turn to “economics” in his second term (i.e. to use his newly acquired political authority to impose liberalizing and marketizing economic reforms on an intransigent bureaucracy). Driving much of this optimism that Xi will soon unveil himself as a committed economic reformer is the notion that China must reform, therefore it will reform. Declining productivity, an over-dependence on investment for growth, and a bloated state-owned sector are clearly dragging on the Chinese economy, so it would seem obvious, indeed necessary, that these are the areas to be tackled by a more reformist Xi. But what actual evidence do we have that Xi believes in the rules- and market-based economy?

[Randy W]

Sp they come out with a special update for ExpressVPN - v6.2.6.2990 - to replace the special PRE CCP Congress version (just in time - I've been having to run through about 8 or 10 different servers before I could find one that worked)

 

[Randy W]

 

While waiting for all the dust to settle, an easy read, dense with links:

Badiucao: Xi’s the One <---

It has long been said that the second of Xi's 5 year terms (starting now) will focus on economic reform. I guess it is his belief that he needs very tight control of social functioning before he begins what could be unpopular, difficult reforms. The culture still relies too much on graft, patronage and disregard of laws. But, dealing with all the loans - known and unknown - and winding down some of the traditional government supported activities that are a drain on the 6+% growth targets, will cause some hard times.

 

 

Some have speculated that Xi has used his first five-year term to focus on “politics” in order to turn to “economics” in his second term (i.e. to use his newly acquired political authority to impose liberalizing and marketizing economic reforms on an intransigent bureaucracy). Driving much of this optimism that Xi will soon unveil himself as a committed economic reformer is the notion that China must reform, therefore it will reform. Declining productivity, an over-dependence on investment for growth, and a bloated state-owned sector are clearly dragging on the Chinese economy, so it would seem obvious, indeed necessary, that these are the areas to be tackled by a more reformist Xi. But what actual evidence do we have that Xi believes in the rules- and market-based economy?

 

 

but I think your link here is broken, Greg - it looks like a temporary link

[Greg.D.]

https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2017/10/badiucao-xis-one/

 

You're correct. Somehow that site inserts a twitter link in the URL address bar after you have folowowed the true link. Not sure why

[Randy W]

An interesting outlook on the Western point of view from Chinafile, that I'll read more of later.

 

Why Do We Keep Writing About Chinese Politics As if We Know More Than We Do?

 

 

An oft-cited example of Xi’s personal power grab is his position as head of a large number of Leading Small Groups, making him “Chairman of Everything.” Leading Small Groups are Party- or government-affiliated advisory bodies organized around a policy topic or specific task (for example, the Leading Small Group on Finance and Economy, or the Beijing Olympics Preparation Leading Small Group). This interpretation commonly leads to the conclusion that Xi is using his authority in these groups to usurp political authority from other government institutions generally, and Premier Li Keqiang and the State Council specifically. Yet, again this interpretation often rests on assumptions to compensate for the lack of detailed information about how the Leading Small Groups interact with the larger People’s Republic of China policy-making apparatus, and how the role of key leadership positions in this system have or haven’t changed under Xi. We know very little about what happens at Leading Small Group meetings or exactly how group recommendations feed into the Party and state decision-making and implementation processes. In some cases, we don’t even know the full membership of a Leading Small Group.

 

[Randy W]

on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ChinaPic/videos/1353501254775260/

 

China Pictorial on Wednesday ·

China surprises people every day. From being a terrific example globally in building a cashless economy to launching the world’s fastest bullet train, China’s list of milestones has continued to grow.
At the center of these achievements have been the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the unremitting efforts of the Chinese people. And this month, on October 18, the most important event in the political calendar is coming: the 19th CPC National Congress. Do you know what exactly do the plenary sessions involve? How many delegates will attend the 19th CPC National Congress? And how do these delegates get elected? Let’s find out

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/ChinaPic/videos/1353501254775260/

[Allon]

I think a lot of our perspective of China comes from viewing "it" as unitary -- one entity, when it really is such a multifaceted creature. We try to complete the whole, as in Gestalt theory. It makes things easier if you can make it into one entity.

 

I don't think China can be viewed that way. It is what makes "it" such a difficult thing to study and predict. It does still have that Mandarin class of bureaucrats that emperors have had to deal with for centuries. Corruption is so deep seated it is invisible. Yet, when that creativity shines through, it is all the more beautiful to behold.

 

Always interested in seeing how it turns out....

 

By the way, Randy, ExpressVPN here is quite difficult too, finding a connection that works. You wait a long time. Strangely my tablet finds one faster than my gaming desktop.