China Tweets #17
Hi everyone,
Alex Davy (@whambammian), who put together China Tweets issues 4 to 17, is moving on. This is Alex's last issue, so please join me in thanking him for sifting through thousands of tweets so that you and I didn't have to.
I think there is value in keeping the China Tweets series going, so if anyone is interested in taking over the series, please get in touch.
-Adam
Party politics
Beijing and Fujian get new party secretaries:
Beijing has a new Party Secretary
— Neil Thomas 牛犇 (@neilthomas123) November 13, 2022
It's public health expert & Politburo newcomer Yin Li 尹力 (60), who was Fujian PS
Sign of Xi's preference for technocrats in provincial leadership and high political status of Xi's old power base Fujian
Yin should stay on PB for 10 yrs (1/) pic.twitter.com/Zytyryy71u
On Xi not getting everything he wanted this time around:
Very interesting piece by Katsuji Nakazawa about why #XiJinping did not succeed on everything he wanted at the #20thNPC. However, it’s likely that the changes he didn’t get through with this time will happen in five years time, when today’s party elders are no longer around. https://t.co/EKE3DXeVgl
— Marina Rudyak 卢玛丽 (@RudyakMarina) November 7, 2022
Xi visits the Central Military Commission Joint Operations Command Center:
Xi Jinping’s visit to the Central Military Commission Joint Operations Command Center reveals some potentially significant insights into how the CMC oversees operations, including nuclear warfighting and network operations. A thread: pic.twitter.com/NxlcJ1LBsi
— Rod Lee (@roderick_s_lee) November 9, 2022
Wu Xingfeng is now the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Military Commission:
友人提點是吳興豐，現在已經是軍委聯合參謀部副參謀長 https://t.co/roszXsyhF2 pic.twitter.com/fZOWf46HTh
— Mao (@Maoviews) November 8, 2022
More on the PLA's future:
2027 will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (#PLA). What does the PLA plan to achieve in 5 years? Why its centenary goals are that important to #China & how will the Chinese military fulfill them? https://t.co/xCgLwPRiUz
— Jiang Jiang (JJ) (@JiangJiang43) November 9, 2022
Can someone tell me if it is typical for the CCP General Secretary to say “全部精力向打仗聚焦” (Focus all energy on going to war/fighting a battle)?
Xi: China’s national security is increasingly unstable and uncertain; Military must focus all its energy and work on war. pic.twitter.com/U0R6NChH5z
— Yehan (@leaf_cold) November 8, 2022
Lip reading analysis reveals what Li Zhanshu said to Hu Jintao before he was escorted from the 20th Party Congress:
According to this Next Apple report, citing Japanese journalist Minemura Kenji reporting for the Yukan Fuji, lip reading analysis shows Hu Jintao being told by Li Zhanshu "Don't look at it, it's been decided" regarding the paper he was grasping forhttps://t.co/AGePuUebIM
— Brian Hioe 丘琦欣 (@brianhioe) November 9, 2022
Bao Tong, a former top Communist Party aide to late ousted Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang, has died:
One of the most significant voices for reform in China has just passed, Bao Tong, aged 90. He was a crucial figure in the 1980s, when political reform was still on the table. After that was crushed, he remained a beacon for many who want a more open China. A🧵on his life:
— Ian Johnson (@iandenisjohnson) November 9, 2022
1/ https://t.co/vD9We1Mw8n
Zhang Jingguang, former head of the Organization Department of the CCP Central Committee, passed away at the age of 91.
原中央組織部部長張全景逝世，享年91歲。張全景晚年成為傳統左派的代表性人物，他獲宋平推薦，1994年以64歲之齡擔任中組部長，當時並非中央委員或候補委員，1999年才由曾慶紅接任。 pic.twitter.com/DmqZIIHwGq
— Mao (@Maoviews) November 9, 2022
Fascinating video on the special food supply system for CCP elites:
[Video] Uncovering the #CCP's special food supply system
— Dictator Yang ☯️🐚🌻毋忘八九六四工人運動✊ -hibernating/冬眠中😴 (@Y_Wenli) November 6, 2022
(Recommend this video & this channel, esp if you don't know Mandarin. Most of his videos have English+繁體中文 cc. He's a Chinese journalist who used to work within the Party-state system. He's a...https://t.co/eIUGeZfmaE
History
Jiang Zemin with a spritely Xi Jinping in tow:
Photo of Xi Jinping accompanying Jiang Zemin on a visit to Fuzhou's Economic and Technological Development Zone (June 1994) pic.twitter.com/64FhlgG0Pg
— Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt (@jcmittelstaedt) November 9, 2022
Interesting thread on the Great Wall https://t.co/g3NEsfKH1n
— Dali L. Yang (@Dali_Yang) November 14, 2022
5,000 years of Chinese culture?
The myth of 5,000 years homogene Chinese culture
— ruediger drischel (@RudyDrischel) November 9, 2022
1 There is no and never was homogene 5,000 years old Chinese culture with ‘unified identity’. That CCP-chauvinist myth, is manyfold disapproved and with no meaning at all.
1/8 pic.twitter.com/jVx8pwnxw9
Article on Chinese Marxist Revolutionary causing a stir among avid communists. Here is some background on Wang Fanxi:
Since some socialists are dunking on one of the most rigorous Chinese Marxist revolutionaries whom probably they never read beyond this one review of his book, here’s a brief thread on Wang Fanxi (王凡西) 🧵 https://t.co/e20004ixkv pic.twitter.com/RVjMn43R4J
— promise li (@promiseli_) November 13, 2022
Photo of Hu Yaobang inspecting Wuzhou University in December 1958, when he was the head of the Communist Youth League pic.twitter.com/ostwFSMo5L
— Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt (@jcmittelstaedt) November 10, 2022
Unofficial and semi-official publications written during the Cultural Revolution:
I have been reading two books about unofficial and semi-official 1966 to 1976 cultural production. I will introduce them briefly. The first is Underground Literature of the Cultural Revolution by Yang Jian, published in 1993. It begins with a call not to write off the era... pic.twitter.com/IrXqgl9jWf
— Dylan Levi King (@dylanleviking) November 13, 2022
Workers of a moving company are watching television in their dormitory, Guangzhou, China, 1995.
— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) November 13, 2022
Photo by An Ge安哥. pic.twitter.com/6CQ6Z8SZWE
Photo of Hu Jintao meeting troops and armed police in Ningxia province in May 2000 pic.twitter.com/XDYp0UUdY9
— Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt (@jcmittelstaedt) November 11, 2022
Economy
The economy still matters to Xi Jinping. He needs growth to gird China for competition with US. Having just adjusted covid response, Beijing is now pulling back from a years-long crackdown on property to shore up growth. w/@yifanxie @caocli
— Lingling Wei 魏玲灵 (@Lingling_Wei) November 13, 2022
https://t.co/Nv77ikQkCR via @WSJ