SinoInsight 1
On Nov. 12, Party newspaper People’s Daily published an exclusive interview with Chinese justice minister Fu Zhenghua with the title, “Developing a Good Rule of Law Environment for Private Enterprises (Taking Action to Support Private Firms).”
In the interview, Fu said that the political and legal affairs apparatus will seek to minimize the adverse impact of investigations into private companies or persons who engage in illegal activity. He added that law enforcement authorities shall not carry out disruptive investigations when there is no legal basis to do so.
Chief justice Zhou Qiang and chief procurator Zhang Jun echoed Fu Zhenghua’s points during meetings held around the same period.
OUR TAKE
1. The statements by top legal officials suggest that the CCP regime is trying to protect the private sector to keep up production activity in a period where the Chinese economy is steadily worsening.
Vice premier Liu He said in an interview on Oct. 19 that private enterprises contribute “over 50 percent of the tax revenue, over 60 percent of the GDP, over 70 percent of technological innovation, over 80 percent of urban labor employment, and over 90 percent of new employment and enterprises.”
Put another way, the CCP is trying to get out of its own way on the law enforcement front to avoid tanking the private sector and endangering regime safety.
2. The CCP has a history of slapping trumped up charges on private firms or bosses before moving in to seize private assets on the pretext of “law enforcement.”
The most prominent recent example is former Chongqing head Bo Xilai’s “Sing Red, Strike Black” campaign. Hundreds of well-known entrepreneurs found themselves arrested on corruption charges and saw their wealth confiscated. Some who did not plead guilty and hand over their assets were sentenced to death. The Bo government reportedly seized hundreds of billions of yuan through his “anti-corruption” campaign.
Most private enterprises in China are in a situation analogous to that of turkeys groomed for Thanksgiving dinner. When the CCP says that it wants to “save turkeys from the chopping board,” it is not that the Party has renounced its role as “butcher,” but rather is afraid that the stock of turkeys will be wiped out with further “slaughter.”
3. We are skeptical about the CCP’s move to protect private enterprises, including relaxing law enforcement and reducing taxes. Market confidence may be difficult to restore, and the regime will likely find itself in a deeper hole.
SinoInsight 2
State media Xinhua published a commentary praising the Boxer Rebellion and the “awakening of the national consciousness” on Nov. 13.
The commentary described the Boxers (Yihetuan, or the League of Harmony and Justice) as an “anti-imperialist patriotic movement” and lauded them for their “fearless sacrifice.” In concluding, the commentary said that the Boxers “showed the determination of the Chinese people to unite against resisting foreign aggression,” and that their story was an “inspiring page in the Chinese people’s history of resisting invasion.”
The commentary touched on how the Eight-Nation Alliance defeated the Boxers but neglected to mention that:
- The Boxer Rebellion, a civilian uprising, was originally a response to the Qing government’s refusal to enact political reforms and the suppression of the Hundred Days’ Reform movement in 1898;
- Later, the Boxers burned, pillaged, and killed in Northern China on the pretext of “supporting the Qing to annihilate the foreigners”;
- The Boxers were unable to match the Eight-Nation Alliance forces in battle, and were arguably less intense in “resisting foreign aggression” as compared to attacking the Chinese people;
- Provinces in Southeastern China did not support the Qing court in backing the Boxers in declaring war on the Eight-Nation Alliance. Instead, those provinces sent troops to suppress the Boxers.
OUR TAKE
1. The CCP’s high praise of the Boxers is uncharacteristic. While Chinese school textbooks do laud the Boxers as a mass uprising, the CCP tends to depict the Boxers in a negative light in non-official fora and propaganda because the Boxers believed in superstition.
Thus, the CCP would liken spiritual groups like Falun Gong (who believe in “truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance”) to the Boxers (a violent group of rebels) in unofficial circles to justify their persecution.
2. There is some irony in the CCP’s promotion of the Boxers.
Near the end of the Qing dynasty, the corrupt Qing court incited folk nationalism via the Boxers to challenge foreign forces.
Today, the CCP, which has purged thousands of officials for corruption and is accused of pernicious behavior by the U.S. and its allies, is appealing to nationalism to prepare the Chinese people to resist “foreign aggression” in the form of a trade war.
3. The CCP’s promotion of the Boxers suggests that it expects Sino-U.S. tensions to escalate, and is hence preparing to direct public anger outwards. However, the fact that the CCP has chosen to laud the Boxers also indicates that it has run out of options to handle the trade conflict and the increasingly unfriendly geopolitical environment.
