[The Epoch Times, August 22, 2022]Recently, China’s “drought in the south and flood in the north” has been severely affected. The city of Chongqing, which has suffered from continuous high temperature and severe drought, has also suffered disasters such as wildfires and epidemics. The Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources of the Communist Party of China went to Chongqing for investigation. Chongqing party secretary Chen Min’er faces a test ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
At 12:00 on August 19, the water level of the Cuntan of the Yangtze River in Chongqing dropped to 162.53 meters in August, which was originally the flood season, which is almost the lowest level in history for the same period.
On August 18, the highest temperature ever recorded in Chongqing was 45°C. According to the Beibei District Meteorological Observatory, Chongqing has maintained an extremely high temperature of over 40°C for 11 consecutive days.
In the evening of the same day, the mountain fire in the Jiangbei Street of Fuling, Chongqing, which had been extinguished, reignited, and the fire line spread along the mountain. The video showed that the entire mountain was on fire, illuminating the surface of the river red.
In mid-August, due to the fall of the water level of the Yangtze River, the Foyeliang Island Reef, which has been submerged in the river for a long time in Banan District, Chongqing, emerged from the water. There are 3 cliff stone carvings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties on the island reef 600 years ago.
The “Economic Observer” reported that a number of people in Chengdu confirmed that they have been working from home since August 15, because the work unit restricted electricity consumption and turned off air conditioning and lighting.
The continuous high temperature and drought have caused the farmland in Chongqing to crack long ago, and food crops in most districts and counties have been seriously affected.
On August 20, Chen Miner, secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, said in a teleconference on drought relief and epidemic prevention and control that the current drought, disaster, and epidemic situation in Chongqing are superimposed, and the situation is severe and complicated. “Chongqing Daily” has also published several reports recently, promoting Chen Min’er and others to hold symposiums, and to conduct investigations in some districts and counties in Chongqing, all for the purpose of fighting drought and disaster relief.
Does the drought in Chongqing make Chen Min’er face a test before the “Twenty National Congress”?
Current affairs commentator Yue Shan believes that this high temperature and drought will involve many provinces, and will be regarded as natural disasters regardless of the official definition or the people (of course, from the perspective of Chinese tradition, the origin of disasters is related to those in power). To investigate the legacy of the Three Gorges Project, but this is not Chen Miner’s problem. Therefore, this drought is different from the secondary disasters caused by the resettlement of epidemic prevention and the implementation of lockdowns, as well as economic regression and public grievances. Whether it is Chen Miner or officials from other relevant provinces, there should be no pressure on being held accountable. It’s a big deal, and the rest is the question of whether the disaster relief measures are effective. Yue Shan believes that it is not enough to say that it will affect Chen Miner’s “20th National Congress” career, but it cannot be ruled out that the anti-Xi forces will still find ways to attack him.
Yue Shan said that Chen Min’er was very high-profile in the past, and was even considered to be Xi’s successor, but in the wave of loyalty before the “Twenty National Congress”, it was rather low-key. On the one hand, it is because Xi Jinping is going to be re-elected, and Chen Miner has no chance to succeed him; the other possibility is that he is still expected to become a permanent member, so he adopts a low-key approach to reduce the chance of being attacked by anti-Xi forces.
Yue Shan said that infighting at the top of the CCP has always been fierce, and there have been many overt and covert attacks on Chen Miner within the CCP. For example, on July 13, 2020, mainland media exposed a video of Dushan County in Guizhou building a bunch of unfinished buildings with 40 billion RMB in the past. It can be publicly circulated in the mainland, and there are people behind it who want to attack Chen Miner.
Responsible editor: Fang Ming