[Epoch Times September 07, 2021]Hello everyone, and welcome to “Current Affairs”, I am Fuyao. Today is Monday, September 6, 2021.
The focus of attention today: the black swan flying down the central axis of Tiananmen Square, a sign of the defeat of the Chinese Communist Party? Liu Hefa’s “reassurance”, targeting small and medium-sized private enterprises? Nearly 70 years later, Liu Qiangdong faces the same predicament as his great-grandfather; the Hong Kong government wants to falsely accuse more goals? The stake refused to cooperate with the submission of information; Yoshihide Suga resigned at the end of the month, and the next Prime Minister of Japan might be tough on the CCP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTIyikG-fYo
Is the black swan flying down the central axis of Tiananmen Square and is a bad omen?
First of all, let’s talk about a very popular topic on the Internet.
According to a report by the state media Beijing Daily, at about 6 am on September 5, that is, after the flag raising ceremony, a black swan suddenly flew to Beijing Tiananmen Square and just landed on the central axis of the square.
The black swan sometimes lowered its head to comb its feathers, and sometimes walked a few steps gracefully, without any intention of flying away. Its “world-famous” appearance attracted crowds of onlookers. People at the scene who used a telephoto lens to carefully shoot said that the swan’s feet do not have an ankle ring, which means that they cannot be seen artificially reared.
On the other side, the staff “immediately maintain order”, “evacuate onlookers”, and contact relevant departments.
After a while, it started to rain on the square. At around 8 in the morning, the animal protection department came to take the black swan and send it to the rescue center in Shunyi District. From 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock, the swan stayed in the square for 2 hours without taking the initiative to leave.
After the news was reported, the Internet was immediately fried.
A mainland Weibo netizen asked, “Why did the swan not go through the security check for tourists?” …” Soon, these messages were all hidden.
The Weibo platform does this because the black swan is not only a lucky bird, its “visit” is a bad sign. Many friends know a term called “black swan incident”, which generally refers to very unpredictable and unusual events that can cause negative chain reactions and even subversive effects.
Black swan events exist in various fields such as economics, politics, society, and personal life. For example, the subprime mortgage crisis, the Southeast Asian tsunami, the September 11 incident in the United States, the sinking of the Titanic, etc., all fall into this category.
On Twitter, where speech is relatively free, there are more Chinese netizens talking about this.
Someone mentioned that at the Politburo meeting on January 28 this year, Xi Jinping called for the prevention of “black swan” and “gray rhino” incidents. Recently, the CCP’s Cyberspace Administration of China has also vigorously rectified the financial self-media, prohibiting them from “singing bad news”. “China’s financial market and China’s economy.
“As soon as the voice fell, the black swan landed on Tiananmen Square. It seems that the sudden economic collapse is a matter of minutes, and the biggest uncertainty comes from Beijing and from the political center.”
Some people also think that on September 2, the Chinese Communist Party just publicly confirmed that it would establish the Beijing Stock Exchange. In the capital market, the “black swan” heralds a serious event that will lead to the collapse of stocks and bonds. They said, “(Black Swan) really picks time” and “It’s really ironic.”
Some netizens gave everyone a popular idiom called “Wild Birds Entering the Temple”. According to the dictionary explanation, the “temple” here refers to the “temple”, which is the place where the ancient emperors discussed state affairs. The whole idiom means that the wild bird broke into the temple, referring to the sign of the defeat of the country (regime).
A black swan that is so big now easily breaks through the defense line of low and slow flying objects known as “really golden” and flies on the central axis of Tiananmen Square. What does it indicate to the Chinese Communist regime?
Political commentator Zhang Tianliang pointed out in a self-media program that the CCP is indeed facing several “black swans”, such as the possible showdown of the military of various countries on the South China Sea issue, the U.S. traceability of the CCP virus (new crown virus), and China’s economic prospects. Uncertainty.
Once these crises break out, the consequences are difficult to predict.
Liu Hefa’s “Reassuring Pill” Targeting Small and Medium-Sized Private Enterprises?
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party authorities have frequently taken actions to crack down on China’s technology, education, and real estate industries by means of supervision. Just when the people of private enterprises were panicking, Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier, came out and issued a “reassuring pill.”
According to party media Xinhua News Agency, at the China International Digital Economy Expo on September 6, Liu He gave a video speech. He emphasized that we must vigorously support the development of the private economy so that it can play a greater role in stabilizing growth, stabilizing employment, adjusting structure, and promoting innovation.
Liu He said that the private economy has contributed more than 50% of tax revenue, more than 60% of GDP, more than 70% of technological innovation, more than 80% of urban employment, and more than 90% of market players. We must persist in advancing high-level opening to the outside world, and resolutely protect and protect property rights and intellectual property rights.
He also said that the policy to support the development of the private economy has not changed now and will not change in the future.
Many people can’t understand it. What Liu He said is contrary to the actual actions of the CCP. Is it because the authorities are going to stop? Can his words count?
Current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan analyzed that the authorities’ policy of “Party advancement, people retreat” is an established policy, and it will certainly not change. At present, Beijing’s main targets are large private enterprises, especially monopolistic private enterprises that are integrated with government and business and deeply involved in intra-party struggles, which are regarded by Xi Jinping as a threat. But once this kind of blow spread, the “Recommendation of the Cultural Revolution” triggered a huge impact, which created a strong resistance for him. Therefore, Liu He came forward to say this, mainly to appease private enterprises, especially small and medium-sized private enterprises.
Tang Jingyuan pointed out that at present, small and medium-sized private enterprises are not the main targets of sickle harvesting. In other words, the authorities used to sing too much with black faces and scared the audience away. Liu He is equivalent to coming out to sing red faces, holding the audience steady and not running. After all, no one will watch the show and make no money.
Liu Qiangdong faces the same dilemma as his great-grandfather and fades out of JD’s daily operations
In this way, the situation of small and medium-sized private enterprises in mainland China will not be too bad for the time being, unlike large private enterprises, which are shaking in the wind and rain.
After Xi Jinping proposed “common prosperity”, technology giants such as Alibaba and Tencent promised to make huge investments in charity.
The movement to promote “common prosperity” is no stranger to modern Chinese history. In the 1950s, the CCP launched a “public-private partnership” against ethnic entrepreneurs, forcibly purchased their corporate shares, and nationalized private property. However, these entrepreneurs donated their property but failed to improve their situation.
Now, the CCP has initiated the “Public-Private Partnership 2.0.” In this movement, can those entrepreneurs who work hard to show their loyalty escape?
In this regard, Paul Triolo, a global technology policy expert at the political risk consulting company Eurasia Group, is not optimistic. He told VOA that the result remains to be seen.
In addition to large donations, entrepreneurs also came up with another countermeasure to alleviate regulatory pressure-retreat.
After Alibaba founder Jack Ma, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, and Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng stepped down one after another, on September 6, JD.com announced the change of high-level personnel. Liu Qiangdong faded out of daily business, and at the same time, Jingdong Retail CEO Xu Lei was promoted to group president.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a JD spokesperson declined to comment on succession plans. Self-media person Tang Hao believes that Liu Qiangdong and other business leaders announced their withdrawal from the company’s daily operations. To put it bluntly, they were “being seized” and gradually handed over the company.
In 2014, when Liu Qiangdong was still in great prosperity, finance and economics writer Han Ping wrote him a book called “Young is to Live Yourself: Liu Qiangdong’s New Business Logic”. Liu Qiangdong wrote the preface himself, saying that in his grandfather’s generation, his family was still very rich. After that, the CCP engaged in a public-private partnership, and the property was gone. The family was forced to relocate to other provinces and lived a poor life in the countryside.
Also under the CCP, after just six to seventy years, Liu Qiangdong has to face the crisis his grandfather once experienced.
The Hong Kong government wants to falsely accuse more targets?Stake refuses to cooperate in submitting information
In addition to launching political campaigns in mainland China, the CCP’s suppression of Hong Kong has also become less and less scrupulous after the implementation of the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law.”
At the end of August, the National Security Office of the Hong Kong Police accused the Hong Kong Stake as a “foreign agent”, and for the first time cited the “Implementation Rules” Schedule 5 of Article 43 of the “Hong Kong Version of the National Security Law”, and required the Stake Standing Committee before September 7. Submit the personal data and financial details of all members since the establishment of the organization, as well as the data of Chinese and foreign organizations and individuals that have contacted them.
The full name of the Stake Association is “Hong Kong Citizens Support Patriotic Democratic Movement Federation”. It has supported the democratic movement in mainland China since the June 4th Movement in 1989. They also actively participated in resistance activities in the anti-send movement in 2019.
On the 5th, the stake held a press conference. Zou Xingtong, the vice chairman of the barrister, said that they refused to hand over any materials, and the Standing Committee members were prepared to bear criminal responsibility for this.
Zou Xingtong strongly denies that they are so-called “foreign agents.” She criticized that the police did not mention any grounds for the accusation in the letter, did not specify the crime involved, and even the stake “could not tell which country or organization it represented.” Such an approach is groundless, abusive, and unreasonable.
Zou Xingtong also emphasized that the Stake’s refusal to provide information to the National Security Office is “the minimum protection for members and supporters.” The police put civil society in fear, but the stake will not help spread the fear.
Zhong Jianhua, the deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Institute of Public Opinion, told Radio Free Asia that the current approach of the authorities is to first have a purge target and then think about what regulations are available. This is a political operation and there may be three purposes.
One is to see if you can falsely accuse the stake; second, to intimidate everyone not to donate money to these groups, because you have a record of your donation, which can be found and held accountable. Doing so can cause a chilling effect in society; third, The Hong Kong government wants to use information to find clues or other evidence to falsely accuse others who want to falsely accuse.
Regarding the Stake’s refusal to cooperate, the Hong Kong Security Bureau warned them to “stop the horse from the cliff.”
Yoshihide Suga resigns as the next prime minister of Japan at the end of the month or is tough on the CCP
Next, let’s quickly focus on an international news.
On September 3, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that he would not stand for election as the next party president. This means that he will resign as prime minister at the end of September, and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will elect a new leader to take over as prime minister.
As soon as the news came out, the outside world began to count the candidates for the new prime minister, and the attitude of these candidates towards the CCP was even more concerned.
On the 6th, the Wall Street Journal wrote that the main candidates include two former foreign ministers: 64-year-old Fumio Kishida and 58-year-old Taro Kono. Both of them have made tough remarks against the CCP.
For example, Fumio Kishida stated in a policy document this year that Japan needs to project power against China (the CCP) and deter China (the CCP) from aggressive actions. He said that Japan should possess missiles in order to be able to destroy its missile launch sites before enemy missiles attack Japan.
Another candidate, Taro Kono, often emphasized that Japanese military planes should be dispatched urgently to stop CCP fighters operating near Japan; he was also one of the first senior government officials who often referred to China (the CCP) as a threat.
The “Hua Ri” report pointed out that the CCP’s suppression of Hong Kong and the US measures against China’s economic influence have made Tokyo more firmly committed to the Japan-US alliance, while suppressing the voice of the Liberal Democratic Party’s doves against China.
Wang Hongren, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, also said that Washington and Tokyo have been pursuing vague policies on the Taiwan Strait, but now the policies have gradually become clear. This is to send a clear deterrent signal to China (the CCP).
Okay, let’s stop here today. We will see or leave for the next episode.
“Current Affairs” Production Team
Editor in charge: Li Hao #
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