[The Epoch Times, November 25, 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporters Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya) After the State Council of the Communist Party of China issued the “20 Optimizing Measures for Epidemic Prevention”, as the epidemic heats up, the epidemic prevention in various places is still chaotic. At the executive meeting of the State Council a few days ago, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang only mentioned the economy and did not mention a word about epidemic prevention. This change occurred after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China when Li Keqiang resigned from the Politburo Standing Committee and other party positions. Experts believe that this incident is unusual, or it may involve Li Keqiang’s “lying down” factor.
New changes after the 20th CPC National Congress: Li Keqiang and the State Council held a meeting to avoid epidemic prevention
On November 23, the Chinese Communist Party’s official media Xinhua News Agency reported that on the 22nd, Li Keqiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council. The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to implement a package of policy measures to stabilize the economy, stabilize employment and prices, and keep the economy operating within a reasonable range; it was decided to send a supervisory working group to the local area to promote the effective implementation of policies and measures that have been introduced in the previous period.
The Epoch Times reporter noticed that while Li Keqiang proposed a package of policies to stabilize the economy at this State Council executive meeting, he did not involve measures such as epidemic prevention and control.
Looking at the previous State Council meetings chaired by Li Keqiang, the executive meeting of the State Council chaired by him on October 26 only mentioned the implementation of a package of policies and follow-up measures to stabilize the economy, but did not mention epidemic prevention and control.
However, before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Li Keqiang presided over a special meeting of the State Council in September and an executive meeting of the State Council in August and before. The official media reported that the formulations were: “Efficiently coordinate epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, and promote economic stability. The package of policies is further effective…”
In other words, judging from the official draft, after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, “effectively coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development” quietly disappeared in Li Keqiang’s words.
At the press conference at the end of this year’s National People’s Congress, Li Keqiang announced that he would step down as prime minister at the two sessions next year. At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, who were considered to be members of the Communist Youth League, withdrew from the Standing Committee of the Politburo. This time the situation is considered to be “the Tuanpai being wiped out by the Tuanpai”. Hu Jintao, the leader of the Youth League faction and former party leader, was “sent” out of the meeting at the closing meeting of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, sparking speculation that he was dissatisfied with Hu Chunhua’s dismissal.
Zheng Xuguang: Li Keqiang did not mention that the epidemic prevention is unusual or there are two possibilities
Zheng Xuguang, a scholar in the United States, told The Epoch Times on the 25th that Li Keqiang never mentioned the four words “dynamic clearing” at the National Standing Committee, but he would mention “effectively coordinating epidemic prevention and control” and “economic and social development”. A standard Politburo caliber. Now there is not even such a cliché, and the whole article only mentions the economy and does not mention epidemic prevention, which is quite unusual. “It’s very abnormal, it’s a rather strange thing.”
He believes that there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that Li Keqiang deliberately did not mention it; the second possibility is that Li Keqiang mentioned it, but it did not fit Xi Jinping’s tone and was blocked by Xinhua News Agency. This has precedents in the past.
Zheng Xuguang said that Li Keqiang has always had opinions on the “dynamic zeroing” that Xi Jinping has constantly emphasized and insisted on. The 20 measures introduced by the State Council this time reflect his consistent views, that is, words such as “against layer-by-layer increase and oppose one-size-fits-all” are actually Li Keqiang’s words, not Xi Jinping’s words. As for the Politburo Standing Committee’s circular on October 10 that used such terms, and then released the 20 measures the next day, it should be that the Standing Committee listened to some opinions from Li Keqiang’s State Council system.
He believes that Li Keqiang should stand for the “20 Articles”. “Because the government departments are currently mainly implementing the so-called 20 regulations. Against this background, there is a large-scale increase in the epidemic situation, which is more difficult. I don’t believe that Li Keqiang (the meeting) did not mention this matter.”
Wang He: Li Keqiang’s epidemic prevention power was “laid flat” before leaving office
Regarding the fact that Li Keqiang no longer mentioned epidemic prevention and control when talking about the economy, political observer Wang He told The Epoch Times on the 25th that Li Keqiang’s actions are also normal, that is, he will lie down after the 20th National Congress.
“As the Premier of the State Council, he is already very aggrieved. It can be said that he is the most useless one since the reform and opening up.”
Wang He said that in addition to centralizing power from various political factions, Xi Jinping has also centralized a lot of power in the State Council. The institutional reform he has carried out is actually based on the party’s dominance of the government. Even Li Keqiang’s right to speak in economic affairs and social affairs is quite limited.
When the CCP established a leading group for epidemic prevention and control in early 2020, Li Keqiang was the team leader and Wang Huning was the deputy team leader. However, state media once reported that Xi Jinping “personally commanded and personally deployed” the epidemic prevention.
Wang He said that since Xi Jinping personally directs and deploys, Li Keqiang has actually been ignored in terms of epidemic prevention.
The Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of the Communist Party of China released 20 measures to optimize the prevention and control of the epidemic on November 11, but it did not prevent the epidemic prevention and control in Beijing, Guangzhou and other places from increasing. On the 21st, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council issued four more documents including the “Implementation Measures for Nucleic Acid Detection of New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control”, which further set out clear regulations on nucleic acid testing, risk area division, home isolation and health monitoring.
Wang He said that Li Keqiang believed that what he could do was almost done, so after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he deliberately separated epidemic prevention, economic stabilization and related economic measures from the much-criticized epidemic prevention.
“Anyway, Boss Xi has the final say on epidemic prevention. I won’t touch it. I have done what I can do. What else can I do? I don’t object to your (dynamically cleared) banner. I just do my best. Yes, within the joint control mechanism of the State Council system, I will give you a partial and limited correction.”
Wang He said that Li Keqiang knew that he had nothing more to do, and that he was about to retire next year, so he had to consider the reputation he left in history.
“He intentionally puts a distance between himself and the Party Central Committee. When he already belongs to the caretaker government, his job is to stabilize the economy, (because) he will not be able to shirk this no matter how much he shirks responsibility in the future. “
Wang He believes that Li Keqiang has a strong sense of economic crisis. Since the unprecedented meeting of 100,000 people held on May 25 this year to stabilize the economic market, he has continuously dispatched inspection teams and guaranteed delivery of buildings. Knowing that the entire Chinese economy is in turmoil, what kind of stall can I hand over when I go down? He knows that dynamic zeroing is the biggest disturbance factor to the economy, but he has nothing to do.
Responsible editor: Li Ling #