Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks at a news conference after the closing of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of Beijing, March 13, 2023. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
[The Epoch Times, March 14, 2023]The new team of the State Council of the Communist Party of China has been released, and Li Qiang has indeed become the prime minister. But he is the least favored prime minister after the reform and opening up of the Communist Party of China.
On March 13, when Li Qiang answered the question “What measures will China take to achieve the annual economic growth target?” at the press conference, he seemed relaxed and said: “I would like to sum up the prospects of China’s economy in eight words. , that is, ‘the wind and the waves can be broken, and the future can be expected’. I am full of confidence in this.”
Is Li Qiang really “full of confidence”? I don’t think so.
What did the Communiqué of the Second Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China released not long ago say? The international environment is “severe and complex”, the domestic reform, development and stability tasks are “daunting and arduous”, “the foundation for economic recovery is not yet solid, and various unexpected factors may occur at any time”, China has entered a period of “increasing uncertainties and unpredictable factors. Prepare to withstand the major test of high winds and even turbulent waves”, “hold the bottom line of no systemic risks”, and “resolutely safeguard national security and social stability”. It can be seen that Xi Jinping and the top leaders of the CCP are full of worries about the future. Doesn’t Li Qiang know the severity of the situation? Of course he does. The so-called “full of confidence” is actually a kind of image public relations. It is to give people a sense of confidence when he makes his first public appearance as prime minister, showing that he is capable of doing things, and he is not based on his personal relationship with Xi Jinping. On the Prime Minister’s.
But no matter how “full of confidence” Li Qiang appeared in his first public appearance as premier, people couldn’t have full confidence in him.
There is no need to compare Li Qiang with Zhao Ziyang, Zhu Rongji and Wen Jiabao, just compare him with Li Keqiang, and it is not difficult to find that Li Keqiang has his own opinions after all. His strategy of governing the country is obviously different from that of Xi Jinping. Xi wants to go back to the Mao era, while he wants to reform and open up, emphasizes the market and decentralization, and focuses on the private economy. Although Li Keqiang ultimately did not submit to Xi Jinping in terms of major policies, at least he insisted on a certain degree of independence within the scope of his ability.
Does Li Qiang have an opinion? Unrecognizable. Taking a step back, even if Li Qiang’s thinking on governing the country is different from that of Xi Jinping, will he insist on his independence as much as possible? Certainly not. Otherwise, he would not be Li Qiang, and would not be favored by Xi Jinping. And how can a person without his own opinion be a good prime minister? This one.
Second, Li Keqiang worked in the position of executive vice premier for five years before becoming prime minister, but Li Qiang has no experience working in the State Council. A person who has no work experience in the State Council has become the prime minister in one step. Can he be good?
Third, Li Keqiang has been prime minister for ten years, and the powers that the prime minister should have have been weakened by Xi Jinping. When Li Qiang took over as prime minister, his power was not strengthened, but was further weakened by a new round of institutional reforms. In other words, under the new situation of “the party is strong and the government is weak”, there is less room for Li Qiang to display himself than his predecessors. Can he be a good prime minister?
Fourth, did Li Keqiang have certain achievements when he was in power in Henan and Liaoning? Does Li Qiang have it? Li Qiang’s greatest “political achievement” is nothing more than the closure of Shanghai. If even Shanghai can’t be managed well, can he manage China’s economy well?
At the just-concluded National People’s Congress, what impressed me the most was Li Qiang’s speech at the joint group meeting of economic circles on the morning of the 6th. The whole article was less than 500 words, and Xi Jinping’s name was mentioned three times.
In his speech, Li Qiang described the past five years as “extremely unusual and extraordinary”, and praised China’s economic and social development as “major achievements that have attracted worldwide attention”.
Li Qiang then touted that this was “the result of the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and the result of the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” And don’t forget to repeat the so-called “two establishments” and “two maintenances” to show loyalty to Xi Jinping.
According to the statistics of Apollo.com reporters, this part has a total of 177 characters, more than one-third of the speech.
When talking about this year’s situation, Li Qiang mentioned Xi Jinping for the third time. He first emphasized the need to take “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as a guide” and “implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”. This part of the formula is 125 characters long.
The remaining part is “scientific and precise implementation of macro policies, highlighting the work of stabilizing growth, employment and prices”. Only 149 characters.
From this speech, we can clearly see Li Qiang’s future governance style, that is, everything revolves around Xi Jinping’s will, and he will do whatever Xi gives instructions.
At best, Li Qiang is a high-ranking henchman of Xi Jinping. Back then, he was a follower, and he is still the current one—Xi is the general secretary, and Li Qiang’s follower is the prime minister. If Li Keqiang is the weakest prime minister after the reform and opening up, then Li Qiang will probably be an even weaker prime minister than Li Keqiang; if Li Keqiang is said to be useless, then Li Qiang will be even more useless.
Is Li Qiang “strong”? Actually not strong at all!
Editor in charge: Gao Yi