Xi Jinping speech from six years ago resurfaces to ‘send message on trade war, leadership’

BEIJING, Apr 3, 2019, SCMP. A speech delivered by Xi Jinping six years ago on how China needs to “cooperate and compete with the more advanced capitalist” countries was republished by the Communist Party’s journal on Monday, in what could be a hint of the Chinese president’s stance on the trade war with the US, reported the South China Morning Post.

While the ruling party’s flagship journal on political theory – Qiushi, or Seeking Truth – often carries speeches given by Xi, they are generally more recent addresses.

Observers said the decision to run the transcript of the speech was likely to be a direction from the top aimed at sending a message.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said it “must be a decision that’s come directly from [Xi] or his office”.

“He clearly wants to convey an important message within the party by republishing the full version of an old speech,” Wu said.

Xi gave the speech on January 5, 2013 – just months after he became general secretary of the party and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Its theme was how China could develop its “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

But the speech carried by Qiushi on Monday included a paragraph that was not in previously published versions, and it has caught the attention of observers.

In it, Xi called for his comrades to “have a sound understanding of the self-correcting ability of capitalist societies, to not underestimate the reality of the long-term advantage of Western developed countries on economic, scientific and military fronts, and to conscientiously prepare for all aspects of long-term cooperation and struggle between the two social systems”.

He also said in the speech that “for a long period to come, socialism in the primary stage must also cooperate and compete with capitalist countries armed with greater developed productivity”.

And he said China must “carefully study and learn from the civilisation achievements of capitalism, and be prepared to face the fact that people will compare the merits of Western developed countries to the shortcomings of China’s socialist development and blame us”.

Xie Maosong, an adjunct professor at the Central Party School in Beijing, noted the “blunt and candid” tone of the speech.

“[Publishing this again now] could be seen as a response to the United States’ criticism of China’s system, and communicating the Chinese leadership’s thoughts on the trade war,” Xie said.

Xi also spoke about how China should handle tough times, saying the country should “concentrate on doing our own thing, constantly strengthening our nation and improving the lives of our people – building socialism to be better than capitalism”.

China and the US are locked in a long-running trade battle that has cost billions of dollars in tariffs on both sides, and negotiations for a deal continue in Washington this week.

Speaking on the sidelines of an investment conference in Hong Kong last week, Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California, said Xi was trying to shore up support at home. “The No 1 priority for President Xi after the trade deal is to restore confidence in his leadership. He needs to assure people that his plan and his agenda are still on course,” Pei said.

“The key to it is to restore confidence among entrepreneurs, because it matters so much to the Chinese economy. Economic growth is the only legitimacy of the ruling of the Communist Party.”

Republishing the speech could also be an effort to reinforce Xi’s links with the theories of his predecessors, particularly late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

In the address, Xi quoted Deng’s assessment in 1992 that “consolidating and developing China’s socialism will take dozens of generations” – the same quote repeated by Deng’s son, Deng Pufang, in a speech in September.

Deng Pufang – the eldest son of the former Chinese leader who steered the country towards decades of economic growth – also urged Beijing to “keep a sober mind” and “know its place”, delivering a counterpoint to its increasingly ambitious foreign policy and military assertiveness.

The remarks were reminiscent of his father’s signature comment on China’s foreign policy, “hide your edge and nurture your strength” – meaning to behave humbly and never take the lead in world affairs.
In the speech republished on Monday, Xi called Deng a “great Marxist leader with breadth of vision and width of mind”, saying Deng had saved the party by not completely negating Mao Zedong because it would have negated the importance of the greater part of Chinese revolutionary history. According to Deng, Mao was “70 per cent right and 30 per cent wrong”.

Xie from the Central Party School said that “by reaffirming Deng, Xi was also trying to demonstrate his own breadth of vision and width of mind”.