A giant screen shows Communist Party President Xi Jinping attending the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The phrase “the greatest of nations” was suddenly introduced last year by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and president of the CPC. The Communist Party’s official media, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, then launched a campaign of interpretation and propaganda. On March 19, the China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Daily published an article proposing an alternative interpretation of the phrase “the greatest of nations. These interpretations and propaganda have served as a window for observers to observe the political situation in China today.
The “Greatest of States” is confusing and unsettling
According to Xinhua, the Communist Party’s authoritative press and propaganda agency, during a visit to Shaanxi in April 2020, Communist Party leader Xi Jinping referred to “the great man of the state” when discussing the ecological problems of the Qinling Mountains; since then, “the great man of the state” has become Since then, “the country’s greatest” has become a “high-frequency word. However, despite a great deal of propaganda on the phrase, the CCP propaganda department has not explained whether the phrase “the greatest of nations” has any origin, or whether it is Xi Jinping’s own creation. If it is Xi’s, why did he create such a phrase in what appears to be literary language? So far, the CCP propaganda department and Xi himself have been evasive on these questions.
The sudden appearance of the phrase “the greatest of nations” through Xi Jinping’s mouth has confused many, and on March 12, the official Xinhua website published a commentary: “Finding the right coordinates for progress in ‘the greatest of nations'”, seemingly indirectly acknowledging that Xi’s words are “the greatest of nations. “, which seems to be an indirect acknowledgement of this confusion.
Earlier, on Jan. 7, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting attended by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Official CCP media reported, “The meeting stressed …… We should be mindful of the overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the world’s unprecedented changes, firmly grasp the “greatness of the country”, anchor the grand blueprint drawn up by the Party Central Committee, view the big picture, plan the overall situation, grasp the big things, adhere to the bottom line thinking, maintain strategic determination, take charge and enhance the spirit of struggle ……. “
On March 10, at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which many Chinese call the “political vase” of the Communist Party, Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, delivered a speech in which he offered an explanation of the “greatness of the state”. The “Greatest of States” is the one who is responsible for the heavy burden. Standing at the key point of the historical intersection of the “two hundred years” goal, the mission calls and the responsibility is on our shoulders. We must unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.
The propaganda of “the great man of the country” continues in the official media of the Communist Party of China, and on March 19, the China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Daily published an article with another interpretation of the so-called “great man of the country”. The article said: “We should be guided by Xi Jinping’s thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, fully implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, follow up the study and implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches and instructions and instructions, have the ‘greatness of the country’ in mind, the big picture of the country, the big importance of the country, the big issues of the country, the big plan of the country He has a clear understanding of the overall situation of the country, the major importance of the country, and the major plans of the country, and is always highly consistent with the Party Central Committee.”
Up to now, the official media of the CPC under the control of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have been silent about what the expression “the great man of the country” means, its origin or creation process and its thinking.
Wei Jingsheng: Showing the War Wolf Posture to the Outside World
Wei Jingsheng, a veteran Chinese human rights and democracy activist, told VOA that the so-called “Greatest of Nations” may have been made up by Xi Jinping, who has only an elementary school Education and a penchant for showing off his knowledge, or by his propaganda team to compliment him. What it really means can be gleaned from the words and actions of Xi Jinping, who has taken control of China’s party, government and military in recent years.
Wei Jingsheng said, “‘The Greatest of States’ shows a mindset. In recent years Xi Jinping has been displaying this mentality, which is, we are very powerful, we are big, we can bully others; if you make me feel a little bad, I will not let you export beef to me from Australia, I will not let you export barley to me, etc.; I can fix you anytime and anywhere, and there is nothing you can do. You see, the European countries have bowed to us; you were called the great powers, but now you bow to us.”
Wei Jingsheng went on to point out that since Xi Jinping came to power, especially in the past two years, under Xi’s leadership, war-wolf diplomacy has become China’s characteristic diplomacy, with the CCP Foreign Ministry and ambassadors abroad scrambling to show the international community the war-wolf posture.
Official CCP media reported that Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, and Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister, held a high-level strategic dialogue between China and the United States with Secretary of State Blinken and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Sullivan in Anchorage on March 18, U.S. local Time; Yang Jiechi stated China’s position in his opening remarks of the high-level strategic dialogue: We hope this Yang Jiechi stressed that the United States is not qualified to speak to China from a high position, and the Chinese will not accept this.
However, the official Chinese media did not report how the U.S. side spoke condescendingly to China in the first high-level strategic dialogue between the U.S. and China since the Biden administration took office.
“The Greatest of the Greats
“The Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, Xinhua, earlier published an article titled “The Greatest of States,” why did Xi Jinping mention this word so many times? .
The article said: the “country of the great” have a clear mind, first of all, we must have a big picture, that is, “do not fear the floating clouds to cover the eyes”; “more big calculations, calculate the big account, less small calculations, calculate the small account”; “big” and “big” and “big” to “calculate the small account. ; “big” and “small” dialectic, Xi Jinping in the opening ceremony of the youth class spoke very clearly. The “big man of the country” is to consciously speak politics and constantly improve political judgment, political comprehension and political execution.”
Xinhua did not explain exactly what Xi Jinping meant by playing a big game, calculating a big account, playing a small game, or calculating a small account, nor did it say clearly and directly what exactly “the greatest of nations” meant.
Jin Zhong, editor-in-chief of Open.com, a longtime China news magazine, offered his interpretation of “the great of the state” based on the official Chinese Communist Party media: “‘The great of the state’ means the big issues in the middle of the country. That’s it in a nutshell. My understanding is that he repeatedly emphasized the need for the whole country, the whole party, the whole army, cadres at all levels, and staff in all aspects to keep an eye on what’s going on in the central government.”
According to the Chinese lexicon, “the great of the nation” can be interpreted in several ways, including the great of the nations, the great of the nation, or the boss of the nation. After the sudden emergence of the phrase “the great of nations,” the Communist Party-controlled media seemed to be mostly leading the Chinese public and outsiders to understand “the great of nations” as the great of nations or the great of nations. But observers have noted that the CCP-controlled media are also leading people to understand “the great of nations” as the boss of the nation, i.e., Xi Jinping is the boss of China above all others.
On December 29, 2020, an article published on the website of the CPC Central Committee’s theoretical journal, Quye, under the byline “Notes,” said, “The general secretary especially stressed that party committees and leading cadres at all levels should be consciously political, and must have a clear understanding of what is important to the country, and should always pay attention to what the Party Central Committee is We must always pay attention to what the Party Central Committee is concerned about and what it emphasizes, deeply understand what is the most important interest of the Party and the country, what is the most important position to firmly uphold, to physically implement the ‘four consciousness’, ‘four self-confidence’, ‘two maintenance ‘, and not just stay on slogans.”
The four consciousnesses propagated by the CPC today are “political consciousness, awareness of the overall situation, core consciousness, and awareness of alignment”; the four self-confidences are “confidence in the road, theory, system, and Culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics”; the two safeguards are “resolutely maintain the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the Party as a whole, and resolutely maintain the authority and centralized leadership of the Party Central Committee”.
With such a context, everything is clear, according to Jin Zhong. He said, “‘The great one of the country’ is who is the biggest in the middle of this country, right? Then of course Xi is the biggest, that is Xi Jinping is the biggest. You see he encompasses the leader of the party (General Secretary), the president of the state, the chairman of the military commission (military supreme commander). That is, the great power of the party, government and military is in his hands alone, and all the others are dimly lit retainers and attendants.”
The Other Side of “The Greatest of States”
Observers have noted that Xi has spared no effort in reining in power since he took power in November 2012. Not only is he the head of the Communist Party, the president of the Communist Party, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, the commander-in-chief of the Chinese armed forces, but he also heads seven committees that override the Communist Party and Chinese government structure, namely the Committee for the Rule of Law, the Audit Committee, the Committee for Deepening Reform, the Network Committee, the Financial Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the National Security Committee.
Now, Xi Jinping has introduced the title of the so-called “Greatest of States”, which seems to make his power reach the peak. But Jin Zhong, editor-in-chief of Open.com, believes there may be another side to the story. He said, “I think the opposite side of the story is that there are people in the party and the military who don’t recognize him as the greatest, or who kind of despise him for pretending.”
Kim Jong’s view mirrors that of many observers inside and outside China. Many inside and outside the Communist Party consider Xi’s record from local to central government to be lackluster and his reputation poor. At the 15th National Congress of the CCP in September 1997, Xi Jinping ranked dead last among the 151 alternate members of the Central Committee in order of the number of votes they received.
By “despising his posturing,” Jin Zhong means that Xi, who holds a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University, has drawn suspicion and ridicule from some people for his book lists during visits to Western countries since he ascended to power in 2012. At the same time, he frequently mispronounced words in his public speeches, such as “Tong Shang Kuan Nong” as “Tong Shang Kuan Yi” and “support the elderly” as “This has frequently forced the Communist Party’s Internet opinion control department to take emergency measures to delete netizens’ comments.
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