We are going back, way way back in time to December 2024 to learn what the Chinese Communist Party was thinking about and telling itself to do on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The Trump Tornado
We’re looking at this because of a January 27, 2024 Japan Forward commentary by Jennifer Zeng, who says:
At a meeting of the CCP’s Politburo in December 2024, Xi gave a speech titled “Overcoming the Challenges of the Trump Tornado with Great Struggle.” In this speech, Xi pointed out that Trump has two major strategic weaknesses.
[Weakness One:] Xi described Trump’s [America-First] policies as selfish and damaging to other nations, predicting backlash from allies alienated by the US’s unilateralism.
[Weakness Two:] With only four years to execute his ambitious plans, Xi predicted Trump’s administration would be hasty, creating opportunities for China to exploit.
I couldn’t find any other reports about this “Overcoming the Challenges of the Trump Tornado with Great Struggle” speech. The wording of the speech title sounds CCP enough. Zeng refers to “sources within the CCP” as the basis of her report, and I wondered whether she had spoken to these sources directly. No luck so far in contacting her to inquire.
If the report is true, it means that Xi has no idea whatever what to do in response to Trump.
Backlash from allies because of American unilateralism (in what? declining to participate in collective suicide pacts?)?
Trump has only four years max left in which to act? So he’ll be hasty? Yeah, he seems to be hasty. He’s gotten only a hundred things done in his first week, so maybe he’ll get only a million things done over the course of four years. The CCP must also be hoping that there’s nobody in the United States who is watching Trump and nobody of like mind who will succeed Trump. Who comes after Biden and Harris on the Democratic side? Will it be that person’s turn in 2028? Will the electorate cooperate?
Arrange work; do work; obey CCP
I don’t know whether Zeng’s report is true. So let’s go to another report of what happened at these CCP meetings last December. This is the Chinese Communist Party’s own report, what it says is true, of an “important speech at Central Economic Work Conference” delivered by Xi in December 2024. It is reported at english.gov.cn.
Xi conveyed much wisdom. For example:
In his speech, Xi summarized the economic work in 2024, analyzed the current economic situation and arranged the economic work for 2025.
Omigod. Why didn’t we think of that? A leader here in the U.S. could give a speech “arranging the economic work for 2025.” Then it would be all set. As it is, all the people running the businesses have to arrange the work.
There are many vintage brain-destroying nuggets in this speech. To help the reader survive, I will limit further quotation to one paragraph:
It was required at the meeting that next year, the country should continue to seek progress while maintaining stability, promote stability through progress, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, establish the new before abolishing the old, pay attention to integrated reforms, and strengthen coordination. The policy toolkit should be enriched and improved, and macro regulation should be more forward-looking, targeted and effective…. It was stressed at the meeting that it is necessary to strengthen the Party’s leadership over economic work, make it a priority to get things done, strengthen confidence, face difficulties head-on, and work hard to ensure that all decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee are fully implemented. It is a must to intensify positive incentives and stimulate the enterprising spirit.
Stimulate the enterprising spirit by strengthening the Party’s leadership over economic work. Progress, stability, stability, progress, new, old, stronger coordination, more and better macro regulation, get things done and strengthen confidence. Face difficulties head-on. And fully implement the commands of the CCP Central Committee!
Something or other must be said at these meetings, and this miracle of vapidity was the sort of thing regarded as worth preserving for posterity.
