[The Epoch Times, April 25, 2024](Reported by Epoch Times reporters Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya) From April 22 to 23, Xi Jinping, leader of the Communist Party of China, visited Chongqing and chaired a symposium on the development of the western region. Experts have expressed negative views on Xi’s repeated mention of the Western Development Initiative launched by the CCP more than 20 years ago. Li Qiang, Premier of the Communist Party of China, went to Guizhou after the meeting, emphasized the issue of poverty alleviation, and made a brief mention of the development of the western region.
According to a report from the Xinhua News Agency of the Communist Party of China on the 23rd, Xi Jinping hosted a symposium on promoting the development of the western region in Chongqing. Director of the Development and Reform Commission of the Communist Party of China Zheng Shanjie, Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee Yuan Jiajun, Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee Wang Xiaohui, Secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee Zhao Yide, Secretary of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Ma Xingrui Speak one after another.
In fact, the Chinese Communist Party proposed the “Western Development” in 1999. Previously, during Mao Zedong’s period, there was a “third-line construction” concept, and Deng Xiaoping was also accused of having a “Western Construction” strategy.
Independent commentator Cai Shenkun told The Epoch Times on April 24 that Xi Jinping’s re-investment in developing the western region at this time is also following the third-line construction that Mao Zedong played in the past. In the face of containment from the West, especially the United States, foreign investment has begun to withdraw from coastal areas. With the evacuation, coupled with the unprecedented tensions in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, Xi Jinping needs to consider the so-called deep hinterland. Once the east faces a war crisis, the west can shoulder military and industrial logistics support.
However, Cai Shenkun believes that the development of the western region itself is a false proposition, because the western region has always been a stronghold of the planned economy. Many military and defense enterprises are located in the western region, and people, money and materials are highly concentrated in the government and monopoly enterprises, which is seriously out of touch with the market economy. Neither foreign capital nor private enterprises can develop. “The so-called development of the western region in the new era is just a topic used by the central government and local governments to amuse themselves, and there is no possibility of new breakthroughs.”
Political commentator Zhong Yuan wrote an article in The Epoch Times on the 24th that the CCP has officially proposed the development of the western region for more than 20 years, but the results have been quite limited. The western development should include 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, namely Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi. Hunan Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Jiangxi Ganzhou City also implement relevant policies. Basically, they are the vast poverty-stricken areas in China, and they are also the areas where the CCP fakes poverty alleviation.
He believes that Xi Jinping is now trying to summarize the achievements of the Western Development Plan in the past five years. However, in the past five years, the Western Development Plan has been basically forgotten. He can only summarize one line of “win the battle against poverty”, which all the officials here know is false. Xi Jinping said that the western region should “develop characteristic and advantageous industries” and “emerging industries.” These requirements may be acceptable for Chongqing and Sichuan, but have little significance for other provinces.
The article also said that the CCP is seriously short of money, and the development of the western region is not the antidote to the current economic problems. Xi Jinping also talked about the “Maple Bridge Experience”, “ethnic policies” and “continuous control of illegal religious activities”. Obviously, maintaining stability is still more important than economic development.
Li Hengqing, a Chinese economist, said on X on the 23rd that a few years ago, Xi Jinping proposed that we should insist on large-scale protection and not engage in large-scale development. He also said that this is a national policy. Later, he said that policies should be implemented according to the city and the location, and no large-scale development and construction should be carried out. Nowadays, the economic downturn cannot be stopped, and government investment cannot drive GDP growth. We are reminded of Wen Jiabao’s trick: “When will we stop using our brains to govern?”
Many netizens also left messages expressing ridicule for the authorities’ renewed mention of the Western Open:
“AHK”: “Look at what they are doing in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan: returning farmland to forest for one moment, returning forest to farmland for another. Now developing the western region, and singing about environmental protection, green water and green mountains. Huh, compared with Mao Zedong, he is a different kind of person. It’s terrible to be uneducated.”
“Heizi”: “The so-called large-scale development means that officials in the west have another chance to make money.”
“Da Ao”: “Personally command and deploy the development of the western region. The western region will definitely end in ruins…”
“Kim Jong-un” said: “I think there is a reason for this. China now has overcapacity, and developing the western region can also alleviate overcapacity and keep manufacturing in China. It is better to say that this is Xi Jinping’s backup plan , to deal with the failure of the Belt and Road Initiative.”
“Josh Wen An Di”: “The effect is probably not big. Don’t forget, he asked many companies in Beijing to move to Xiongan, but they were asked to move out. Some of them were forced to move out of Beijing. The same goes for the development of the western region. In this case, companies don’t want to move anymore.”
It is worth noting that Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who just attended the Western Development Conference chaired by Xi Jinping, visited Guizhou on April 24. According to official media reports, Li Qiang talked extensively about “consolidating and expanding the results of poverty alleviation” when speaking to Guizhou officials. The official media only added two sentences at the end of the report, saying that Li Qiang hoped that Guizhou would implement the “spirit of the speech” made by Xi at the symposium on the development of the western region.
Current affairs commentator Li Linyi told The Epoch Times that the content of Li Qiang’s request for Guizhou to learn from Xi Jinping’s symposium on western development was actually placed at the end, with only one or two sentences. Guizhou itself is also a western province. Does this mean that Guizhou is marginalized in the so-called Western Development, or does Li Qiang himself not attach importance to and be optimistic about the Western Development?
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Editor in charge: Fang Xiao#
Tags: CCP reiterates plans develop western region experts pessimistic Jinping Chongqing Qiang
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