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lexicon

counties 县 xiàn

Third level of the PRC’s four administrative divisions (provincial, prefectural, county, township) counties typically contain a county seat or town (a ‘county-level’ small city, or big town with administrative functions) plus satellite townships. Along with a higher military unit, the commandery (郡 jùn), counties (縣 or 县 xiàn) appear in history from 800 BC. They were for centuries the end-point of state power. A classic saying goes ‘imperial power goes no lower than the county’ (皇权不下县): the state-appointed magistrate (zhīxiàn 知县) had to rule via self-governed kinship groups or other forces.

The highest de facto authority of a county today is its Party Secretary (中共县委书记). Policies are rolled out by its People’s Government, whose head retains the traditional title of xiànzhǎng. The illustration reflects excessive concentration of powers of the Party Secretary, often a delegate of local kinship groups and hence a weakening of imperial-era governance. Waiting for the starting gun are rivals for the top job, only one of whom can win.

five strategic favourable conditions 五个战略性有利条件 wǔ gě zhànlüèxìng yǒulì tiáojiàn

Addressing the 2022 Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi identified five essential conditions for the PRC’s development, including

  • Party leadership
  • advantages due to Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
  • material base built up by extended rapid development 
  • long term social stability
  • the strength of confidence

At the height of Shanghai’s COVID outbreak, highlighting long-term social stability ‘Party thought’ vehicle Qiushi reiterated Xi’s point that development presupposes security. The base of stability, moreover, is people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security. Beijing’s triumph over COVID-19 is featured in the article as a social stability dividend, in stark contrast to ‘Western chaos’. Beijing’s zero-tolerance policy thus figures as a guarantee of long-term development and popular well-being—and is not to be relaxed.

womenomics, women’s rights, she power 她经济,她权益,她力量 tājīngjì, tāquányì, tālìliàng

Tājīngjì 她经济, used to render ‘Womenomics’, title of a 2009 book by journalists Claire Shipman and Katty Kay, was coined in 2007 by businesswoman Shi Qingqi 史清琪. It envisions a vibrant business arena for woman, not least (but not only) in beauty, childcare and cooking. Little Red Book (小红书) is among flagship e-commerce platforms targeting women users. 

‘Women’s rights’ tāquányì 她权益 became top topic of debate at the 2022 Two Sessions, where the Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Law was up for amendment. Premier Li’s Government Work Report listed gender discrimination in the workspace and domestic violence as critical hindrances to gender equality. 

‘Womenomics’ and ‘women’s rights’ contribute to ‘she power’ tālìliàng 她力量. This slogan, adapted from English, appeals to youth for whom mainstream terms like 妇女 (fùnǚ, woman/women), retain patriarchal overtones.

‘six stabilities, six guarantees’ 六稳六保 liù wěn liù bǎo

Declaring spiritual victory over economic crisis, Beijing now groups macro trends and micro impacts into two lists of six. Once separate, the two lists now consolidate the long-term requirements for ‘baseline thinking’. The ‘six stabilities’ emerged as the economy slowed and the US trade war intensified under Trump. At stake in 2018 were 

  • employment
  • financial sector
  • foreign trade
  • foreign investment
  • domestic investment
  • expectations

After Trump came COVID-19, prioritising the ‘six guarantees’. At stake in 2020 were guarantees for

  • employment
  • basic living needs
  • corporate operations
  • food and energy security
  • stable supply chains
  • normal grassroots governance

Taken together the phrases register the macro impacts of rising global tensions, but also the impacts on the real economy and on individuals brought by COVID-19:  lockdowns, supply chain and business disruption, and local government financial havoc.

cadre indolence 懒政 lǎn zhèng

Post-COVID, ‘cadre indolence’ (literally ‘lazy governance’) is a widely heard explanation for grassroots dysfunctions like ‘ratcheting up criteria’ and ‘one size fits all’, not least in pandemic prevention/control. Enacting central directives, the cadre class seem averse to activity, and indifferent, even careless in crisis. Yet the causes are structural rather than individual: credit for success travels up while blame for failure is shifted down; the grassroots have no margin for error, making inaction a rational solution.

In the cartoon, a cadre in mandarin costume dozes on his rubber stamp of office (labelled ‘lazy rule’). As supplicants on all sides thrust documents labelled ‘work’, his only output is an order to ‘do nothing’.

barrel principle 木桶原理 mùtǒng yuánlǐ

This popular policy meme is used to suggest an institution is only as robust as its weakest point. A single short stave (短板 duǎnbǎn) renders a traditional wooden barrel unable to hold as much liquid as was intended, i.e. near useless. The image shows long and short staves as ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’. 

Fond of the analogy, Xi Jinping likes to add that the base or ‘floor’ of the barrel is equally important. This works well with his ‘baseline thinking’, a theme gaining in strength in the wake of the Trump-era trade war and, above all, the COVID-19 pandemic. 

service agency 事业单位 shìyè dānwèi

Service agencies (sometimes translated as ‘public institutions’) are formally ‘social services organised by state or other agencies… using state-owned assets for the purpose of social welfare; they engage in education, culture, health and other activities.’

Products of the Mao era (1949–76) planned economy, they were attached to factories and other ‘units’, supplying skilled services of every kind from hair-styling to travel. Surviving the post-Mao reforms, they are left with ambiguous status: public-facing and market-oriented, yet included on state budgets and retiring senior staff on state welfare. Functionally classified into three categories: administrative, public service, and operating, they employ over 40 million staff, making their reform anything but straightforward. In the picture, an employee leaving the golden rice bowl of a service agency is about to join the army of ‘shrinking man’ retirees.

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