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Shi Jiangtao

Not surprisingly, the Communist Party’s much-anticipated third plenum did not end with the big bang last week, especially for those who had hoped for economic stimulus measures and groundbreaking structural reforms.
At the end of the four-day party conclave, Beijing did promise to deepen reforms in a wide range of sectors to boost the economy and root out corruption, while renewing a pledge to give the market a “decisive role” in allocating resources.
In a message clearly aimed at disgruntled foreign and Chinese investors, it also vowed to open Chinese markets wider and “create an institutional environment that is transparent, stable, and predictable”.
But the meeting’s communique released on Thursday and a detailed document published on Sunday have so far failed to spell out concrete plans about how those lofty goals can be achieved.
And the party’s growing obsession with security in the midst of economic slowdown and external challenges may have also disappointed foreign and private firms looking for meaningful changes.


Security was referred to 16 times in the 5,000-word communique, underlining yet again how Chinese leaders and officials feel besieged in the midst of the increasingly acrimonious US-China feud.
China was facing “a grave and complex international environment and the arduous tasks of advancing reform and development and ensuring stability at home”, said the communique, without mentioning the United States or its allies by name.
The plenary session came on the heels of Xi’s trip to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and the annual summit of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where the Chinese president met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the second time in two months.
One of Xi’s key messages on the trip was to “resist external interference”. China is seeking to expand its presence in the resources-rich Central Asia, Russia’s traditional backyard, and the two countries share concerns about regime stability in the face of Washington’s inroads into the region.
On a wider front, Beijing is facing an intense international backlash over its strategic pivot toward Moscow in the midst of Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, while its forceful posturing in its South China Sea dispute with Manila is also subject to close scrutiny.
That partly explained Beijing’s struggle for the balance between development and security and between the state and the market in its plenum statements.
“We must ensure both development and security,” the plenum communique said. “We will improve public opinion guidance and effectively deal with risks in the ideological domain. We will properly respond to external risks and challenges, strive to play a leading role in global governance, and actively work to foster a favourable external environment.”




Instead of heeding calls for self-reflection and self-criticism, the all-important meeting of the party’s elite Central Committee, which usually sets policy priorities for the years to come, has placed an unusually big focus on how to reshape the world order.
Echoing Xi’s ambitious messaging at the Central Conference on Foreign Affairs Work in December, the Sunday document said China would “get involved in leading the reform and development of the global governance system”.
It was rare confirmation from Beijing of its global ambitions.
Xi called on foreign policy officials and diplomats to seize “strategic opportunities” and “break new ground”, while adhering to the “fighting spirit” in the face of “bullying” and “hegemonism” from the US-led West.
While the third plenum appeared to have dialled down anti-US rhetoric, in line with the recent détente with Washington, the document said China would “enhance the mechanisms for safeguarding China’s maritime rights and interests” – a reference to its South China Sea dispute.
It also pledged that China would “actively participate in the formulation of international rules” and “establish sound coordination mechanisms for promoting security in neighbouring regions”.
In a rare admission of Beijing’s inadequacies in getting its messages across, the document vowed to restructure the country’s “international communication framework” and “move faster to develop China’s discourse and narrative systems with a view to making our international communication more effective”.
Three years ago, Xi launched a campaign to “tell China stories well” and seize global narratives in its rivalry with the US-led West, efforts he said were aimed at making more friends, not enemies.
But so far it has yet to see tangible results, as views of China around the world continue to decline and the perceived China threats galvanise many countries to side with the US on political and economic security and military issues.
While it is commendable for Beijing to set grand policy goals and moderate nationalist rhetoric, it may also need to do some soul-searching when its own efforts to create a less hostile external environment have often been hampered by its Wolf Warrior diplomacy and actions.
Its obsession with secrecy and information control has made it even harder for Beijing to come up with an effective communication strategy to dispel suspicion and hostilities.


For example, while speculation has been rife for months about when the third plenum would convene, the preparations for the meeting, led by Xi himself, officially started in November, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Monday.
The gathering also failed to shed light on the whereabouts of former foreign minister Qin Gang and the reason for his mysterious disappearance from public view for over a year.
Some analysts predicted long ago that if Beijing remained silent, the outside world may never know what happened to Qin, even if China’s reputation rested on an explanation. Unfortunately, their words may come true, which would inevitably deal a blow to the dwindling confidence about Beijing’s sincerity and ability to honour its own promises.


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China’s third plenum

Feeling besieged, security-obsessed China struggles to win friends and tell its story well

Beijing is trying to balance development and security and the state and the market. Photo: AP

China’s third plenum sees Communist Party double down on economic, tech, military power

Aims endorsed by the Communist Party’s third plenum include building a “self-controlled industrial and supply chain” with a focus on integrated chips, industrial master machines, medical equipment and advanced materials. Photo: Xinhua

China’s third plenum vows to support ‘capable’ private sector to lead tech innovation

Workers on a scaffolding install a sign that reads “commerce” on a commercial office building in Beijing. Photo: AP

Members of the Politburo Standing Committee attend the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee in Beijing. Photo: AP

Beijing trains sights on China’s vast finance sector with new anti-corruption body

Wang Weidong, 56, former anti-corruption chief in Tibet, has been announced as party secretary of the new “Central Financial Discipline Inspection and Supervision Working Commission”. Photo: Weibo/人世间一迷途小书虫

China’s Communist Party sticks to painful reform playbook to target risks and growth

Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi arrive to attend the Central Committee’s third plenary session in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

China’s leadership has stressed the need to maintain market order and correct market failures. Photo: Xinhua

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China

Diplomacy

Opinion

China Opinion

The Communist Party’s elite are battling to find a way to shore up international confidence and cope with risks


The Communist Party’s elite are battling to find a way to shore up international confidence and cope with risks.


China’s Communist Party

Communist Party politics

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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Opinion | Feeling besieged, security-obsessed China struggles to win friends and tell its story well

The Communist Party’s elite are battling to find a way to shore up international confidence and cope with risks