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10/25/2007
Hu Jintao
President Hu Jintao addressed the 17th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China (CPC) on Oct. 15. Following are
some highlights on topics important to both the Chinese people
and the U.S.
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Conservation
China will promote a conservation culture while moving to build
a moderately prosperous society in all respects, said Hu, which
as China Daily notes “is believed to be the first time that China
called for conservation in a keynote political document.”
“(We will) promote a conservation culture by basically forming
an energy- and resource-efficient and environment-friendly
structure of industries, pattern of growth and mode of
consumption.
“Awareness of conservation will be firmly established in the
whole of society.”
Hu added that China will considerably increase the proportion of
renewable energy sources in total energy consumption, bring the
discharge of major pollutants under effective control and notably
improve ecological and environmental quality.
Hu said China’s economic growth is realized at an excessively
high cost of resources and the environment.
“We must give prominence to building a resource-conserving,
environment-friendly society in our strategy for industrialization
and modernization and get every organization and family to act
accordingly.”
A report released last month by the national environment
watchdog said China’s overall environmental situation is still
“serious” with frequent pollution accidents affecting the quality
of life for many people. Last year, 842 pollution accidents were
reported, including 482 water pollution cases, 232 air pollution
cases, 45 cases caused by solid waste, 10 in the ocean and six
involving noise and vibration damage.
The Chinese mainland saw the discharges of sulfur dioxide in
2006 reach 25.89 million tons.
In September last year, two chemical plants in central China’s
Hunan Province illegally discharged a highly toxic arsenic
compound into a tributary of China’s second largest freshwater
lake, Dongting Lake, leading to the suspension of water supplies
to at least 80,000 local residents for a week.
And a severe algae outbreak in Taihu Lake rendered tap water
undrinkable for a week for half of the 2.3 million residents in
Wuxi, a city in eastern Jiangsu Province.
Building a Harmonious World
[This is a common theme of Hu’s.]
“We maintain that the people of all countries should join hands
and strive to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and
common prosperity.”
Peace and development remain the main themes of the present
era, and pursuit of peace, development and cooperation has
become an irresistible trend of the times.
At the same time, the world remains far from tranquil and world
peace and development faces many difficulties and challenges,
Hu said.
Sharing opportunities for development and rising to challenges
together so as to further the cause of peace and development of
humanity is the fundamental interest of the people of all
countries, Hu said.
To this end, Hu proposed that all countries uphold the purposes
and principles of the United Nations Charter, observe
international law and universally recognized norms of
international relations, and promote democracy, harmony,
collaboration and win-win solutions in international relations.
--Politically, all countries should respect each other and conduct
consultations on an equal footing in a common endeavor to
promote democracy in international relations.
--Economically, they should cooperate with each other, draw on
each other’s strengths and work together to advance economic
globalization in the direction of balanced development, shared
benefits and win-win progress.
--Culturally, they should learn from each other in the spirit of
seeking common ground while shelving differences, respect the
diversity of the world, and make joint efforts to advance human
civilization.
--In the area of security, they should trust each other, strengthen
cooperation, settle international disputes by peaceful means
rather than by war, and work together to safeguard peace and
stability in the world.
--On environmental issues, they should assist and cooperate with
each other in conservation efforts to take good care of the Earth,
the only home of human beings.
Pointing out that China cannot develop in isolation from the rest
of the world, nor can the world enjoy prosperity and stability
without China. Hu said “China will never seek benefits for itself
at the expense of other countries or shift its troubles onto others.”
[Ed. what a total crock of sewage the above is.]
China’s military
With the completion of reducing 200,000 troops, China is to
speed up the pace of modernizing its armed forces in the next
five years and more, for self-defense and maintaining world
peace.
“We must implement the military strategy for the new period,
accelerate the revolution in military affairs with Chinese
characteristics, ensure military preparedness, and enhance the
military’s capability to respond to various security threats and
accomplish diverse military tasks.
“We are determined to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security
and territorial integrity and make contributions to maintaining
world peace.
“Bearing in mind the overall strategic interests of national
security and development, we must take both economic
development and national defense into consideration and make
our country prosperous and our armed forces powerful while
building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.”
To attain the strategic objective of building computerized armed
forces and winning IT-based warfare, Hu said China will
accelerate the composite development of mechanization and
computerization, carry out military training under IT-based
conditions, intensify our efforts to train a new type of high-
caliber military personnel in large numbers and change the mode
of generating combat capabilities.
China will “enhance our capacity for independent innovation in
R&D of weapons and equipment with better quality and cost-
effectiveness.”
Corruption
The CPC bears zero tolerance to corruption and the crackdown
on it must be effectively strengthened.
“The CPC never tolerates corruption or any other negative
phenomena,” said Hu, stressing that “resolutely punishing and
effectively preventing corruption is crucial to the popular support
for the Party and its survival.”
Statistics show that more than 110,000 Party members were
punished in 2005. The number being punished dropped to
90,000 last year.
Source: Chinadaily.com
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Well, I just laid out some of Hu Jintao’s agenda in addressing the
challenges facing his nation. The above is what the Chinese
people hear all the time, but particularly in terms of the
environment Hu’s words are nothing but a bunch of bull. And
militarily, China is a growing threat in the Pacific as it rapidly
modernizes its forces, particularly its naval capabilities. The
U.S. needs to continue to approach its relationshp with China
with its eyes wide open.
Hot Spots will return next week.
Brian Trumbore
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