China: Political Infighting on Display as Chinese Leader and Premier Give Conflicting Comments on State of Economy
Epoch Times ^ | 06/12/2020 | Nicole Hao
Posted on 6/12/2020, 11:33:34 AM by SeekAndFind
During a recent inspection tour of villages in the region of Ningxia, Chinese leader Xi Jinping emphasized his goal for China to become “a moderately prosperous society.” This catchphrase was coined soon after he took power in 2012, and is his flagship economic policy.
Xi also penned a May 31 article in Qiushi, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s official magazine, that China is advancing toward achieving that goal, with “400 million people in the middle class.”
His standard for middle class was: an annual household income of 100,000 to 500,000 yuan ($14,160-$70,810). But in China, multi-generational households living under one roof are not uncommon.
Meanwhile, Chinese premier Li Keqiang has recently highlighted the unemployment and poverty crisis in the country, which have been exacerbated by the CCP virus pandemic.
Li said during a meeting of China’s rubber-stamp legislature on May 28 that 600 million Chinese only earn 1,000 yuan ($140) per month, which is not enough to pay for monthly rent on a one-bedroom apartment in a mid-sized Chinese city.
Li then promoted the idea of setting up a “street vendor economy” to alleviate the rising unemployment as a result of the pandemic.
On June 1, Li again said at an economic seminar in Qingdao city: “The challenges that [China] is facing is unprecedentedly difficult.” Li emphasized that hundreds of millions of Chinese people need financial support.
After Li’s speeches, state-run media first promoted the street vendor economy, but began running articles criticizing the idea on June 5.
Since then, each provincial and city government delivered conflicting information on whether or not street vendors would be allowed to sell their wares.
Observers have interpreted the openly contradictory messaging of late as an indication of the power struggle between Xi’s political faction and Li’s.
(Excerpt) Read more at theepochtimes.com
In a so-called one party state, the factions are often more antagonistic towards each other than parties in a two- or multi-partied state. There is just an illusion of unity, at least internally.