Read on Twitter
(1/x) China& #39;s national legislative session (两会) starts today. First: opening of CPPCC (Chinese People& #39;s Political Consultative Conference)
This is front page of top Party mouthpiece @PDChina from day after same event *LAST YEAR* (3/4/2019).
Compare this to tomorrow& #39;s version.
This is front page of top Party mouthpiece @PDChina from day after same event *LAST YEAR* (3/4/2019).
Compare this to tomorrow& #39;s version.
(2/x) Note a few things about this photo.
First, that& #39;s a group photo of Xi Jinping & 5 other Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) members, plus Wang Qishan (who *isn& #39;t* a PBSC member)
Second, that& #39;s a standalone photo of Wang Yang, the seventh PBSC member, and CPPCC chairman.
First, that& #39;s a group photo of Xi Jinping & 5 other Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) members, plus Wang Qishan (who *isn& #39;t* a PBSC member)
Second, that& #39;s a standalone photo of Wang Yang, the seventh PBSC member, and CPPCC chairman.
(3/x) In other words, that front page depicts China& #39;s top leaders - they& #39;re all there.
Now let& #39;s think how they& #39;re lined up, and what signals those might send to any halfway saavy mid-level Chinese bureaucrat or an ordinary citizen with a eye for political trends.
Now let& #39;s think how they& #39;re lined up, and what signals those might send to any halfway saavy mid-level Chinese bureaucrat or an ordinary citizen with a eye for political trends.
(4/x) In the group shot, Xi Jinping is at the center. Obvious since he& #39;s #1 - Party general secretary.
You& #39;ve also got the interesting choice to include Wang as well - signaling the outsized role that (as Xi& #39;s close ally) plays, notwithstanding his lack of a formal PBSC role.
You& #39;ve also got the interesting choice to include Wang as well - signaling the outsized role that (as Xi& #39;s close ally) plays, notwithstanding his lack of a formal PBSC role.
(5/x) But then you& #39;ve also got the big picture of Wang Yang too - much larger than those of other individual leaders in the group shot.
Sure, that seems obvious - this is a story about the opening of the CPPCC, and Wang Yang is chairman. So his picture should be bigger, right?
Sure, that seems obvious - this is a story about the opening of the CPPCC, and Wang Yang is chairman. So his picture should be bigger, right?
(6/x) But - at least to my mind - that arrangement also reflects a clear set of political signals & choices as well.
This kind of photo represents at least a partial genuflection in the direction of China& #39;s Party/state institutions.
This kind of photo represents at least a partial genuflection in the direction of China& #39;s Party/state institutions.
(7/x) Even if Xi was *far* more powerful than other leaders when that photo was taken (2019), political norms of the time still dictated giving some face to:
a) the formal *positions* held by leaders (i.e., Wang Yang& #39;s role as CPPCC chairman)
b) the collective role of the PBSC
a) the formal *positions* held by leaders (i.e., Wang Yang& #39;s role as CPPCC chairman)
b) the collective role of the PBSC
(8/x) And that& #39;s why watching the parallel 2020 photos + arrangement that come out on the front page of the @PDChina over the next couple days will be so interesting and important.
Those will be very visual political signals as to whether - and how far - that is changing.
Those will be very visual political signals as to whether - and how far - that is changing.
(9/x) Needless to say, if you wake up tomorrow and find the @PDChina& #39;s front page is an ultra-massive photo of Xi with a glowing sun-like aura around him, it won& #39;t even requiring deciphering - it will hit you over the head like a load of bricks.
Not that I& #39;m *expecting* that...
Not that I& #39;m *expecting* that...
(10/x) Here we go! Side-by-side comparison of corresponding 2019 (l) & 2020 (r) @PDChina layouts re: CPPCC opening. Nearly identical.
Note: Photo of Wang Yang marks only 2nd time in 2020 such a standalone photo of a top leader other than Xi has appeared on @PDChina front page.
Note: Photo of Wang Yang marks only 2nd time in 2020 such a standalone photo of a top leader other than Xi has appeared on @PDChina front page.
(11/x) What to make of that? I& #39;m with @niubi that Xi receiving the Maoist 人民领袖 designation in Dec. 2019 was big. One of the key questions in China& #39;s domestic politics going forward is: how far does China shift towards a system more purely focused on a single man?
(12/x) But a photo like this suggests to me that even if that& #39;s the direction that China is moving in, it isn& #39;t *already* there.
There has to be at least *some* institutional resistance (or at least inertia) operating against such a move.
There has to be at least *some* institutional resistance (or at least inertia) operating against such a move.
(13/x) Is it on part of Xi himself, preferring to have other Party leaders on hook along with him amid pressing economic & social challenges?
Is it resistance from other Party leaders who recognize risks (not least to themselves) associated w/reviving Maoist political practices?
Is it resistance from other Party leaders who recognize risks (not least to themselves) associated w/reviving Maoist political practices?
(14/x) Is it just bureaucratic inertia (this is photo we used in 2019, so we& #39;ll repeat it and add masks)? Don& #39;t know.
(15/x) But my gut tells me that photos like this + on-off use of 人民领袖 that @niubi has flagged in his excellent Sinocism newsletter are surface manifestations of a complex back-and-forth over a core political issue in China:
rule of single man vs rule by bureaucratic system.
rule of single man vs rule by bureaucratic system.
(16/x) Just for anyone who is *really* interested in this, here& #39;s the 2019 @PDChina front page to compare with tomorrow& #39;s version - i.e., the day after opening of the National People& #39;s Congress (which this year, opens today).
(17/x) Side-by-side comparison of 2019 (l) & 2020 (r) People& #39;s Daily front page on the opening of China& #39;s National People& #39;s Congress.
Whatever black-box-politics are playing out in Beijing right now don& #39;t seem to be altering basic default layout of the Party& #39;s mouthpiece at all.
Whatever black-box-politics are playing out in Beijing right now don& #39;t seem to be altering basic default layout of the Party& #39;s mouthpiece at all.
(18/x) Comparing 2019 & 2020 @PDChina coverage gets more difficult from here, b/c 2020 两会 schedule is shorter. But these seem to be relevant pages to compare. 2019 (l), 2020 (today) (r).
Layout similar. But Xi *dominates* in text. Will explain below for non-Chinese readers.
Layout similar. But Xi *dominates* in text. Will explain below for non-Chinese readers.
(19/x) Visually, the layout is similar - focus on group meeting w/Xi at the center.
But note difference. Both headline & content of the 2019 article focus on doings of ALL 7 PBSC members.
Not so in 2020 - only Xi (plus/Wang Yang merely 参加看望和讨论).
But note difference. Both headline & content of the 2019 article focus on doings of ALL 7 PBSC members.
Not so in 2020 - only Xi (plus/Wang Yang merely 参加看望和讨论).
(20/x) This slow mutation of Party propaganda is definitely worth watching - it& #39;s how you can imagine the trappings of China& #39;s collective leadership steadily fading further in favor of a more Xi-centric portrayal - consistent w/"People& #39;s Leader" designation @niubi has flagged.
(21/x) Yet again! Watch and see China& #39;s other top leaders disappear from @PDChina front page.
These two days - 2019 (l), 2020 (r) - reflect days in which PBSC committee members attended break-out sessions with individual provincial delegations.
Can you spot the differences?
These two days - 2019 (l), 2020 (r) - reflect days in which PBSC committee members attended break-out sessions with individual provincial delegations.
Can you spot the differences?
(22/x) Back in 2019, 5 of the PBSC members (including Xi) attending delegations had their names listed on front page, and were EACH discussed in text.
Not so in 2020. Only Xi. It& #39;s *all* Xi. Both in headline *and* in text.
Not so in 2020. Only Xi. It& #39;s *all* Xi. Both in headline *and* in text.
