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Straight-talking Xi tells it like it is: Better life for all the people
By Wang Yong |
November 16, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN plain and simple words, Xi Jinping, new leader of the Communist Party of China, said in Beijing yesterday: "Our mission is to meet the aspiration of the people for a better life."
No fancy phrases, no abstract concepts, no political jargon. Every word he said was unadorned and easily understood by a population of 1.3 billion.
Xi made the statement at a press gathering in the Great Hall of the People yesterday, shortly after he was elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC. He was also elected chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission.
He met the Chinese and foreign press with six other newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau.
In his straightforward speech, Xi put the focus on the people and what they really want.
He said: "Our people love life. They crave better education, safer jobs, more satisfactory incomes, more reliable social safety networks, better medical care, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment. They hope their children can grow better, work better and live better."
Striking a chord
These words naturally strike a chord with the general public at a time when going to school can be very competitive as educational resources are yet to be more evenly distributed between urban and rural areas; when income gaps are yet to be narrowed between the rich and the poor, coastal and inland regions; when migrant workers are often marginalized in social safety and medical care networks; when even many city dwellers cannot afford a comfortable living space due to high housing prices; and when expanding urbanization and industrialization have left and laced the earth with scars.
How to meet these aspirations? Xi said: "Happiness comes from hard work. It's our responsibility to unite and lead the whole Party and the country to ... enhance social productivity... and to embark on the solid road of common prosperity."
These are the key words: hard work, common prosperity. Which means, there's no room for laziness, corruption or prosperity for a privileged few.
But how to "unite and lead the whole Party and the country" in achieving a just and happy life for the people?
Xi said the whole Party must be vigilant against corruption and bureaucracy, among other things that have plagued some Party cadres.
"You yourself must be hard and strong enough if you want to forge iron," Xi said, borrowing a Chinese idiom, meaning the Party must be well disciplined to lead China in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
"People are the creators of history, people are the real heroes, and people are the source of our strength," Xi said. "...There's a limit to how long one can work, but there is no limit to our dedication to serve the people."
Serving the people and strengthening the Party were two responsibilities of the new leadership that Xi stressed in his speech. He first mentioned the new leadership's responsibility to the nation, a great nation with a civilization of more than 5,000 years.
In reading about the responsibilities for the nation, the people and the Party, one can see why the Communist Party of China will continue to enjoy the support of the people.
No fancy phrases, no abstract concepts, no political jargon. Every word he said was unadorned and easily understood by a population of 1.3 billion.
Xi made the statement at a press gathering in the Great Hall of the People yesterday, shortly after he was elected general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC. He was also elected chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission.
He met the Chinese and foreign press with six other newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau.
In his straightforward speech, Xi put the focus on the people and what they really want.
He said: "Our people love life. They crave better education, safer jobs, more satisfactory incomes, more reliable social safety networks, better medical care, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment. They hope their children can grow better, work better and live better."
Striking a chord
These words naturally strike a chord with the general public at a time when going to school can be very competitive as educational resources are yet to be more evenly distributed between urban and rural areas; when income gaps are yet to be narrowed between the rich and the poor, coastal and inland regions; when migrant workers are often marginalized in social safety and medical care networks; when even many city dwellers cannot afford a comfortable living space due to high housing prices; and when expanding urbanization and industrialization have left and laced the earth with scars.
How to meet these aspirations? Xi said: "Happiness comes from hard work. It's our responsibility to unite and lead the whole Party and the country to ... enhance social productivity... and to embark on the solid road of common prosperity."
These are the key words: hard work, common prosperity. Which means, there's no room for laziness, corruption or prosperity for a privileged few.
But how to "unite and lead the whole Party and the country" in achieving a just and happy life for the people?
Xi said the whole Party must be vigilant against corruption and bureaucracy, among other things that have plagued some Party cadres.
"You yourself must be hard and strong enough if you want to forge iron," Xi said, borrowing a Chinese idiom, meaning the Party must be well disciplined to lead China in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
"People are the creators of history, people are the real heroes, and people are the source of our strength," Xi said. "...There's a limit to how long one can work, but there is no limit to our dedication to serve the people."
Serving the people and strengthening the Party were two responsibilities of the new leadership that Xi stressed in his speech. He first mentioned the new leadership's responsibility to the nation, a great nation with a civilization of more than 5,000 years.
In reading about the responsibilities for the nation, the people and the Party, one can see why the Communist Party of China will continue to enjoy the support of the people.
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