Poverty Alleviation, Reflections on the Cultural Revolution, Malaria Eradication Commentary from the Web, Week 35, 2021

Poverty alleviation remains China’s philanthropic focus after eradication of extreme poverty

SupChina, August 23, 2021.

Though most private Chinese companies involved in poverty alleviation still view the poor as a socioeconomically disadvantaged group, more and more have realized the opportunity for laborers and suppliers to create mutually beneficial business opportunities.

 

Reflections on the Cultural Revolution and the Reform of China's Political System

Reading the China dream

The text translated here, Wang’s “Reflections on the Cultural Revolution and Reform of the Political System”, first published in 1986, is his first major statement on how China’s post-Mao political re-engineering should be achieved. The article has become so significant to Wang that he has revised it five times – the final time on the eve of Xi Jinping’s ascendance to the position of General Secretary. Unlike the original 1986 version, Wang’s 2012 revision places the conclusion up front:
 “A sound political system should have been able to prevent the occurrence of the Cultural Revolution, which was launched, organized, and operated outside of the scope of the constitution and the law, but the system in place at the time did not have this capacity.”
 Within the particular context of China, what Wang means by “the constitution and the law” has two separate definitions: essentially, the protection of individuals from unlimited political power, and the protection of dissenting voices within the Party from autocratic persecution and attack. In Wang’s view, the Cultural Revolution – its violence and “civil upheaval” leading to disaster – was the direct outcome of a political system that lacked the capacity to defend itself from Mao Zedong and his supporters. What could have prevented this outcome, he argues, was an external authority capable of enforcing existing laws to restrain the excesses of Mao’s dictatorship.

 

In Depth: How China Won Its 70-Year Battle With Malaria

Caixin, September 1, 2021.

Recent floods create breeding grounds fro mosquitoes, lead to fear of a resurgence of malaria, which has been eradicated after 70 years.