Document 9, 10 Years Later

By Jessica Batke on March 6, 2023

Ten years ago, in April 2013, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) promulgated a critical directive: its “Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere.” The document, issued by the CCP’s General Office and not intended for public distribution, enumerated seven “false ideological trends, positions, and activities” that posed a “severe challenge” and that the Party worried could lead to “major disorder.”

“Document 9,” as it would come to be called, heralded the tone of the new Xi Jinping administration. It laid bare many major themes of Xi’s tenure: a disdain for genuine, grassroots civil society; a reassertion of Party control over any and all media messaging; an insistence that the Party alone can describe and interpret history.

And, infused throughout the document, a loathing—or perhaps, a fear—of anything “Western.”

Later that fall, Mingjing Magazine, a U.S.-based Chinese-language magazine, obtained and published the full text of Document 9. ChinaFile then published a full translation in English. I read ChinaFile’s translation from my desk in the U.S. State Department, where I was a Research Analyst for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

The translation was powerful: it offered a clear and concise depiction of the CCP’s preoccupations, in English, straight from the horse’s mouth. ChinaFile had recognized the importance of this document, and, unusually, run its entire contents. And it had been translated with care, ensuring that even a reader with little background knowledge or expertise could grasp the ideological direction China was headed.

Ten years later, at the dawn of yet another Xi Jinping administration, Document 9 remains as relevant as ever. In late February, the General Office issued a notice admonishing legal theorists and educators to “firmly oppose and resist erroneous Western views of ‘constitutional government,’ ‘separation of three powers,’ and ‘independence of the judiciary.’” The struggle against intrusive Western ideologies continues apace.

Xi Jinping Says He Wants to Spread China’s Wealth More Equitably. How Likely Is That to Actually Happen?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By David Bulman, Wei Cui & more on March 3, 2023

On the eve of the “Two Sessions,” Xi Jinping’s leadership position is now secure as he embarks on a third term. But China faces severe headwinds in reviving the economy, boosting employment, and managing local government debt. In past crises, China’s leaders have tended to side with the market and with capital through supply-side subsidies, cuts in taxes and social insurance payments, and support for industry and local governments. But since 2021, Xi has repeatedly promoted a vision for the country’s future success that might run counter to those instincts: namely “common prosperity,” a framework that emphasizes reducing inequality, balanced regional development, and a healthy “spiritual and moral culture.” After Xi began invoking “common prosperity” in 2021, a rash of new regulations and fines on private capital and technology companies suggested that rhetoric was translating quickly into action. But in the 18 months since, even as it continues to be invoked, common prosperity has seemed to play a much more minor role in policymaking.

As China’s Leaders Gather in Beijing, Here’s What to Watch

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Qiheng Chen, Michelle Mengsu Chang & more on March 3, 2023

As delegates gather in Beijing for the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the annual meetings known as the “Two Sessions” that set the tone and direction of China’s governance and policy, we asked colleagues at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis what they’re watching and why. Coming on the heels of Xi Jinping’s securing of a third term atop the Chinese Communist Party, and after the various dislocations of three years of the COVID pandemic, this year’s meetings could prove especially consequential in revealing how a new crop of leaders will set priorities to address the variety of domestic and geopolitical challenges the country now faces.

Mike Gow

on March 3, 2023

Mike Gow is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Business and Management at Edge Hill University Business School. 

Gow completed his PhD in East Asian Studies at the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS) at the University of Bristol in 2013.  He was the recipient of a 5-year Master's and Doctoral scholarship from the British Inter-University China Centre (BICC), an interdisciplinary collaboration between the universities of Bristol, Manchester and Oxford established in 2006 for the advancement of China Studies in the UK. 

Gow's current research focuses on contemporary China, exploring the role of consumerism and industry in state-building projects. His research aims to understand the mobilization of the private sector in relation to superstructural reform; the role consumerism plays in both reproducing and transforming contemporary Chinese society, and how the state, civil society and the private sector combine to "create" citizens in Xi Jinping's New Era. 

Prior to joining Edge Hill University Business School, Gow held appointments at NYU Shanghai, Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University and Coventry University's School of Strategy and Leadership.

 

David Bulman

on March 3, 2023

David Bulman is the Jill McGovern and Steven Muller Assistant Professor of China Studies and International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He has two major research interests. First, economic development in China, with a focus on how political incentives and central-local relations shape local economic and governance outcomes. Second, seeking a deeper understanding of global preferences regarding economic engagement with China. His first book, Incentivized Development in China: Leaders, Governance, and Growth in China’s Counties (Cambridge) investigates the political foundations of local economic growth in China, focusing on the institutional and economic roles of county-level leaders and the career incentives that shape their behavior. Bulman was a Woodrow Wilson China Fellow for 2021-2022 and a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Public Intellectual Program fellow for 2021-2023. Prior to coming to SAIS, he was an Economist at the World Bank and a China Public Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.  His research has been funded by the World Bank, the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the SAIS China Yeung Family Scholarship.  He received his MA and PhD from Johns Hopkins SAIS and his BA in Economics from Columbia University.

Taylah Bland

on March 3, 2023

Taylah Bland is the current Schwarzman Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Center for China Analysis. She has spent the last five years living in and studying China with a specialization in international environmental law, climate, and sustainability. She holds a Master’s degree in Management Science (Global Affairs) from Tsinghua University, Beijing as a Schwarzman Scholar. Her Master’s thesis examined the relationship between China’s domestic policy and international environmental law focusing on the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol. In 2021, she graduated from New York University, Shanghai with a Bachelor of Social Science (Comparative Law) and minor in Mandarin.

Andrew Chubb

on March 3, 2023

Andrew Chubb is Foreign Policy and National Security Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, where he analyzes global views of China among citizens and foreign policy elites, along with China’s maritime and territorial disputes. Chubb is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University. A graduate of the University of Western Australia, his work examines the linkages between Chinese domestic politics and international relations. More broadly, his interests include maritime and territorial disputes, strategic communication, political propaganda, and Chinese Communist Party history. Recent publications include Chinese Nationalism and the Gray Zone: Case Analyses of Public Opinion and PRC Maritime Policy (Naval War College Press, 2021), PRC Overseas Political Activities: Risk, Reaction and the Case of Australia (Routledge and Royal United Services Institute, 2021), Rights Protection: How the UK Should Respond to the PRC’s Overseas Influence (Lau China Institute, 2022), and Dynamics of Assertiveness in the South China Sea: China, the Philippines and Vietnam, 1970-2015 (National Bureau of Asian Research, 2022).

Yujeong Yang

on March 2, 2023

Yujeong Yang is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, where she teaches Chinese politics and authoritarian politics. Her research focuses on labor politics and welfare politics in China. In her book project, she discusses how labor mobility and labor informality jointly shape China’s welfare expansion strategies. Her recent projects also examine how China’s global economic expansion influences labor dynamics and state-society relationships abroad. Born and raised in South Korea, Yang received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2018.

Inger Marie Rossing

on March 2, 2023

Inger Marie Rossing is Operations and Strategy Manager of the Center for China Analysis at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and is based in New York. She works to support and systematize the Center for China Analysis’ operations and strategic engagement.

Prior to joining ASPI, Rossing spent more than 10 years in China where she studied Chinese language, culture, and international politics. She comes with experience from the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, where she held various positions including cultural attaché. Rossing also served as Director of Finance and Operations at a China-focused non-profit organization in New York before taking on the role at ASPI.

Rossing holds an M.A. in International Politics from Peking University, a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Oslo, and a B.A. in Chinese Language and Culture from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). She is fluent in Mandarin.

Lizzi C. Lee

on March 1, 2023

Lizzi C. Lee is an economist turned journalist. She graduated from MIT’s Ph.D. program in Economics before joining the New York-based independent Chinese media outlet Wall St TV. She is currently the host of The Signal Live with Lizzi Lee, powered by The China Project, where she interviews the most knowledgeable minds on China for analysis of the ever-evolving business and technology ecosystem. She also serves as an honorary junior fellow of the Chinese Economy program at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.