If you are interested in Chinese politics, policy discourse and the narrative of the Communist Party of China, then this is a newsletter for you.
From my perspective, the description of China’s information and policy environment as a black box is a misnomer. Of course, there is tremendous opacity. But like any other political entity, the leadership of the Communist Party too needs to communicate priorities and policies and shape narratives among cadres, enterprises, citizenry and the world at large. This is key to its legitimacy. Therefore, the information environment is more akin to a stained-glass window: there is an effort by the Party to project a certain image, but one cannot entirely control the light that comes through.
So, this newsletter is an effort in search of that light. It provides translations, summaries and analysis of the coverage in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, every weekday. Munching through the proverbial “sawdust by the bucketful,” the goal is to identify patterns and shifts within jargon-filled texts that can potentially inform of changes related to priorities, policies and personnel.
You can read this interview with The Wire China for more on why I do this and what you can gain through the newsletter or listen to this episode of the Pekingology Podcast with Jude Blanchette.
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