MCLC: decoding the third plenum

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: decoding the third plenum
***********************************************************

Source: Sinosphere Blog, NYT (11/25/13):
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/courses-offer-help-in-decodi
ng-the-third-plenum/

Courses Offer Help in Decoding the Third Plenum
By ADAM CENTURY 

Having trouble deciphering the Chinese Communist Party’s recently unveiled
Third Plenum reform plan? You’re not alone.

Cram courses on the 21,000-character document —  bearing the eye-catching
title “Decisions on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening
Reform” — have been springing up across China and garnering widespread
media attention 
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-11/23/c_118261852.htm> for their
hefty admission prices.

Both private institutes and public universities, including the prestigious
Peking University, are getting in on the action, all promising to help
attendees better understand the economic and social changes that are
abstrusely outlined in the plenum decisions. A one-day course at the
Beijing-based consultancy China Finance City costs a steep 8,800 renminbi,
about $1,440.

“Everyone is paying close attention to the direction of the new reforms,
so of course there is demand for a class like ours,” said Wu Yushan, a
manager at China Finance City. “We admit only 40 people into our course,
and half of these spaces are reserved for our clients.”

Ms. Wu added that most of the attendees are high-level financial workers
or government officials.
The government announced
<http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2013-11-20/031028755640.shtml> on Nov. 19 the
formation of its own Third Plenum propaganda group, including 28 prominent
officials from relevant central government bureaus. The group’s stated
goal is to guide study groups to thoroughly grasp the spirit of the recent
meeting, and members reportedly set off from Beijing on Nov. 23 for a
countrywide tour.

But the for-profit classes cater to a different crowd — mostly those eager
to gain a leg up in adjusting to changes in economic policy. In China,
reform has traditionally opened windows of opportunity for the adaptable,
and those who grasp new reform trends first have often been the first to
benefit.

According to a report in The Shanghai Morning Post, the lecturers are
mostly government officials or university professors with expertise in the
various areas in line for change. All of them are assumed to have some
degree of insider knowledge about the nature of reform decisions.

Peking University is the only institution that issues certificates to
those who attend their lectures, charging 3,200 renminbi for six days of
classes. The esteemed Zhejiang University in Hangzhou offers two days of
“high-end discussions” for 6,800 renminbi, and Jiao Tong University in
Shanghai bills nonstudents 500 renminbi to attend a single lecture.

The intricate layers of Chinese official prose have long caused headaches
for China watchers, but the emergence of Third Plenum courses in China
suggests that foreigners are not the only people scratching their heads.
Take for example the following paragraph from the Third Plenum report
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-11/15/c_118164235.htm>, in an
unofficial translation:

“Construct a modern common public service system. Establish a public
cultural service system coordination mechanism, plan the construction of a
service facility network, promote the fundamental standardization of
public cultural service. Establish a mass evaluation and feedback
mechanism, push forward the cultural programs that benefit the people and
effectively meet the cultural demands of the masses. Integrate grassroots
cultural propaganda, the education of party members, the popularization of
science and the installation of physical exercise equipment in order to
build comprehensive cultural service centers.”

It may seem like gobbledygook, but somewhere deep in the trenches of that
inflated paragraph, there is a buck to be made.