This is ‘Global Village Today’, which presents big news from different countries around the world.
Moderator) What news do you have today?
Reporter) Yes. The Chinese Communist Party has released a list of key party leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping was re-elected general secretary of the party, as expected, and the top leadership was filled with Xi aides. Russia claims that Ukraine is preparing a ‘dirty bomb’ provocation. Ukraine has accused Russia of waging a war of attrition.
Moderator) Global Village Today, let’s look at the news from China first. China’s new leadership revealed?
Reporter) Yes. The first plenary meeting of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 23rd. The 7 members of the Standing Committee, which is the core leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, were unveiled at the meeting held today with approximately 200 members of the Central Committee and 170 candidates present.
Moderator) Chinese President Xi Jinping has been re-elected General Secretary of the Party?
Reporter) Yes. Xi was re-elected general secretary, the highest position of the Communist Party, while remaining a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. In fact, President Xi’s re-election was highly anticipated. The focus was on who would fill the positions of the other six permanent members.
Moderator) Introduce who the other six came.
Reporter) Yes. They are Li Chang, Shanghai City Party Secretary, Zhao Leji, Secretary of the Central Party Discipline Inspection Committee, Wang Huning, Secretary of the Central Party Secretariat, Beijing City Party Secretary Tsai Qi, Central Committee Director Ding Xuexiang and State Party Secretary Li Shi Guangdong.
Moderator) Looking at the face of the Standing Committee, it seems that the water has changed significantly, right?
Reporter) Yes. Four people were replaced except for Zhao Leji, the secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Committee and Wang Huning, the secretary of the Central Secretariat. Before this first plenary meeting, it was noted that at least four members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee would be replaced. In fact, four out of six have just joined the standing committee, the highest level of power.
Moderator) Who is missing from the list of standing members of the committee?
Four people were exempted: Premier Li Keqiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Li Zhansu, President Wang Yang of the People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPC), and Deputy Prime Minister Han Jeong-han. Some even predicted that Premier Li Keqiang would move to the position of chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. However, there are speculations that he will go through the process of retirement after being removed from the standing committee.
So, who will be China’s new prime minister?
Reporter) Usually, the CCP enters the first plenary session of the Central Committee of the new jockeys in the order of their power ranks, which starts after the party congress. Following Xi Jinping, Shanghai Party Secretary Li Chang announced that he had become the new second-in-command. In China, since the 1990s, he has served as prime minister of the State Council, the second largest party in power.
Moderator) So, will Party Secretary Li Chang become the new prime minister?
Reporter) Yes. In the spring of next year, the ‘People’s Consultative Political Conference’ and ‘National People’s Congress (NPC)’, the so-called ‘two sessions’, will be held in China next spring. At this time, it is believed that Xi Jinping, the party’s general secretary, will be elected president, and Shanghai city party secretary Li Qiang will be elected prime minister.
Moderator) How will the remaining key positions be filled?
Reporter) As usual, it is expected that Zhao Leji, the secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Committee, who entered the third rank of the party, will take the role of chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which is China’s parliament. . It is assumed that Secretary Wang Huning, who remains on the Standing Committee along with Secretary Zhao, will be replaced as President of the Qing Dynasty. And it is expected that Beijing Party Secretary Tsai, who has joined the Standing Committee this time, will serve as the secretary of the Central Secretariat, Ding Xuexiang, director of Pangongcheng, will be the deputy prime minister of the State Council, and Guangdong Party Secretary Li State will Shi serves as the secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Committee.
Moderator) By the way, are all six standing members classified as close aides to President Xi Jinping?
Reporter) Yes. Members of the 20th Standing Committee fall into two main categories. One group is those with whom Xi has worked in the past, when he served as party secretary in Zhejiang and Shanghai, and the other is his closest aides who have worked with him in key areas since he became China’s supreme leader in 2012. These are people who were expected to enter or remain in the top leadership early on. In addition, some point out that this is a breakdown of China’s collective leadership system.
Moderator) The collective leadership system is a unique political system in China, right?
Reporter) Yes. Since reform and opening up, China has maintained a collective leadership system represented by seven to nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee under the pretext of preventing the concentration of power and maintaining fair politics. However, as the supreme leadership of the third term in power under Xi Jinping includes all of Xi’s close aides, there are concerns that the one-man system centered on President Xi will be at its peak.
Moderator) In the midst of this, was there anything that caught your attention in the recently closed party convention?
Reporter) Yes. Before the first plenary session of the 20th class, the closing ceremony of the National Congress of the Communist Party was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 22nd. This is the party’s biggest event held every five years. A number of speculations are underway as former President Hu Jintao, who attended the closing ceremony, left the venue suddenly by his aides during the meeting.
Moderator) Former President Hu Jintao was President Xi’s predecessor, right?
Reporter) Yes. He served from 2002 to 2012. Former President Hu Jintao was seated next to Xi at the closing ceremony of the Communist Party’s leadership supremacy. At first, President Hu was reluctant to do it, but he was forced to go out with the support of his aides. As former President Hu left, he spoke a few words with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. President Xi awkwardly nodded his head and said something, but it is not known what he said.
Moderator) But why did Huo Jeon leave suddenly?
The Chinese government explained that this was because Hu was ill and needed rest. However, some say the Chinese government may have forced Jeon to leave the country after falling out with Xi. However, on the other hand, after expressing dissatisfaction with President Xi’s appointment, there are rumors that the former president did this while all the media were watching. On the other hand, due to censorship by the Chinese authorities, related articles have been published on the Chinese Internet.
Moderator) Global Village Today, the next news. This time from Ukraine. Russia claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a ‘dirty bomb’?
Reporter) Yes. On the 23rd, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke on the phone with the defense ministers of the United States, Britain, France and Turkey one after the other and raised the possibility of Ukraine’s use of a ‘Dirty Bomb’.
Reporter) But what is a ‘dirty night’?
Reporter) Yes. A ‘Dirty Bomb’ is a weapon that uses conventional bombs to spread radioactive materials. According to the National Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), dirty balm usually does not emit enough radiation to kill people or cause serious illness. However, it creates fear, pollutes the area, and causes great damage. In comparison, the NRC explained that nuclear bombs are millions of times more powerful.
Moderator) What is the basis of Russia’s claim?
Reporter) It is known that Minister Shoigu made this claim on the same day without giving any explanation to the ministers of the respective countries, but saying that the situation in Ukraine is rapidly deteriorating and getting out of control.
Moderator) What is the response of the Ukrainian government to the Russian claim?
Reporter) protested that it was a Russian ‘false flag’ operation. A false flag operation is a term that refers to a military technique that manipulates the cause of an attack by pretending that the adversary acted first. The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmitro Kuleva, announced on Twitter on the 23rd that he had a phone call with the US Secretary of State, Tony Blincoln, and that the US had agreed to the same decision.
Host) Are you saying that the United States is also evaluating Russia’s war of false information?
Reporter) Yes. In a tweet, Secretary Kuleva said they both agreed that Russia was involved in a “dirty night” war of disinformation as part of Operation Fake Flags.
Moderator) Let’s hear the story of the President of Ukraine.
Reporter) Yes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a video address on the night of the 23rd that “Russia’s talk of a Dirty Bomb means that Russia is already preparing for it.” Zelensky also said that if anyone could use nuclear weapons in Europe, there was only one source, and that he was “the one who ordered Shoigu (Russian Defense Minister) to make phone calls here and there,” targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin. he did
Moderator) How did the countries that spoke to Minister Shoigu react?
Reporter) Yes. The US State Department and the British and French Foreign Offices issued a statement late on the 23rd pledging continued and unwavering support for Ukraine. They also said that their defense ministers had said in a conversation with Russian Defense Minister Shoigu that they did not accept Russia’s blatantly false claims.
Host) Specifically, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary Shoigu spoke twice in a few days?
Reporter) Yes. The defense ministers of the two countries spoke by phone on the 21st, five months after the start of the Ukraine war, and then again on the 23rd. The Pentagon said it reaffirmed the importance of continued communication between the two countries despite Russia’s illegal and unjust invasion. On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not reveal what happened.
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