April 19,
2017

ISSUE
No. 96

AMS Weekly Newsletter
Dedicated to the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations
In this week's newsletter we focus on China's National Security Education Day, Xi's message to Communist Party members to lead by example, and more analysis of the recent Xi-Trump summit.

Weekly Readings

The second annual National Security Education Day [全民国家安全教育日] passed last week with great fanfare. Xi Jinping and the official commentators of major newspapers all added their voices to choir for protecting national security. In this case, it seems appropriate to skip just about everything in English, because most writers cannot seem to take the concerns of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seriously and seem to think the so-called spy problem originated o vernight. [For those who want other English background readings, please respond to this email.]





俗语 in Xi Jinping's Speeches

以身作则
yǐ shēn zuò zé

Meaning: to be a model of; to lead by example

On April 16, Xi Jinping encouraged the continuation of "两学一做 (Two Studies, One Action)", a campaign to reinforce the Chinese Communist Party's ideology among its own members. The campaign calls on Party members to 以身作则 -- to become principled Party members through rooting their actions in the Party's constitution and regulations, as well as through studying and carrying out the spirit of Xi's own remarks.

Original: 要落实各级党委(党组)主体责任,落实好"两学一做"学习教育常态化制度化各项举措,保证党的组织履行职能、发挥核心作用,保证领导干部忠诚干净担当、发挥表率作用,保证广大党员以身作则、发挥先锋模范作用,为统筹推进"五位一体"总体布局和协调推进"四个全面"战略布局提供坚强组织保证。


A helpful infographic illustrating  两学一做 can be found here.
Video of the Week  
 
This week's video is a set of U.S.-based Chinese experts and commentators evaluating the Trump-Xi summit at Mar-a-Lago. Although language skills provide a remarkable resource for accessing information critical to understanding the U.S.-China relationship, those language skills can easily lead us away from listening to those with much closer links -- both culturally and literally -- to the Chinese political system. The purges over the years brought a number of party  officials and aides to senior leadership to the United States. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing, but, right or wrong, we should still listen.

Special Update

In honor of the recently-passed National Security Education Day, here is a short CCTV7 broadcast on the day's activities across the country. Military and public security officials presided over school activities and held informational sessions for adults. This is not a spy scare, but more like the sustained propaganda campaigns with which Americans might be familiar from World War II -- even if National Security Education Day was born during a time of relative security a nd stability.


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UPCOMING AMS PODCAST EPISODE: After the Homework Stops: Retaining Mandarin Proficiency Throughout Your Career - Robert Daly

An AMS podcast episode featuring a recording of last night's event featuring Robert Daly will be made available soon.  If  you have not already subscribed to AMS podcasts, you can do so via iTunes  here.
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