General

The Chinese new Five Year Plan and Long-Range Objectives are lining up a set of targets in a very interesting way, indicating that China has adopted a planning system which qualitatively is the most advanced of any nation in the world. It has important elements close to the ideas of Lyndon LaRouche, who always denounced the linear thinking of bookkeepers which is dominating the planning systems of the world, and stressed the science of physical economy.

On Nov. 9 the International Department of the CPC, Central Committee held a thematic news briefing for the diplomatic corps in Beijing, think tanks and experts, about the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China over Oct. 26-29 in Beijing. The most important result of this session was the adoption of the CPC Central Committee’s proposals for the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives to fully build a modern socialist country in 2035.

The background briefing gave a comprehensive summary of the decisions of the plenary session and the diplomats fielded important questions at the end of the briefing. Among them was the question from the Colombian Ambassador Luis Diego Monsalve, who commented that this plan had “fewer quantitative indicators” and asked: “Without specific growth targets how can other countries be confident about China’s development prospects?”

The answer by Xin Xiangyang, Secretary of CPC Committee and Deputy Director of Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, acknowledged that “China in the past had a lot of quantitative indicators for both economic and social development.” He said, “Now China has transitioned into high-quality development and focus on optimizing the structure of the economy so people will focus more on the outcome of the economy and quality. … If we read between the lines, we can see the quantities.” The objective “to become a leading innovative country means top three, and that innovation will take a higher share. A strong culture implies a culture industry of 10% of GDP.” The current success in this year of building a moderately prosperous society means a per-capita income of $10,000. The objective of a medium developed country in 2035 translates into a per-capita income of $20,000.

The plan itself had been the product of many months of deliberation and feed-back from the entire country. The Political Bureau had held over a dozen symposia on various aspects of the plan, inviting speakers from all walks of life, scientists, entrepreneurs, teachers, etc. In addition, the incessant travel by President Xi Jinping himself to all parts of the country was an attempt to get an onsite reading of the conditions of the population, particularly in the rural regions and of the things that have yet to get done to meet the goals for 2035 and the creation of a “great modern socialist country” by 2050.

They have not set any quantitative targets for the Five-Year Plan but have focused on the creation of an innovation-driven economy, with the type of non-linear effects in the growth model that cannot be predicted. More free enterprise zones will be set up to encourage more foreign investment and the technological “hotbeds” like Shenzhen and the Pudong district in Shanghai will be brought to a higher level.The primary investment will be in the country’s “human resources” with a major push to enhance education at all levels, and with several “science drivers” already in motion, in space, in astronomy, in quantum communications and in biotechnology.

The improvement of the labor power has taken tremendous strides with the building of a free education system, modern housing, as well as the spectacular success in eradicating poverty by the end of 2020. The introduction this year of a basic medical insurance system for 1.3 billion people and a social security system for 1 billion people were two other giant steps to improve the labor power. The investments in machines and improvement of nature has likewise taken tremendous strides in the direction of high value production and infrastructure, building the most modern railway system of the world, modern cities, and other infrastructure.

And the relationship between scientific progress and cultural advancement has been clearly stated in the government push for general “aesthetic education.” And this will include mandatory participation by students in some form of the arts or music as a criteria for graduation. The issue of “aesthetic education” had been made a formal element in university education by the first Minister of Education of the Republic of China Cai Yuanpei, who based himself on the ideas of Friedrich Schiller. While this has waxed and waned through the years (with almost total destruction during the “Cultural Revolution”), it has never entirely died and is now high on the agenda of President Xi.

Under that headline, Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, and former Chairman of the African Union, wrote an op ed in the Feb. 9 Guardian newspaper, pressing the need for vaccinating Africa and developing nations, as well as the entirety of the world’s population, against COVID-19. 

Kagame stated, “The current situation with regard to the access and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines vividly illustrates the decades-old contradictions of the world order. Rich and powerful nations have rushed to lock up supply of multiple vaccine candidates…. This leaves African and other developing countries either far behind in the vaccine queue, or not in it at all….The pressures on political leaders to vaccinate all their citizens before sharing supplies with others is understandable. But forcing smaller or poorer countries to wait until everyone in the north has been catered for is shortsighted. 

“Delaying access to vaccines for citizens of developing countries is ultimately many times more costly.” He warned, “The pandemic will rage on, crippling the global economy. New mutations may continue to emerge at a more rapid pace. The world risks reversing decades of human development gains…. We need global value chains to be fully operational again and to include everyone. 

“The Covax facility, led by the World Health Organization, was supposed to ensure doses for 20% of Africa’s people—right from the start and at the same time as richer countries. However, nearly two months after the first vaccines have been administered, it is still not clear when African nations will be able to start immunizing people… One pharmaceutical firm is reportedly planning to charge $37 per dose for ‘small orders’ [in Africa]. Recently, one African country reported being asked to pay more than double the price that the European Union had negotiated for the same product.[P]rice gouging… should not be tolerated for vaccines during a pandemic.” 

Kagame asserted, “Vaccine candidates from China and Russia are also coming online and may provide an alternative for some developing countries. However, the reality is that most countries will only be able to procure vaccines that have been approved by the World Health Organization. The WHO should speed up emergency use approvals…. Africa is not sitting back and waiting for charity…. Ensuring equitable access to vaccines globally during a pandemic is not only a moral issue, but an economic imperative to protect the wellbeing of people everywhere. But when will Africa get the protection it needs? If all lives are equal, why isn’t access to vaccines?”

A team of researchers from the Italian National Tumor Institute in Milan has detected the presence of the SARS-Cov-2 virus in Italy already in September 2019 in a study that “may reshape the history of pandemic”. The team has tested blood samples of individuals enrolled in a lung cancer screening and reported the results in a study published by the “Tumori Journal” datelined Nov. 11. They  “investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)–specific antibodies in blood samples of 959 asymptomatic individuals enrolled in a prospective lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020 to track the date of onset, frequency, and temporal and geographic variations across the Italian regions. SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific antibodies were detected in 111 of 959 (11.6%) individuals, starting from September 2019 (14%), with a cluster of positive cases (>30%) in the second week of February 2020 and the highest number (53.2%) in Lombardy. This study shows an unexpected very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the first patient was identified, and clarifies the onset and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Finding SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in asymptomatic people before the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy may reshape the history of pandemic.”

Independent of this and other worthwhile investigations into the origin of the virus, the attacks leveled against China for various supposed crimes of malfeasance or deliberate promotion of the virus’s spread have been, in the main, lies spread to drive a wedge between China and other nations, especially the United States.

The marathon begins at 7am EST on Friday, February 12, and end at midnight. In commemoration of Lyndon LaRouche’s passing on February 12, 2019, we invite you to meet, or reacquaint yourself with the mind and the personality of one of the greatest geniuses of the last 100 years. Genius without beauty is not genius at all. Join our LaRouche marathon, and bring your friends young and old alike.

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