Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media. I'm Ashlin McGee. This is seven am.
Speaker 1: Australia is about to be visited by the most senior
Speaker 1: Chinese leader we've had on our shores in almost a decade.
Speaker 1: The visit by Chinese Premier Li Chiang comes at a
Speaker 1: really interesting time for China, with economic stumbles and looming
Speaker 1: sanctions making President Shi Jimping's vision for the future more
Speaker 1: precarious than ever. So what's going on inside she's in
Speaker 1: a circle and what message will she's close political ally
Speaker 1: bring when he lands in Australia today. A contributor to
Speaker 1: the Saturday Paper, Richard McGregor on the rumors swirling and
Speaker 1: what they reveal about She's grip on power. It's Tuesday,
Speaker 1: June eleven.
Speaker 2: Richard.
Speaker 1: You're in Washington recently and there was this question that
Speaker 1: China watchers kept asking, can you tell me about that?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I was attending various conferences, some closed doors in public
Speaker 3: about various aspects of China, and people kept asking me
Speaker 3: whether Shijimping's wife, pugli Um was going to be appointed
Speaker 3: to the Polart Bureau. I would like to introduce to
Speaker 3: you the other six members, the STRESS members who have
Speaker 3: also been elected to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau,
Speaker 3: and the Pollitt Bureau is the sort of top political
Speaker 3: body in China.
Speaker 4: At the top of the par pyramid is the Pollit
Speaker 4: Bureau Standing Committee, composed of nine men ranked by number.
Speaker 5: It has no women on it.
Speaker 4: Incidentally, the entire system is designed to promote collective leadership,
Speaker 4: but in the process it's resulted in fears jocking among
Speaker 4: politicians at every level.
Speaker 3: But for her to be appointed to the top level
Speaker 3: body kind of sounded ridiculous, but people only took it
Speaker 3: seriously because she is so powerful these days, and his
Speaker 3: power is so personal that they thought they had to
Speaker 3: sort of ask around about it.
Speaker 1: So tell me a little bit more about Pung l Un.
Speaker 1: What do we know about her?
Speaker 3: Well, she's a very glamorous first lady, and that has
Speaker 3: not always been the case in China. And she's famous
Speaker 3: in her own right. She was a famous singer in
Speaker 3: the People's Liberation Army's Military musical Troops. She's also famous,
Speaker 3: much famous, more famous than him for many years because
Speaker 3: she used to appear on the Lunar New Year or
Speaker 3: Chinese New Year Concerts, which is sort of the biggest
Speaker 3: thing on TV. Every year and sing a song. And
Speaker 3: when she first married she that was his second marriage.
Speaker 3: He was the party secretary of a sort of middle
Speaker 3: ranking city in a coastal province. But she was highly recognizable,
Speaker 3: and I don't think it was really until about two
Speaker 3: thousand and seven when he started climbing the ranks through
Speaker 3: the party that he really outshone her or was more
Speaker 3: recognizable as a public figure.
Speaker 2: I now have the great honor to present to you
Speaker 2: our keynote speaker, Professor Pung lu Jan.
Speaker 3: Now she's a sort of ambassador for all sorts of
Speaker 3: causes in China.
Speaker 2: First Lady of China and John Escu's Special Envoy for
Speaker 2: the advancement of Girls and Women's Education.
Speaker 3: She's associated herself with causes people with disabilities, AIDS and
Speaker 3: the like, which people I don't think had really done
Speaker 3: in China before. And on top of all those appointments,
Speaker 3: Madame Pung was also appointed to this sort of opaque
Speaker 3: military body. I think it's called the Cadre Assessment Body
Speaker 3: or something like that, and that's one of these Chinese
Speaker 3: bodies that runs right through the Communist Party at different levels,
Speaker 3: and that's the sort of top level of people who
Speaker 3: have to be cleared by the system every time they're promoted,
Speaker 3: and I guess she's part.
Speaker 5: Of the military wing of that.
Speaker 3: But it would really have been astounding for her to
Speaker 3: have been appointed to the Poloit Bureau. And I guess
Speaker 3: rumors are sometimes floated deliberately. Sometimes they're kind of circular.
Speaker 3: I suspect this was a kind of circular one because
Speaker 3: it hasn't happened. But I just think the point is
Speaker 3: that people took it seriously, because you take anything with
Speaker 3: she seriously.
Speaker 1: Richard, the fact that this was even a live discussion
Speaker 1: in Washington about whether she'd be appointed to the politbureau,
Speaker 1: what does that tell you about how she Jimping is
Speaker 1: perceived in China.
Speaker 3: Yes, he's kind of I would say he's well and
Speaker 3: truly consolidated his power. I guess in his first one
Speaker 3: hundred days he rapidly tried to take over the system.
Speaker 3: He had a big anti corruption campaign. Ten twelve years later,
Speaker 3: it's still going, you know. For example, last year, the
Speaker 3: foreign minister and the Defense Minister were both disappeared detained.
Speaker 5: We don't know exactly what for.
Speaker 3: So over time she has put his own people so
Speaker 3: they dominate the top level of Chinese politics, that's the
Speaker 3: bureau Standing Committee. Every single person on that body now
Speaker 3: is a Sea loyalist, and that's most unusual in Chinese
Speaker 3: politics because you always have internal balancing left wing right.
Speaker 3: When they had the same thing in China, that's gone
Speaker 3: now under him, he's gradually consolidated control of the military,
Speaker 3: which is very important, and also the security services and
Speaker 3: economic policy making. So he really that's why people jokingly
Speaker 3: call she the chairman of everything, because he's put himself
Speaker 3: in charge of everything.
Speaker 5: Yeah yea wait, I should he cheerful? Yeah? More you want, man.
Speaker 3: I just think these days in China, you know, the
Speaker 3: personal's political, she's in charge.
Speaker 5: People hang off every word of his.
Speaker 2: She monks.
Speaker 3: Jiang day, they read his speeches, they sort of try
Speaker 3: to calibrate his public appearances and the like. I just
Speaker 3: think that it's a function of the fact that he's
Speaker 3: really on top of the whole system and has all
Speaker 3: the leavers of power in his hands. Hunga And since
Speaker 3: China opened its door after COVID, Chinese economic policy has
Speaker 3: actually been very volatile to put it nicely, and unstable
Speaker 3: to put it less. So you know, one day China
Speaker 3: loves foreign investment. One day they love foreigners, win win cooperation,
Speaker 3: We're after Davas and all that. The next day they're
Speaker 3: locking up foreigners, they're issuing proclamations about foreign spies, they're
Speaker 3: raiding foreign companies and the like. So it's been really
Speaker 3: for China pretty all over the place.
Speaker 1: After the break, A top Chinese leader coming to Australia
Speaker 1: and the message he'll bring on behalf.
Speaker 5: Of Shi Jimping.
Speaker 1: Richard in the middle of these rumors, and she's very
Speaker 1: real efforts to consolidate power. And we're going to get
Speaker 1: a visit from Premier League Chiang. He's heading to Australia
Speaker 1: in June. That's pretty big, right, tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about him and what we can expect from this visit.
Speaker 3: Yes, he's a Shei loyalist. He wouldn't be at the
Speaker 3: top otherwise. He's officially ranked as number two in the party.
Speaker 5: In China.
Speaker 1: Lee Chang has been appointed as Premier, the nation's second
Speaker 1: highest post. It follows his nomination by President Shihin Ping.
Speaker 3: He was the Party secretary of Shanghai, and you know,
Speaker 3: by the way, if you're the Party secretary of Shanghai,
Speaker 3: you're number one in the city you rank above the mayor.
Speaker 3: And he was also in the charge in charge of
Speaker 3: a number of other prosperous cities near Shanghai. So he
Speaker 3: has a pretty good record as an official. He has
Speaker 3: one big black mark against his name was that he
Speaker 3: had to do the Shanghai lockdown during COVID, which was
Speaker 3: a really painful period. But he was kind of just
Speaker 3: following orders there. But to give you another example of
Speaker 3: something that Lee Chang pulled off.
Speaker 5: You know why is the world's biggest tesla factory are
Speaker 5: in Shanghai.
Speaker 3: And the reason is because he negotiated with Elong Musk
Speaker 3: to put it there. You know, Elon Musk in the
Speaker 3: way that he does, said I want you to build
Speaker 3: it in two years, and in fact they built it
Speaker 3: in a year. And so that's why that's helped China
Speaker 3: build the country into the basically the electric vehicle powerhouse
Speaker 3: that it is these days. And by the way, all
Speaker 3: the teslas you see on the roads in Australia are
Speaker 3: built in Shanghai. So Lee Tang is head of the
Speaker 3: government in theory or also head of the economy, a
Speaker 3: very competent official, but he's very much under She's thumb and.
Speaker 1: So it's been about seven years since someone of his
Speaker 1: ranking travelte what will you be listening for when he
Speaker 1: speaks in Australia.
Speaker 3: Yes, well, it's going to be very interesting to listen because,
Speaker 3: as you say, we haven't had anybody from China of
Speaker 3: this stature for some time, and of course in the interim,
Speaker 3: China put Australia, you know, deep into the freezer. Ministerial
Speaker 3: contacts were cut off for years.
Speaker 6: The latest in an tip diplomatic stoush, this retaliation for
Speaker 6: the federal government trading of China's built and road deal
Speaker 6: with Victoria. Today accusing Australia of acting out of a
Speaker 6: Cold war mindset and ideological discrimination.
Speaker 3: We had all manner of punitive trade measures leveled against US.
Speaker 1: China has fired a new and damaging shot in its
Speaker 1: trade war with Australia. It slapped massive tariffs on our
Speaker 1: wine exports with more than one point two billion.
Speaker 3: China was very unhappy with US on a ton of issues, Taiwan,
Speaker 3: South China, Sea, Huawei, foreign interference, COVID inquiries.
Speaker 5: The list goes on and on and on.
Speaker 3: Australia says it is echine closet and stabilizing its fraught
Speaker 3: relationship with its largest trading partner. So under the Labor government,
Speaker 3: the relationship is not stable, but stabilizing if that's not
Speaker 3: a contradictionsation and the resolution of trade issues will take time,
Speaker 3: but we are pleased at constructive dialogue has resumed.
Speaker 5: So you know, we're not kind of kissing and making up.
Speaker 3: We're sort of just agreeing to sort of go for
Speaker 3: a walk in the park again, so to speak.
Speaker 5: What will he say?
Speaker 3: He'll say what a lot of Chinese say about Australia.
Speaker 3: They'll say, We've got no territorial disputes to divide us.
Speaker 3: We've got no fundamental areas of difference between us. Our
Speaker 3: economies are complementary. We should get along. That's the public face,
Speaker 3: of course, but behind that, China hates August. They don't
Speaker 3: like the tightening US Australia alliance. They don't like the
Speaker 3: fact that we still sail our naval ships as we
Speaker 3: have for decades in the South China Sea. They don't
Speaker 3: like our tightening links with Japan.
Speaker 5: But I think.
Speaker 3: China is taking a longer term view and trying to
Speaker 3: see how they might be able to get along with Australia.
Speaker 5: And I guess the same is true of us, Richard.
Speaker 1: So that's the Chinese government's external relationships. But how are
Speaker 1: things going internally? With the economy faltering? Is there a
Speaker 1: bit more of a challenge that she is facing inside
Speaker 1: the country?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the economy is She's Achilles heel if
Speaker 3: you like. You know, China's economy is not going to collapse.
Speaker 3: You know, we're not on the verge of a sort
Speaker 3: of deep recession. But growth is much lower than it
Speaker 3: has been for a long time. And more to the point,
Speaker 3: Chinese have got a pretty crappy stock market and they
Speaker 3: can't really invest offshore. You know, it's a closed capital market,
Speaker 3: so household wealth is tied up in the real estate sector,
Speaker 3: in your home and any investment homes that you own.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is a total revolution in China since
Speaker 3: the mid nineties, really successful in many ways, but grew
Speaker 3: into this massive bubble. Big developers have gone bust. And
Speaker 3: of course, demographics is another big one. You know, we're
Speaker 3: on the cusp in theory of the Asian century. But
Speaker 3: every big country in Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and
Speaker 3: most of all China, their populations are falling. There's no
Speaker 3: more demographic dividend. You can't do what we're doing, frankly
Speaker 3: in Australia throw more people into the economy and growth
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 5: So they're struggling in.
Speaker 3: That respect, and I think that one of Hijimping's key
Speaker 3: goals is to make China into a high tech powerhouse.
Speaker 3: You know, the US is leveling all manner of sanctions
Speaker 3: against China at the moment related to technology to try
Speaker 3: and sort of slow down China's development. Well, China would
Speaker 3: like to do that to America, so they're investing literally
Speaker 3: tens hundreds of billions of dollars to catch up. So
Speaker 3: it's a really hydra headed competition, and we're dragged into
Speaker 3: that because we are a close US security ally. People
Speaker 3: who watch China and followed China have been wondering for
Speaker 3: many months when something called the third Plenum of the
Speaker 3: Current Party Congress would be held, And all that means
Speaker 3: is it's a full meeting of the sort of broader
Speaker 3: larger board of China INK at the Central Committee, and
Speaker 3: they would issue some proclamation on economic policy. The fact
Speaker 3: that it's delayed tells you that there's probably a lot
Speaker 3: of debate, discussion in fighting about the direction of the
Speaker 3: Chinese economy. So she is an all powerful leader, but
Speaker 3: he might be the first leader since about nineteen eighty
Speaker 3: to preside over a relative contraction of the economy, and
Speaker 3: that affects a politician standing in an autocracy as much
Speaker 3: as it does in a democracy.
Speaker 1: Richard, thanks so much for your time today.
Speaker 5: Thanks great to be here.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, the French Parliament's been dissolved
Speaker 1: by President Emmanuel Macron, with an election to be held
Speaker 1: within thirty days. Macron made the decision after Marine Le
Speaker 1: Penn's far right opposition one an overwhelming number of seats
Speaker 1: in elections to represent France in the European Parliament, with
Speaker 1: Macron telling the nation during a late night televised address
Speaker 1: that he intended to confront the writer at the ballot
Speaker 1: box in a high stake snap election, and Colls is
Speaker 1: limiting how many Eggs customers around Australa can buyed Drew
Speaker 1: cartons per person. After an outbreak of bird flu in Victoria,
Speaker 1: more than half a million chickens in Victoria have been
Speaker 1: euthanized in an effort to stop the spread of the disease,
Speaker 1: but the outbreak is likely to continue to limit supply,
Speaker 1: with some reports warning the cost of eggs could double
Speaker 1: in the next few weeks. That's all from the seven
Speaker 1: Am team for today. My name is Ashlin McGhee. Thanks
Speaker 1: for your company and I'll see you again tomorrow