Foreign Policy: Xi Jinping Has Quietly Chosen His Own Successor

Throughout the Western press, the removal of Sun Zhengcai was treated as conclusive proof that Xi plans to remain in charge after 2022, when term limits and political tradition will require him to give up power. This has been a common trope in the hazy world of Chinese political analysis since at least 2015, when Foreign Policy published “Xi Jinping Forever,” arguing that the Chinese leader would try to extend his rule beyond two terms. A constant stream of articles, especially in the run-up to this week’s 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, has reinforced the consensus that Xi Jinping isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. [...]

Xi has more than half a dozen allies in positions of power throughout China’s provinces — like Li Qiang, the Mongolian Bayanqolu, or Li Xi — any one of whom could have been named as Sun’s successor in Chongqing. But Xi’s choice was striking: He promoted his ally Chen Miner, who was born in 1960. Why is his year of birth so important? Because, based on the traditional retirement age of 68, Chen Miner — unlike Xi’s other prominent allies, who are older — will be able to serve out a double term from 2022, when he will be 62. Were he born even just a year earlier, in 1959, this would have been impossible, as he would have been forced to retire in 2027. [...]

Now in charge of the party, Xi announced the start of an anti-corruption campaign whose intensity surprised every observer. In 2015, the anti-corruption campaign targeted a sitting provincial party chief for the first time: Zhou Benshun, the top official in Hebei. Out of more than two dozen provincial party secretaries, Zhou’s replacement was the party secretary of Guizhou, who left his seat to head to Hebei. Thus Chen was promoted from governor to party secretary — a higher-ranking position — in Guizhou, where he would remain in charge for two more years. This was the first, but not the last time Chen would benefit from the anti-corruption campaign.

Chen’s five-year stint in Guizhou coincided with an acceleration of China’s fight against extreme poverty. Guizhou is one of China’s poorest provinces but has a good track record of producing leaders. Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor, was Guizhou’s party chief in the 1980s. There, Chen was tasked with tackling one of Xi Jinping’s most important objectives: the eradication of extreme poverty by 2020. In the process, he made some resounding moves, like convincing Apple to build a data center in Guizhou. Under Chen’s leadership in 2016, Guizhou reported the third-fastest growth among Chinese provinces, with a claimed GDP growth rate of 10.5 percent.

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Salon: World hunger is increasing thanks to wars and climate change

Between 1990 and 2015, due largely to a set of sweeping initiatives by the global community, the proportion of undernourished people in the world was cut in half. In 2015, U.N. member countries adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, which doubled down on this success by setting out to end hunger entirely by 2030. But a recent U.N. report shows that, after years of decline, hunger is on the rise again. [...]

Around the world, social and political instability are on the rise. Since 2010, state-based conflict has increased by 60 percent and armed conflict within countries has increased by 125 percent. More than half of the food-insecure people identified in the U.N. report (489 million out of 815 million) live in countries with ongoing violence. More than three-quarters of the world’s chronically malnourished children (122 million of 155 million) live in conflict-affected regions. [...]

Globally, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons doubled between 2007 and 2016. Of the estimated 64 million people who are currently displaced, more than 15 million are linked to one of the world’s most severe conflict-related food crises in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia. [...]

In many places, one of the best ways to bolster food security is by helping farmers connect to both traditional and innovative social networks, through which they can pool resources, store food, seed and inputs and make investments. Mobile phones enable farmers to get information on weather and market prices, work cooperatively with other producers and buyers and obtain aid, agricultural extension or veterinary services. Leveraging multiple forms of connectivity is a central strategy for supporting resilient livelihoods.

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Politico: German far right’s vote surge means financial bonanza

The Rheinische Post newspaper estimated that the AfD could be entitled to €12 million annually in the coming years, while Spiegel calculated that the party could receive €10 million next year thanks to its recent electoral success — nearly double the €6 million allocated for this year.

But public funding for a party is not allowed to exceed the contributions and donations it gets from members and supporters. So the AfD’s funding could end up being less. This was the case for 2016, according to Spiegel, when the AfD could have been awarded €8.7 million in public cash on the basis of its election results, but collected just €7.1 million in donations and contributions — so the public funding was cut to the same amount. [...]

The level of funding for parliamentary groups in the new Bundestag has also not yet been determined. But based on the figures from last term, the AfD’s parliamentary group could be entitled to about €1.2 million per month or €14.5 million per year, according to a member of the Bundestag’s Council of Elders — a body that helps to coordinate parliamentary business — who spoke on condition of anonymity. [...]

Bernhard Weßels, a professor at the Berlin Social Science Center research institute, expects the AfD to spend its new money mainly in three areas: campaigning (mostly through social media), employing party footsoldiers as assistants and researchers, and establishing a foundation that will be both a major right-wing think tank and a recruiting tool for the party.

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Political Critique: Britain’s Empire State is the cause of Brexit. Can the English now liberate themselves from its influence?

Brexit and Trump were explosions. Each was the result of both a revolt against and a breakdown of the existing order. A number of causes were at work. But the detonation came about through what I call ‘combined determination’. This means I don’t accept that there is any one primary determination. I oppose a Marxist view that it was caused by economic factors, although these were essential. Or a Brexiteer or Trumpite view that they were caused by honest rejections of rigged and elitist systems. Certainly, both mattered; both economic forces and freely judged opposition to a rigged system.

But it was the way the forces combined that made the mixture explosive. Forces such as the loss of popular trust in historic states, caused by strategic military defeat and the catastrophe of the financial crash. The elites of Washington and London lied, lost, went bust and then bailed themselves out while everyone else got poorer and more insecure. That was a big cause. So too for Brexit was the undemocratic nature of the EU. So too was the absence of a left-wing, democratic alternative for Europe – an opposition to the EU within the EU. This allowed the right to monopolise and distort criticism of the EU. All these were also essential parts of the explosive mix.

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BBC4 Profile: Martin Selmayr

As the EU commission meets to discuss the progress of Brexit negotiations, Mark Coles profiles the man some say really runs Europe, Martin Selmayr - right hand man to the President of the European Commission.

Just what impact is the passionate European having on the process of Britain leaving the EU? And does he deserve his reputation as the 'Monster at the Berlaymont'?

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Business Insider: We flew a drone over the changing fall leaves in New England — and the footage is spectacular

While on a recent trip to the northwest corner of Connecticut, we flew a drone to capture an aerial view of the fall foliage that's starting to peak in the region.

Due to warmer temperatures, the leaves are changing colors a little behind schedule this year, which means you still have time to travel to the region for peak "leaf peeping" season.

This footage was filmed in the towns of Sharon and Lakeville, Connecticut. Following is a transcript of the video:

Fall foliage is peaking. The Northeastern US is the best place to see it. This was filmed in northwest Connecticut.

The leaves change color as the days get shorter. Warm temperatures have delayed the seasonal change. Southern states usually peak in November. When it comes to fall foliage, it's hard to compete with New England.

Some trees have yet to change color, so you'd better plan a trip soon.

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Independent: Brexit: MPs may not get vote on deal until after Britain has left EU, David Davis reveals

David Davis has stunned MPs by warning they may not get a vote on any Brexit deal until after Britain has left the European Union.  [...]

 Asked if that meant the promised Parliamentary vote on the agreement could be delayed until after Brexit Day, in March 2019, Mr Davis replied: “Yes, it could be”.

The threat blows out of the water the Prime Minister’s repeated pledge of a vote – although she insisted it would not allow Parliament to halt withdrawal.

A cross-party alliance of MPs is attempting to amend the Brexit Bill to require that vote to be a separate Act of Parliament, to give Parliament more muscle. [...]

Earlier, Mr Davis acknowledged that major banks are threatening to move out of London to Frankfurt, Paris or Dublin if there is no deal “by March or April next year”.

He argued they would not incur that huge cost, if a transition deal looks likely, but admitted: “They might reduce the size of the office.”

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Independent: Conservative MP demands universities give him names of lecturers teaching about Brexit

A Conservative MP and government whip has written to all UK universities demanding a list of professors who are teaching students about Brexit, prompting an angry backlash from academics. 

Chris Heaton-Harris, a staunch Brexit supporter, was accused of “McCarthyism” after writing to university vice chancellors asking that they send him information on what their lecturers are telling students about Britain’s departure from the EU, as well as the names of the lecturers.

In the letter, he requested a list of academics “who are involved in the teaching of European affairs, with particular reference to Brexit”. The Daventry MP also asked for a version of every university’s syllabus and even demanded copies of online lectures on Brexit. [...]

Professor Kevin Featherstone, head of the London School of Economics (LSE) European Institute, told The Guardian: “The letter reflects a past of a McCarthyite nature. It smacks of asking ‘Are you or have you ever been in favour of remain?’ There is clearly an implied threat that universities will somehow be challenged for their bias.”

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Quartz: Germany has set up a website to debunk the lies traffickers tell refugees

The Federal Foreign Office today (Oct. 23) launched the RumoursAboutGermany.info website in French, English, and Arabic. It’s part of the government’s ongoing #RumoursAboutGermany public awareness campaign that’s been running in places such as Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2015.

The site lists the seven biggest lies told by smugglers, based on what refugees told European media. The top lie: “The ship for the crossing is very big, it even has a pool and a cinema.” The site explains that human traffickers use old, unseaworthy boats so they can make as much money as possible, adding that more than 5,000 people died crossing the Mediterranean in such boats last year. [...]

The Federal Foreign Office says the website’s goal is to inform, not deter refugees, as “many irregular migrants make the decision to set out for Europe based on inaccurate information and rumours spread by people smugglers who are interested in profit, not the benefit and safety of the migrants.”

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