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