China’s Political Discourse November 2021: A New Resolution on History

By China Media Project

The major event in Chinese official discourse in November 2021 was the release of the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CCP on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century (中共中央关于党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议), passed at the 6th Plenum, only the third such resolution in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. The Resolution, which referred to Xi Jinping's banner term, or qizhiyu (旗帜语), as a "new leap in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context" and emphasized Xi’s "core" position, paved the way for Xi to continue as the Party’s unassailable leader beyond 2022.

November also brought the birth of a new political catchphrase, the “Two Establishes” (两个确立), appearing for the first time in the official People’s Daily newspaper on November 12, and registering a Tier 3 on the CMP scale for the month, with 30 total mentions. The full version of this phrase can now be seen in the Resolution as released in the wake of the 6th Plenum: “The Party has establis…