Xi Jinping gets a new label, but no more power
In China, a year of political infighting lies ahead
Oct 27th 2016 | China

infighting：内部抗争

習近平は新たな主席の呼称を得たが、もはや中国での権力はない。政治の内部抗争の一年が始まる。



CHINESE politicians often take obscure-seeming terms very seriously. Earlier this year officials floated the idea of anointing President Xi Jinping as the “core” of the Chinese Communist Party. Though the description has been applied to every paramount leader apart from Hu Jintao, Mr Xi’s immediate predecessor, it was controversial enough to be quietly dropped. But on October 27th, after a meeting of the party’s 350 or so highest officials, Mr Xi finally won the title. 

obscure：わかりにくい
terms：期間
floated：考えが浮かぶ
anointing：指名する
paramount：最高権力者
apart：はさておき
controversial：議論の余地のある
to be quietly dropped：静かに取り下げられる

A turgid communique summarising the outcome of the four-day conclave contained few other revelations. It repeated the familiar rhetoric of Mr Xi’s presidency, underlining the party’s commitment to fighting corruption and the need for party members to be more disciplined. It offered some platitudes: paying for promotion is forbidden and promotions should be awarded on the basis of good work, not “bargaining”; officials should follow the party’s rules; and—rather tough to enforce—“boasting should be banned” and flattery “weeded out”. It is hard to believe the party really intends that publicity about leaders be “based purely on facts”, as the document said it should be. 

turgid：退屈でわかりにくい
communique：公式声明
conclave：秘密会議
revelations：驚くべき新事実
platitudes：陳腐な言葉
bargaining：取引
tough：するのは難しい
enforce：強制する
boasting：自慢する
flattery：ごますり
weeded：取り除く
publicity：評判

These instructions will have little impact. Indeed, by spelling out notions that should be self-evident, they risk making the leadership look ineffectual. They also serve as an eloquent reminder of how rotten much of the party has become. 

self-evident：自明の・わかりきった
 ineffectual：能力に欠ける
eloquent：説得力のある・意味深長な
reminder：通知

That is a problem for Mr Xi. Though he has acquired huge power, he has struggled to exercise real control over officials in the provinces. He may be pleased now to be called the “core”—a term many had thought the party had decided no longer to apply to general secretaries because it risked undermining the leadership’s claim to be a “collective” one. But it will make little difference to his authority. 

core：中心的な
general secretaries：総書記
collective：集団による

The closed-door meeting kicked off a year of political haggling ahead of a party congress which will mark the crucial mid-way point in Mr Xi’s leadership (assuming he decides to follow precedent and step down after a decade in power—some analysts wonder whether he will). After the congress, five of the current seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee are due to retire, along with a third of the Politburo’s other 18 members. 

haggling：やりあう
precedent ：前例

Mr Xi’s predecessors decided most of the Politburo’s current make-up. The question is how many of his own allies he will be able to install during the reshuffle. China’s next leader will probably be chosen from among this group. Expect next year’s gatherings of the party leadership to be more nail-biting than this one. 

make-up：構成
nail-biting：はらはらさせる

来年２０１７年に常務委員の五人が交代するので、この一年は習近平にとって、波乱の一年になる。汚職撲滅とか、人事考課のやり方とかについての告知はあるが、総書記の権力がどうなるのかは今までの集団合議制という思想と今後誰がチャイナセブンに選ばれるのかによって、彼の権力が決まって来る。そうした一年が始まっている。

火曜日。昨日はいつものように、研修資料と本書きだ。最近はできるだけ予定を入れないようにしている。今日も一緒だが、明日の夜は石油会がある。本当は明日は大事な海野塾の日だが、ダブルブッキングをしてしまった。少しボケてきた証拠だ。それで少しショックを受けている。ではまた明日。