Politics and technology.

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After all the excitement of the “Two Sessions,” China’s annual festival of democracy, a less exciting, but possibly more important event took place in the week after. The Communist Party of China and the State Council together issued the “"Party and State Institutional Reform Plan." It is not exactly a ripping read, but the plan is crucial for understanding China’s priorities and institutional underpinning for policy priorities and actions for the coming years. Among the changes in government and Party, the consolidation in control over technology policy stood out. The Party set up the “Central Science and Technology Commission” and the government reorganized the Ministry of Science and Technology. There is no doubt as to who is in charge: “The executive agency of the Central Science and Technology Commission is fully undertaken by the reorganized Ministry of Science and Technology.” Thanks for reading Bert’s Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The new Party Commission aims to centralize leadership over science and technology, and consolidates the powers of 4 now-abolished leading groups in the field. The Ministry of Science and Technology is repurposed from an implementer to a funder and policymaker for research and development. Other ministries, national laboratories, universities and companies are to implement the policies to achieve China’s goal of indigenous innovation—i.e. less dependence on foreign technology. This goal has become more urgent since the United States announced last October its measures to restrict China’s access to …