Xinhua (January 10) released the Plan to Build the Rule of Law in China (2020-2025). This is the first document to be released after Xi Jinping held a major conference on building law-based government in November. The plan includes sections on: Building respect for the constitution; Developing more legislation governing national security, internet finance, big data, and cloud computing; Placing checks on the exercise of administrative power; Promoting the fairer application of judicial power; Assessing the progress of the rule of law initiative; and Governing the Party by more consistent rules.  The plan also pledges to explore a detailed strategy for the application of “One Country, Two Systems” in Taiwan, in a bid to push forward the process of unification. The Beijing Daily (January 11) publicised the plan to build the rule of Law with a commentary under headline "Popularity is the bright background of Xi Jinping’s rule of law"! The Guangming Daily similarly frontpaged a report on the Rule of Law.

(Comment: Analysts point out that Xi Jinping had revealed that he wanted a 'One Country, Two Systems' plan for Taiwan last January and that inclusion of Taiwan in this plan could indicate that Xi Jinping is losing patience with the status quo vis-à-vis Taiwan.)