If any demonstration was needed of the divine leadership of Chairman Xi Jinping, it was found on the opening day of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On October 16, Xi told assembled party luminaries of his grand vision for 1.4 billion Chinese. His report was entitled “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects”.
Normal practise is for the General Secretary to read the report to Congress in its entirety. At the 19th Party Congress five years ago, it took Xi three hours to read . Xi only read a truncated version, delivering it in two hours. It is unclear why this was so, though a few analysts said it might relate to Xi’s health condition. Despite the finest of political theatre at the National Congress, as Xi assumes an unprecedented third term and returns China to the pathology of the troubled Mao era, serious challenges have emerged that not even Xi’s omniscience can solve.
China’s economic growth is waning, tensions with the USA and other countries have risen, state repression of the populace tightens, and Beijing’s reputation around the world is sharply declining. Indeed, since Xi’s 19th National Congress speech, much has changed. Yet, after ten years in power, Xi’s trajectory is clear and this congress will not see a course correction. Rather, Xi is doubling down on former policies and assuming what could almost be described as a one-man dictatorship. In a third term, there will be few constraints on his personal power, with no thought given to a successor. If Xi truly believes he alone can save China and guide it into the future, then he has already succumbed to the temptations of absolute power
Vladimir Putin, surrounded by sycophants, remains a tragic exemplar of someone who reached the same warped conclusions about his prowess. In Xi’s report, the most frequently used words were “people”, “development” and “safety/security”. The words “struggle” and “tech” were used a lot more than in the 19th. National Congress, but there was almost no mention about “market”. The USA released its National Security Strategy, the first under President Joe Biden, and it characterized Sino-US tensions as strategic competition. Xi in his speech, instead of the phrase strategic competition, external threats were likened to impending storms that need to be navigated. Xi stopped well short of painting a picture of China being in a stand-off. Derek Grossman, the senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, concluded: “My top impression from 20th Party Congress is Xi’s China is everything we’ve worried about. It’s a revisionist power that firmly believes it will ultimately prevail in strategic competition against America.