The Communist Party of China (CPC) will hold its congress on Oct. 16, state media said Tuesday. Barring a dramatic change, this meeting should allow Xi Jinping to become the first president to remain in power for a third term.
At the previous congress in 2017, the strong man from Beijing had entered his “thought” into the founding documents of the Party. A few months later, the Constitution was amended to remove the limit of two presidential terms. Xi Jinping can therefore in theory preside over the People’s Republic for life.
This congress, the 20th since the creation of the CCP in 1921, should also lead to a broad recomposition of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the all-powerful body of seven members which holds the reality of power in China. According to unwritten traditions, part of the current members of the ruling coven reach the age at which they are supposed to retire.
With 2,300 delegates, the CPC’s general assembly will be held at “a key moment when the whole Party and all ethnic groups in the country are committed to building a modern socialist country,” state television said on Tuesday. CCTV.
Consolidation of power
While the communist regime gives the appearance of unity, behind the scenes rivalries are rife and the president is still seeking to consolidate his power, analysts say.
Since Mr. Xi took over as head of the party-state in late 2012, more than 1.5 million cadres have been punished as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, according to official figures dating back to several years. The Chinese number one has long been suspected of using this campaign to attack his internal opposition.
The Party Congress will open at a time when China is facing many difficulties. After years of frantic development, the Asian giant is now facing a sharp slowdown in its growth. And unemployment has risen sharply among 16-24 year olds (nearly 20%). However, the Party derives its main legitimacy from the increase in the purchasing power of the population.
Zero Covid strategy criticized
The zero Covid strategy, defended tooth and nail by Xi Jinping, is also increasingly contested by the general public and especially the business community, who are alarmed at the threats that confinements pose to activity.
The authorities decree localized confinements, impose in certain places PCR tests every 72 or even 48 hours and pose the risk of quarantine on any traveler going to another province.
Internationally, points of contention have also multiplied between Xi Jinping’s China and the great American rival: trade and technology, the fate of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, repression in Hong Kong but also tensions around Taiwan.
China thus carried out at the beginning of August unprecedented military maneuvers in their scale near this island on which Beijing claims sovereignty. A message of firmness addressed to Washington following the visit deemed provocative to Taiwan by the American number three Nancy Pelosi.
Again on Tuesday, Taipei and Beijing had heated exchanges over a recent series of Chinese drone incursions over Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands. Denouncing a “provocation”, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen promised “firm countermeasures”.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
