Published on: 15.10.2022 – 00:44
The leader was due to be reappointed to an unprecedented third term at the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during its 20th congress, which begins this Sunday, October 16. A sign of personal power, strengthened with the help of an anti-corruption campaign that hardly spared any of his political opponents.
According to many observers, Xi Jinping is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China. With a third term at the helm of the party-state, President Xi is preparing to further strengthen that postulate, he who has already made an impact as the “Great Helmsman” over the past year by incorporating his own thinking into the Chinese constitution. in front of him.
In September, however, rumors of a possible military coup circulated on Twitter. The confusion – which lasted a few hours at most – arose when the Chinese president was conspicuously absent. This “disappearance” actually corresponded to the 10-day quarantine period that everyone has to comply with when returning to China, every Xi Jinping that you are.
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In mid-September, the communist leader set foot outside his country for the first time in more than two years and the emergence of the coronavirus epidemic on Chinese soil, during a Visit to Central Asia. A first challenged just a few weeks earlier 20th Congress of the CCP, which must materialize the extent of their power over the country. But it is also a sign of his confidence in his power, despite all the criticism that has hit in recent weeks.
This flowery landscape symbolizes the grandiose times in which we live. We have great confidence in the future…
The atmosphere in Beijing on the eve of the opening of the XX. congress
dissatisfaction of a frustrated populace
While the rest of the world has returned to normal life by agreeing to coexist with Covid-19, China is still living in isolation and responding promptly to any new epidemic outbreak. Restrictions that have caused trouble and dissatisfaction of a frustrated populace through arbitrary imprisonment and deprivation of liberty. But the “zero Covid” policy, stamped with the seal of Xi Jinping, still and always remains the norm in China. “There is fundamental resistance to ‘zero Covid’, especially after the lockdown in Shanghai. But the measures related to this policy are still applied just as quickly. Xi Jinping managed to codify party thinking. It is now very dangerous to criticize such decisions [liées au “zéro Covid”, NDLR]because that not only criticizes Xi Jinping, but also the party line,” says Christopher K. Johnson of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
However, the criticism is justified. They sometimes come from the highest level of government, for example when the future ex-Prime Minister Li Keqiang is skeptical about the continuation of the “zero Covid” policy. calls for economic recovery from China last August. The communist leader, who will retire after the congress, had been campaigning for “prolongation of reform and opening-up” at the foot of the statue of Deng Xiaoping erected in the iconic city of Shenzhen. The little helmsman had chosen what was then a tiny fishing village to be the laboratory for the reform and opening of China, measures that made Beijing the second world power at the end of the 1970s.
As is always the case when his power is talked about, the Chinese president has pulled out his never-ending anti-corruption campaign, which he launched with fanfare as soon as he took power in 2012. A purge of unprecedented proportions that particularly targeted the Chinese leader’s political opponents. In all, about 1.5 million politicians of all sizes will have borne the brunt of this cabal. “We will see fewer and fewer top-notch leaders fall because the Chinese president has already consolidated his power,” said sinologist Adam Ni, author of the Neican newsletter. However, just weeks before the 20th Congress of the Unity Party, two former senior leaders were found guilty of corruption. Most notably, they were accused of disloyalty to Xi Jinping, a crime of lese-majesté in modern-day China. the old Vice Minister of Public Security Sun LijunHe is accused of forming a “clique” against Xi Jinping, having “no genuine faith or ideals,” “extremely exaggerated political ambitions,” and “being extremely dangerous to the party,” according to state media.
political gang
For Fu Zhenghua, the fall is even more impressive, he who did itone of the key players in this fight against corruption. The former justice minister and Beijing police chief is accused of being part of an anti-party “political gang”. The former rising star of the communist regime and revered by official propaganda, had actively participated in the disgrace of former CCP Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, nicknamed the “Public Security Tsar.” The police is one of the sectors hardest hit by President Xi’s purge campaign. The latter asserted in 2020 that law enforcement, prosecutors and judges must be “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely dependable.” Fu Zhenghua is the fourth former deputy chief of security to fall into the net of the all-powerful Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the very one that allows Xi Jinping to rule the party. “You can’t see resistance until there isn’t. Xi Jinping’s power has given him a gigantic stage, forcing any opposition to hide in silence,” explains Christopher K. Johnson.
When there were doubts about the Beijing strongman’s power over the party, Xi Jinping used his first public appearance to send a strong message. Returning from his trip to Central Asia last September, Xi attended an exhibition titled “Forging Forward into the New Era,” which pays tribute to the country’s achievements under his own rule. The Führer appeared with the entire staff of each party. “The public presence of all members of the CPC Standing Committee is a testament to the consensus surrounding Xi Jinping and that he has the approval of the committee,” said Sung Wen-Ti, a China policy expert at the National University of Australia. A signal to all observers who would assess the power of the Chinese leader as fragile.
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