Xi’s power set to grow as Communists gather
BEIJING — Having bested his rivals, Chinese President Xi Jinping is primed to consolidate his already considerable power as the ruling Communist Party begins its twice-a-decade national congress today.
From meetings largely cloaked in secrecy, powerful players will emerge publicly in new roles, and Xi will address the nation to lay out his political and economic vision for the world’s second-largest economy over the next five years. Villages will broadcast news of the congress over loudspeakers, a security crackdown has been extended and monitoring of dissidents strengthened.
Xi, who is expected to get a second five-year term as party leader at the gathering, will kick off events with an address indicating whether his personal political theory will be entered into the party constitution alongside those of predecessors such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. The honor was bestowed much later in office for most other leaders.
Such a proclamation, at this time, would broadcast that Xi, already China’s most powerful leader in decades, will continue to dominate Chinese politics for the next five years — and possibly more — with virtually no domestic opposition.
Party congress spokesman Tuo Zhen on Tuesday said the party would continue structural reforms but ruled out any adoption of a multiparty democratic system. “Political structural reform is not something that can be achieved overnight. China will not blindly copy or replicate the models of other countries,” Tuo told reporters at a news conference to discuss the congress’ agenda.
Xi, in his speech, is also expected to recommit the party to achieving the goals of a “moderately well-off society” by 2021 — the 100th anniversary of the party’s founding — and even greater national power and prosperity by 2049, the centenary of the founding of the Communist state.
Those achievements will depend on continued economic growth and the lifting of millions out of poverty, alongside the continued rapid expansion of Chinese military and political power.