China’s Xi secures his political future by rewriting the past
China’s Communist Party delivered Xi Jinping a breakthrough on Thursday that will help secure his political future — by rewriting history.
Senior party officials in a closed-door meeting in Beijing approved a decision reassessing the party’s 100-year history and enshrining Xi in the party’s official firmament of era-defining leaders. The move, signaled in an official summary of the meeting, elevated Xi to a stature alongside Mao Zedong, the founder of the country’s Communist rule, and Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of its economic takeoff.
Under Xi’s leadership, China has “made historic achievements and undergone a historic transformation,” said an official summary, or communiqué, from the meeting, hailing what the party described as successes in the economy, foreign policy, fighting pollution and containing COVID-19. This week’s meeting was the start of a momentous year in Chinese politics. Its announcements will play a big part in the leadership shake-up at a Communist Party congress that is likely to be held in 2022, when Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, appears on track to secure a third five-year term as the party’s general secretary. There is no rival leader or heir apparent in view.
The decision to place Xi among the country’s historical giants will bolster his argument that he is the only leader capable of steering China toward superpower status through uncertain times. China navigated the COVID-19 pandemic relatively well, but it faces economic risks from debtladen companies and local governments social pressures as its population gets older, and growing distrust from the United States and other Western countries.
On Thursday, in a recorded video to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Xi urged Asian nations to resist forming “small circles on geopolitical grounds,” a clear reference to efforts by President Joe Biden to shore up alliances of democratically minded countries to counter China.
By claiming a third term as party leader, as he is expected to do next year, Xi would break the pattern of staying in power for only two terms. In 2018, Xi made a bold power play by eliminating a term limit on the presidency, opening the way for him to lead China indefinitely.
Haiti fuel crisis: The U.S. government is urging U.S. citizens to leave Haiti because of the country’s deepening insecurity and a severe lack of fuel that has affected hospitals, schools and banks. Gas stations remained closed Thursday.
The rare warning from the U.S. State Department comes as Haiti’s government and police are struggling to control gangs that have blocked fuel distribution terminals for several weeks.
“Widespread fuel shortages may limit essential services in an emergency, including access to banks, money transfers, urgent medical care, internet and telecommunications, and public and private transportation options,” the State Department warned on Wednesday. “The U.S. Embassy is unlikely to be able to assist U.S. citizens in Haiti with departure if commercial options become unavailable.”
It’s unclear how many U.S. citizens currently live in Haiti.
Trump Jan. 6 records: A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily blocked the release of White House records sought by a U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, granting — for now — a request from former President Donald Trump.
The administrative injunction issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit effectively bars until the end of this month the release of records that were to be turned over Friday. The appeals court set oral arguments in the case for Nov. 30.
The stay gives the court time to consider arguments in a momentous clash between the former president, whose supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, and President Joe Biden and Congress, who have pushed for a thorough investigation of the riot.
The National Archives, which holds the documents, says they include call logs, handwritten notes, and a draft executive order on
“election integrity.”
Sudan general: Sudan’s top general reappointed himself as head of the army-run interim governing body on Thursday, a sign that he’s tightening his grip on the country two weeks after he led a coup against civilian leaders.
The move by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan — along with other appointments he announced for the Sovereign Council — was expected to anger Sudan’s pro-democracy protest movement, sidelined in the coup. Since the Oct. 25 takeover, pro-democracy leaders have demanded the military relinquish power and refuse to be part of any administration in which a military maintains a role.
Thursday’s development, announced in a bulletin by Sudan’s state television, comes amid repeated promises from the military rulers that they will hand over power to civilian authorities.
Sudan’s culture and information minister, Hamza
Baloul, condemned the appointments. He described Thursday’s announcement as “an extension of the coup” and said pro-democracy protesters are right to refuse to negotiate with military leaders.
Poland-Belarus crisis: Thousands marched in Warsaw on Thursday to mark Poland’s Independence Day, led by far-right groups calling for strong borders, while its troops blocked hundreds of new attempts by migrants to enter the country illegally from neighboring Belarus in a tense standoff.
Security forces patrolled the capital for the parade, which was peaceful, unlike those in recent years that have seen violence by some extremists.
“Today there are not only internal disputes. Today there are also external disputes. Today there is an attack on the Polish border,” march leader Robert Bakiewicz said in a speech, adding that all Poles
should support those who are protecting the eastern frontier.
The march was overshadowed by events along Poland’s border with Belarus, where thousands of riot police, troops and guards are turning back migrants, many from the Middle East, who seek to enter the European Union.
Queen Elizabeth II: Queen Elizabeth II, who has canceled recent public appearances on her doctors’ advice, will attend a national service of remembrance for Britain’s war dead this weekend, Buckingham Palace confirmed Thursday.
The palace said the 95-year-old monarch will watch the somber ceremony at the Cenotaph memorial in central London from a balcony.
It said that “mindful of her doctors’ recent advice,” the queen will not attend another engagement, the opening of the Church of England’s governing General Synod on Tuesday.