China’s defiant Xi issues warning of ‘stormy seas’
Speech makes no mention of US in stressing security
President Xi Jinping of China defended his hardline reign Sunday, presenting himself to a congress of China’s ruling elite as the leader whose tough policies had saved the nation from the ravages of the pandemic and was now focused on securing China’s rise amid multiplying global threats.
Xi, who is poised to claim a groundbreaking third term as leader at the end of the weeklong Communist Party congress, used his opening report to argue that his decade in power had brought historic gains. He pointed to the party’s campaign against corrupt officials, its cleanup of the environment and its crackdown on anti-government protesters in Hong Kong as key victories. He described Chinese foreign policy as a series of successes in fending off Western “bullying” and protectionism, apparently referring to disputes over human rights, technology and Beijing’s claim on Taiwan.
But his praise was coupled with a somber warning that the nation must stand united behind the party to cope with a world he depicted as increasingly turbulent — and hostile. And although he did not mention the United States by name, his distrust of the world’s other great power was an unmistakable backdrop to that exhortation.
“Be mindful of dangers in the midst of peace,” Xi said. “Get the house in good repair before rain comes, and prepare to undergo the major tests of high winds and waves, and even perilous, stormy seas.”
Speaking to a hall filled with delegates in face masks, he made no concessions to critics who have argued that his relentless “zeroCOVID” policies of lockdowns, mass testing and intrusive surveillance have pushed China into a cul-desac of unsustainable restrictions and economic damage. He argued instead that such tough policies, and the party’s dominance in nearly all aspects of everyday life, was what was needed to protect China’s 1.4 billion people.
He outlined a vision of the Communist Party leading China toward superpower status, saying that sweeping mobilization by the state was needed to ward off international threats circling around China. He told the congress that he would push for faster homegrown technological innovation and would upgrade China’s already formidable domestic security apparatus.
He called for China to exert further influence on world affairs directly and through institutions like the United Nations, while at the same time cautioning that the coming years would pose new challenges for his country.
“His stance this morning showed that U.S.China confrontation will continue,” said Willy Lam, a longtime analyst of Chinese politics in Hong Kong who is a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. “Every time Xi Jinping speaks, he emphasizes the increasingly complicated and harsh international climate, and the implication is clear.”
In a sign of Xi’s singular focus on stifling perceived threats to China and party rule, Xi’s full report mentioned “national security” 26 times, more even than the 18 times in his longer report to the 2017 congress. In a congress report given by Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, a decade ago, “national security” got four mentions.
The message behind Xi’s rhetoric was that China must “continue to circle the wagons — that a strong party leadership is necessary to fend off these increasing external threats,” said William Klein, a former U.S. diplomat with long experience with China who now works for FGS Global. “There’s a broad, stable, near-consensus majority in China now that truly believes the United States has the intention to disrupt China’s modernization drive.”
Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has built a powerful security apparatus that employs extensive networks of cameras and other surveillance equipment, backed by artificial intelligence, to monitor dissent online and on the streets. Threats, in Xi’s view, exist everywhere — not just enemies at the border, but in subversive ideas in classrooms and museums.
Xi also repeated China’s long-standing demand that Taiwan, the self-governed island democracy of 24 million people, accept unification under Beijing. He reiterated that China wanted to gain Taiwan peacefully but would never rule out force, which he said could be needed against external intervention — a clear reference to the United States and its allies.
“‘America’ was not mentioned from the beginning to the end, but almost everything points to America,” said Wang Hsin-hsien, a professor who specializes in Chinese politics at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, of Xi’s comments.