Xi gets third term as he positions China as chief U.S. rival

Chinese leader Xi Jinping was awarded a third five-year term as the nation’s president Friday, putting him on track to stay in power for life at a time of severe economic challenges and rising tensions with the U.S. and others.

The endorsement of Xi’s appointment by the ceremonial National People’s Congress was a foregone conclusion for a leader who has sidelined potential rivals and filled the top ranks of the ruling Communist Party with his supporters since taking power in 2012.

The vote for Xi was 2,952 to 0 by the NPC, members of which are appointed by the ruling party.

Xi, 69, had himself named to a third five-year term as party general secretary in October, breaking with a tradition under which Chinese leaders handed over power once a decade. A two-term limit on the figurehead presidency was deleted from the Chinese Constitution earlier, prompting suggestions he might stay in power for life.

Xi was also unanimously named head of the Central Military Commission that commands the party’s military wing, the 2 million-member People’s Liberation Army

Xi’s new term and the appointment of loyalists to top posts underscores his near-total monopoly on Chinese political power, eliminating any potential opposition to his hyper-nationalistic agenda of building China into the top political, military and economic rival to the U.S.

Xi and his new Foreign Minister Qin Gang this week have set a highly combative tone for relations with the U.S., amid tensions over trade, technology, Taiwan, human rights and Beijing’s refusal to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Qin warned in unusually stark terms about the possibility of U.s.-china frictions leading to something more dire.

“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” Qin said.

Under Xi, China and Russia announced a “no limits” relationship, and China has pointedly refused to criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while echoing Moscow’s claim that the U.S. and NATO were to blame for provoking the Kremlin. Beijing has also blasted sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine, while Russia has staunchly supported China amid tensions with the U.S. over Taiwan.

MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS Chinese President Xi Jinping takes his oath Friday after he was unanimously elected president in a session of China’s National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.