Xi Jinping started a momentous congress of China’s Communist Party on Sunday with a 104-minute speech focusing on the challenges that China has faced over the past five years, saying the party leadership has guided the country through “a grim and complex international situation” and “massive risks and challenges.”
Xi, who was appointed to the party’s top post in 2012, is almost certain to receive a third five-year term at the end of the party meeting, discarding a recent precedent of regular transition at the top and cementing a return to strongman rule.
Since Xi took the top job, the nation has seen a comprehensive expansion of its economy, military strength and role as a global power. But China also faces growing challenges, partly of Xi’s own making, including an economy slowed by the forceful implementation of its zero tolerance to COVID-19, a key policy of his.
During the speech, Xi made frequent mention of security goals and issued a broad warning of potential obstacles ahead. “Be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms,” he said.
In other highlights from his speech:
— Xi cited China’s “zero COVID” policy, which seeks to stamp out the coronavirus through extensive testing, quarantines, and lockdowns, as an achievement — a signal that it is not going away soon, even as the pandemic has eased across the world.
— Delegates applauded heartily after Xi said he wanted to achieve peaceful unification with Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its own territory but added he did not rule out the use of force — a long-held position of Beijing. “Resolving the Taiwan issue is the Chinese people’s own matter,” he said.
— Xi said innovation in science and technology would be a key part of the country’s growth, emphasizing original and pioneering scientific research. He said China would move fast to launch major national projects that were strategic, big-picture and of long-term importance, seeming to emphasize state-led initiatives over what might come out of the private sector.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
