China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has warned of difficult times and "potential dangers". At the start of the Communist Party Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday, the President called on the people of billions to "prepare for the worst cases". "So brace yourself and be prepared to withstand high winds, heavy seas, and even dangerous storms."
Internationally, the party leader saw "immense risks and challenges" as well as "global changes that have not been seen in a century". His almost two-hour speech in front of red flags and a golden hammer and sickle was strongly ideological. He called on the approximately 2,300 delegates to loyally follow his leadership in order to form a "modern socialist country". The next five years are crucial for this.
He dashed hopes that the strict zero-Covid policy could be relaxed. He called them "necessary" and spoke of "enormous, encouraging achievements". As the rest of the world tries to live with the virus, China continues to pursue a zero-tolerance policy – with lockdowns, mass testing, quarantines and digital contact tracing, which has plunged the second largest economy into a growth crisis.
The focus of the party congress, which takes place only every five years, is the expansion of Xi Jinping's power. The delegates are to appoint a new central committee with followers and anchor its ideology even more deeply as a guideline in the party's constitution. "The constant changes will essentially ensure that the party has to do what Xi Jinping says," said Nis Grünberg of the China Institute Merics in Berlin.
Amid rising tensions over Taiwan, Xi Jinping threatened military action. China is striving for a peaceful "unification", "but we will never commit ourselves to abandoning the use of force". His leadership will keep the "option to take all necessary measures". Beijing regards the democratic island republic only as part of the People's Republic. On the other hand, Taiwan has long seen itself as independent.
The congress is taking place amid massive security measures, which have been tightened after a rare protest by a man at a bridge with a well-publicized banner against "dictator Xi Jinping" on Thursday. Once the week-long deliberations are complete, the 69-year-old is set to be confirmed for a third term, which is unusual. While he disregards previously respected term limits, the Politburo around him is being re-staffed for reasons of age.
After ten years of Xi Jinping's tenure, observers drew a critical balance: "We have evolved from collective leadership to autocracy, from term limits to lifelong leadership, from achievement to loyalty, from private to state sector, from wealth to shared prosperity, from globalization to technical autonomy," said Richard McGregor of Australia's Lowy Institute. Ultimately, coexistence between China and the United States has also become "confrontation".
Chinese political scientist Wu Qiang saw growing isolation as China sealed off its borders because of the zero-Covid policy and relied on self-reliance. "I believe that 40 years of reform and opening-up have come to an end," said the lecturer, who had to leave the renowned Tsinghua University in Beijing because of critical analysis. "China has become strong through globalization and reform and opening-up and has retained this power, so it will not be easy to detach." But ideologically, the policy of reform and opening up had been abandoned.
