Chinese President Xi Jinping’s greater power at the 20th National Congress will not help the Communist Party of China (CCP)’s future disintegration, said the analysts, believing that the CCP will continue to run wild in the direction of disintegration because Xi basically will not make significant changes to the party even after securing the third term.
CCP is all set to change from a “One-Party System” to a “One-Person System” with Xi Jinping marking his third term at the 20th Party Congress to be held on October 16 in Beijing, at which he is widely expected to extend his hold on power for another five years — a move that would cement his status as the country’s most powerful leader in decades.
The CCP holds a significant congress every five years, during which it reviews government and party work and approves plans for the next five years. The current “convention” within the party is that officials at the top leadership are replaced every 10 years, and Xi Jinping will break this convention.
While there is murmur within the party about breaking the two-term convention, the 2021 plenary session passed a landmark resolution that cemented Xi Jinping’s “core” position in CCP political history and extended his time in power to achieve A record third term, or even a lifetime in power, clears the way, The Singapore Post reported.
China’s constitution was amended in 2018 by the National People’s Congress, and the country’s parliament removed the president’s two-term limit. Xi Jinping, also declared the party’s core leader, officially ended the collective leadership model of equals among the party’s seven standing committee members.
Xi’s third term in office marks his firm grip on the party and the country, and he will attend important international summits after the 20th Party Congress, including the G20 summit in Indonesia on November 15-16 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Thailand a day later.
Critics say the one-party system has become one-man under Xi. Under his leadership, Beijing has firmly established control over Hong Kong, downplaying “one country, two systems” and escalating regional tensions in Taiwan. Beijing claims Taiwan is part of China, but the CCP has never ruled Taiwan for a day in history, The Singapore Post reported.
In the mainland, under the rule of the CCP, the extent to which Chinese people are forbidden to speak is simply unbelievable, just like before the collapse of many Chinese dynasties in history, showing a failure.
On the economic front, Xi Jinping’s first term was plagued by the problems of reducing high debt, demographic dividend, industrial overcapacity and eradicating extreme poverty.
His second term, dominated by dealing with the US trade war and the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that originated in Wuhan, has brought relations between the world’s two largest economies to their lowest point.
Xi’s insistence on a zero-Covid policy has seen cities across China imposing strict lockdowns to stamp out infections — an attempt that appears increasingly futile in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Its often ruthless and chaotic enforcement — as seen during a two-month lockdown in the financial hub of Shanghai — has sparked waves of public outcry, with many growing increasingly frustrated with the unending restrictions on their daily life.
The zero-tolerance approach has also crippled economic growth — long a source of legitimacy for the party. Unemployment of youth surged to a record high of 20 per cent, while a rural banking scandal and a spiraling property crisis sparked protests.
While, Xi Jinping has now announced that his post-20th work will focus on achieving shared prosperity to reduce rising inequality at home, give state-owned enterprises a more significant role, and weaken the role of the private sector. The outside world is full of scepticism about this propaganda, The Singapore Post reported.
Observers believe that Xi may be able to gain power at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, but the predicament the CCP is facing now is structural, and it has fallen into a relatively complex situation both at home and abroad.