OUR Xi Jinping defended his tough policy against COVID-19 today during his conference opening speech Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in which he is expected to serve a third five-year term as general secretary of the ruling party, the most powerful power in the country, within a week.

Not surprisingly, Xi is expected to extend his term the day after the end of the conference on September 23, making him the most powerful leader since the People’s Republic of China founder Mao Zedong (1949-1976).

The 20th Congress of the CCP is taking place “at a decisive moment when the entire Party and people of all nationalities are committed to the path of building a modern socialist country,” Xi said in his opening remarks to some 2,300 delegates gathered in Beijing. the massive Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Taking the podium to the applause of the participants, 69-year-old Xi Jinping began to take stock of the past five years and present his roadmap for the next five years for more than an hour and a half.

Xi condemned the interference of “foreign powers” in the affairs of Taiwan, an island that Beijing considers part of its territory. “We will try to realize the prospect of peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the greatest efforts, but we never commit ourselves to renounce the use of force and reserve the opportunity to take all necessary measures,” he said.

“We fought resolutely against separatist tendencies and interference, and demonstrated our determination and ability to defend national sovereignty, territorial integrity and oppose Taiwan’s independence,” the Beijing leader also stressed.

He also noted that Hong Kong has gone “from chaos to governance” since Beijing took over the former British colony, where massive pro-democracy protests took place in 2019.

Protecting “people’s health”

Basically, while one of the key questions raised is whether to uphold the strict “zero COVID-19” strategy that is inextricably linked to China’s president, Xi Jinping noted that through this policy, China has put human lives first. . China has “protected people’s safety and health to the highest degree and achieved significant positive results by coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development,” he said.

This “zero COVID-19” policy has increased public scrutiny of Chinese citizens, whose movements are now electronically recorded, in a country that has already come under international criticism for human rights violations. The country’s lockdown and repeated lockdowns have stalled growth, which is expected to be the lowest in four decades this year, except during the COVID19 period.

This week, despite heightened security measures in the Chinese capital, a man held up two banners hostile to the Chinese leader and his “COVID-19 zero” policy on a bridge in Beijing. One called on citizens to go on strike and overthrow the “traitor dictator Xi Jinping.”

“serious risks”

In his speech, Xi also defended his anti-corruption campaign against criticism from those who accuse him of using it to destroy his opponents and consolidate his power. “The fight against corruption has won a landslide victory and has been fully established, removing serious, hidden dangers within the party, state and military,” Xi stressed.

At least 1.5 million people have been punished in this campaign, which Xi launched since he came to power in 2012, to persecute “tigers” (top officials) and “flies” (low-level officials) according to official figures. wanting a bribe. This attack intensified as the conference approached.

Finally, the Chinese president pledged that his country, one of the biggest polluters on the planet, would “strongly promote” the fight against climate change.

Approximately 2,300 KKK delegates coming to Beijing from all provinces, some dressed in their traditional costumes, will appoint by next Saturday a new Central Committee, a kind of party parliament of about 200 members, whose Politburo and its 25 leaders make up the body that decides solution.

In fact, the delegates will only ratify the decisions made in advance by the various wings of the CCP: after all, this is how Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, who was chosen as a compromise person between the wings before establishing his power for many years.

Of key importance will be the composition of the future Standing Committee, a group of seven to nine people at the apex of power. But no hint of a potential successor is expected from Xi, analysts say.

^{According to REUTERS, AFP, APE-MPE}