< p _ngcontent-sc90="" class="news-annotation">Chinese leader Xi Jinping made a very important speech at the Communist Party Congress, where he summed up his work over the past 5 years and outlined a plan for the coming five years. But this time, his speech promises to be a turning point for China's domestic policy and the formation of foreign policy relations with other countries.
Xi Jinping is trying to maintain power and go to the third term of his reign, which has been done before only the two most famous Chinese leaders are Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) supports it, it will mean that the course of global confrontation with the West will be maintained, and there will definitely not be any changes in Chinese policy in the near future.
Xi Jinping and the Taiwan issue
The Chinese authorities have once again stressed that unification with Taiwan will never disappear from the agenda in China. Xi separately emphasizes that Beijing is striving for a peaceful unification with Taiwan, but does not rule out a forceful solution to this “problem.” This conclusion received a wave of applause from the audience of 2,400 CCP delegates.
Xi Jinping's speech to the Communist Party: watch the video
We insist on seeking peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and best efforts, but we never promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the opportunity to take all necessary measures,” the Chinese leader said.
At the same time, the United States came to the conclusion that Xi Jinping will act more decisively and aggressively on this issue. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken suggested that China had decided to take over Taiwan at a much faster time than previously thought. Blinken stressed that the status quo with respect to Taiwan no longer satisfies the Chinese authorities.
The Hong Kong scenario, which is constantly mentioned in Beijing, does not suit Taiwan itself, because the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong was a powerful signal that the “one country, two systems” principle will be destroyed by the Chinese Communist Party at the first opportunity . Thus, the military option of “unification” of mainland China with Taiwan is becoming more and more likely.
China is building an army, preparing for war
The issue of China's military forces also became one of the main issues in Xi Jinping's speech to the CPC. Xi stressed plans to build a world-class army by 2027. Thus, China is trying to get closer to parity in conventional forces with the United States in the next 5 years.
Thus, it can be assumed that China is preparing for a great war for Taiwan at the end of Xi Jinping's likely third term. The CIA came to the same conclusion. American intelligence said that the Chinese leader had already instructed his army to prepare to capture the island.
Success in this case could give another impetus to further cementing power in Xi's hands and become a powerful “advertisement” of his fourth term. Of course, China is still very far behind the United States in terms of weapons, but the speed with which China is increasing its military is also amazing. And in this matter, Xi Jinping is ready to give in to one of the most important components of his political system, namely social programs and the fight against poverty.
No more prosperity
< p>Xi Jinping's rush to create a powerful army could cost China to limit social spending for the population. China has long emphasized that its path is unique, and their governance model is based on quality growth and the pursuit of “common prosperity.” And it seems that “common prosperity” will have to be abandoned.
In his speech, Xi Jinping once again emphasized the importance of saving and further encouraged thrift. These theses did not sound in his speech five years ago, which may indicate a partial change in course.
A powerful army needs to increase spending, and amid a certain number of economic and energy crises within China, ordinary Chinese will be forced to return to an enhanced austerity regime.
However, it is not only the working class that is undergoing changes in its budget. In order to balance these processes, China approved a number of decisions to redistribute funds from wealthy Chinese businessmen, who actually lost most of their own capital in favor of the state.
This practice caused a certain amount of doubt, because, at first glance, it really helps the Chinese planning system to cope with current challenges, and on the other hand, it rejects foreign investors, which can cause problems in the long term.
Confidence that the Chinese state will not actually “dispossess” your capital any more, so such government decisions have had a serious impact on the investment climate in China.
Covid zero obsession< /h2>
Millions of Chinese listened attentively to Xi Jinping's speech, holding out the hope that the super-tight covid-related bans would finally be eased, as the Chinese authorities' approach to combating the coronavirus increasingly resembles real repression.
However, Xi Jinping is once again once stressed that China will pursue the so-called “zero covid policy”, that is, tight restrictions in large cities will remain until the covid is completely brought under control.
It should be notedthat this is increasingly reminiscent of a purely political decision by Xi Jinping, moreover, focused not on China's domestic policy, but outwards. At the UN General Assembly, when covid was at the peak of its relevance, Xi Jinping emphasized in his speech that China was able to cope with the epidemic so quickly precisely because of its planning system, which helped to mobilize the population and all levels of government in a short time. Thus, he emphasized the advantages of an authoritarian planned approach over Western democracies.
And indeed, China then managed to significantly minimize the impact of the coronavirus on its own economy and prevent a large number of casualties among the population, especially in the first months of the pandemic.
However, two years have passed, and today, when the whole world has come to a more liberal and balanced approach to covid, the Chinese model is increasingly reminiscent of some fix idea and the fight against windmills. Beijing wants to completely eliminate the coronavirus, neglecting public needs.
China's social media riot targets Xi
Tough approach to fight coronavirus leads to unprecedented earlier criticism towards the Chinese government and personally Xi Jinping. Slogans attacking the Chinese leader were hung by lone protesters over the Beijing bridge, and then this trend spread to several other cities in China.
Among them: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which suggests that it is the residents of metropolitan areas that are extremely dissatisfied with the Chinese government's covid policy.
Residents of metropolitan areas are dissatisfied with the policies of Xi/CNN
We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns and control. We want respect, not lies, one of the banners says.
The Chinese censorship machine is trying to block anti-government calls and is fighting the spread of this discontent with all its might. However, protest voices still break through the blockade of the Chinese censor.
Most of all anti-government calls are written in public toilets that are protected from CCTV cameras/screenshot from Chinese social networks
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You should not expect really large-scale protests in China, because even criticism of the current government is punished there with real imprisonment. However, other members of the party, who are opposed to the idea of giving Xi Jinping the opportunity to stay in power, see similar discontent. p> Xi Jinping seems to be gradually moving away from establishing affairs within China. A series of economic crises and dubious decisions on the distribution of capital can drive China into a crisis, when the economy, although it continues to grow, but not at such a powerful pace, which previously supported the popularity of the Chinese leader. At the same time, a tough policy against covid turns away from him the inhabitants of the most populated cities in the country.
If the party still supports the idea of leaving Xi for a third term, he will be forced to show a strong result of his rule. So far, he has nothing but “reunification” with Taiwan that he can use as his own achievement.
At the same time, given the US position on protecting democracy in Taiwan, a direct clash between the American and Chinese armies in such a scenario is unlikely to be avoided.
