scorecardresearch
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeOpinion19th Party Congress in China: Xi Jinping is on the road to...

19th Party Congress in China: Xi Jinping is on the road to immortality

Follow Us :
Text Size:

President Xi Jinping has amassed power comparable to Mao Zedong in the last five years, and is set to be immortalised in the constitution.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, also known as the National People’s Congress (NPC), is in session since 18 October.

It is an event that occurs once in five years, where the leadership of China for the next half a decade is decided, as well as the plan of work.

This time, incumbent President Xi Jinping is the cynosure at the NPC. There is a strong expectation that Xi’s thoughts will be enshrined in the constitution along with his name, an honour so far bestowed only upon Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

What happens at the Party Congress?

The Party Congress is attended by more than 2,000 delegates, who are selected from the grass-root level party organisation. Of these, about 300 are elected as Central Committee members or Alternate Central Committee members.

A politburo of 25 people is selected from among the members of the Central Committee. Then, from among these 25, a Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) of seven or nine members is elected. The PSC then runs the country like a Cabinet in other countries.

The members of the PSC walk in on the last day before the entire set of delegates – the order in which they walk in is the seniority between them. This time, they are to walk in on 24 October.

Though these party positions are decided at the NPC, these people will assume their official positions in March 2018.

Another important part of the NPC is the selection of the Central Military Commission (CMC), which controls the armed forces (Peoples Liberation Army). In China, there are actually two CMCs – one belonging to the Communist Party and the other belonging to the State – but they have an identical structure and members.

Xi’s bid for immortality

At the last Party Congress in 2012, the present PSC was elected and Xi Jinping came to power as the President, with Li Keqiang as the Premier (the person in charge of the economy).

But this NPC has become interesting, because in the intervening five years, Xi is said to have amassed power that is almost equal to China’s strongman, Mao Zedong.

In China, a leader is made immortal if an idea enunciated by him is enshrined in the country’s constitution with his name. So far, only Mao and Deng Xiaoping have had that privilege; Jiang Zemin’s ‘three represents’ and Hu Jintao’s ‘harmonious world’ were also included in the constitution, but were not associated with their names.

However, the Seventh Plenum that concluded prior to the NPC has already given Xi’s thought a name: “The thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era”.

Last year, Xi was declared the ‘core’ of the Chinese Communist Party. This is a privilege that was previously bestowed on only Mao, Deng, and Jiang. Of late, Xi has started being addressed as ‘Chairman Xi’, a title that was only used for Mao.

All in all, Xi looks likely to join Mao and Deng in immortality.

All the President’s men

In his five years in power, Xi has changed 16 of the 31 provincial party chiefs.

In November 2015, he announced sweeping military reforms, as part of which, many senior military commanders were shuffled. However, it must be noted that while there’s a popular belief that these reforms are Xi’s handiwork, he only inherited the task and gave further shape to these reforms; the reform era in the Chinese military had begun in the early 2000s.

The anti-corruption campaign that Xi launched upon assuming power has claimed many civilian and military leaders. There is a general feeling that through this campaign, Xi has placed his favourites in the right places.

The age of the leadership is taken seriously in China. Because of this, five of the seven PSC members will change during this NPC. Only President Xi and Premier Li are likely to continue. The politburo itself is likely to be constituted of many of Xi’s proteges.

In the CMC, of which Xi is the chairman, only he and Gen. Xu Qiliang, one of the two vice-chairmen, are likely to continue. All the other nine members of the CMC are likely to change due to two factors: age, and the changes that have taken place due to the military reforms. The open slots in the CMC may be filled with many of the senior military officers who are loyal to Xi.

In the work plan for the next five years, the ‘China Dream’ envisaged by Xi may be given a schedule. Certainly, Xi’s ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative will find a place.

What it means for India and the region

Since a more powerful Xi is likely to emerge from the NPC, the present state of relations between India and China is likely to continue, unless some serious effort is put in to improve it.

If Xi can be convinced that the India-China relationship will be of benefit to China and the region, things may change for the better.

But one thing’s for sure – China is set to make stronger efforts to increase its influence in the region post the 19th NPC.

(The author is a retired Lieutenant General of the Indian Army, and an expert on China affairs. He is currently a member of the National Security Advisory Board. The views expressed are personal.)

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular