Xi rose to the level to thunderous applause from some 2,300 carefully selected attendees who had gathered in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People for the event.
In a keynote speech of about a hundred minutes, Xi promoted and defended a wide variety of policies under his rule and said Congress was taking a stand at a “critical moment” for the country.
Xi celebrated the party’s continued efforts to eliminate covid-19, which imposed heavy restrictions on people’s lives and hit the country’s economy, as a major achievement.
He said the technique had “protected people’s protection and fitness to some extent. “
Xi also hailed as good fortune his crackdown on corruption, which has resulted in thousands of jailed and critics said it had been used to stifle dissent and opposition to his rule.
Xi said the anti-corruption crusade had eliminated “grave latent dangers” within the Communist Party, army and state.
“The fight against corruption has won a landslide victory and has been consolidated overall,” he said.
Xi also focused on two of China’s most sensitive security and sovereignty issues at the beginning of his speech: Hong Kong, after pro-democracy protests were crushed there, and Taiwan.
He praised Hong Kong’s transition from “chaos to governance,” while his pledge to “never engage in abandoning the use of force” on the self-governing island of Taiwan received enthusiastic applause.
In a speech focused primarily on domestic issues, Xi told delegates that China will “actively participate in global governance on climate change. “
Xi also reiterated that China opposes a “Cold War mentality” in foreign diplomacy, but did not mention the dispute with the United States.
“China (. . . ) it resolutely opposes any bureaucracy of hegemony and politics of force, opposes the Cold War mentality, opposes interference in the internal politics of countries, opposes double standards,” he said.
Xi referred to the war in Ukraine.
If all goes according to plan for Xi, the 69-year-old will be named party secretary-general after the end of the week-long meeting, cementing his position as China’s top tough leader since Mao Zedong.
If he is selected as party leader for a five-year term as scheduled, Xi will almost certainly be elected president at China’s annual National People’s Congress assembly in March.
Xi and the other more sensible party members are expected to be introduced on Oct. 23, a day after the congress closes.
In the highly choreographed conclave, usually behind closed doors, delegates will also decide on the members of the party’s 200-plus or minus-200-member Central Committee, which in turn selects the 25-person Politburo and its omnipotent Standing Committee, the country’s highest governing body. .
A heavy police presence in position around Beijing early Sunday as the government prepares for Congress.
A fleet of buses transported journalists and other participants to an empty Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People.
Participants passed a series of security checks before entering the room, where a giant hammer and sickle emblem hung above the level on which key leaders would sit.
“Long live the great, excellent and kind Chinese Communist Party,” shouted one of the bright red banners decorating the room.
In the run-up to Congress, Chinese web censors removed virtually all references to reports of a rare protest in Beijing that referred to banners denouncing Xi and the country’s Covid policies.
Video footage and images shared on social media on Thursday gave the impression of showing a protester covering two hand-painted banners on the side of a bridge with slogans criticizing Communist Party policies.
(AFP)