Chinese Communist Party Prepares Coronation for Xi Jinping

The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Party Congress, which begins in Beijing on Sunday, is being carefully stage-managed as a coronation event for dictator Xi Jinping, who will seize a third term in power at the event and write himself into Communist history as the most consequential leader besides Party founder Mao Zedong.

The 358 members of the Central Committee were “fully briefed and prepared” for the pageantry to come at a four-day closed-door meeting, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported Wednesday. Many of these high-ranking Communists were reportedly hearing about Xi’s full plans for the Party Congress for the first time.

In addition to formally confirming Xi’s role as dictator-for-life — which has been perfectly obvious ever since Xi had the national constitution modified four years ago to remove the two-term limit on his position — the Party Congress will also be used to glorify Xi’s achievements and consecrate his “governing philosophy” of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” as official Communist wisdom.

Most observers expect the Party Congress to very loudly congratulate Xi on handling the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic perfectly, and even more loudly swear their undying allegiance to China’s program of brutal “zero Covid” lockdowns. 

Xi will probably also be applauded for crushing the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, which the Communist Party has denounced as treason and foreign collusion. The SCMP quoted Chinese state media reports that Party leaders will be expected to applaud Xi’s “great struggle” against “foreign interference” in Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang province as well as Hong Kong.

The Party Congress will applaud Xi for supposedly encountering great success in his “anti-corruption” campaign, which looks more like a massive ongoing political purge of Xi’s enemies to skeptical foreign observers.

The SCMP suspected the Party Congress will be a somewhat less upbeat affair for some current members of the Chinese Communist leadership, as a massive “reshuffle” of top positions will begin next week and continue through March. The SCMP predicted “nearly half the seats on the Central Committee will change hands,” with many of them going to younger officials.

China’s state Xinhua news service offered a taste of things to come by quoting from the draft report of the Communist Party’s Central Committee:

It was noted at the session that over the past year, confronted with a complex and challenging international situation and demanding tasks of advancing reform, promoting development, and maintaining stability at home, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee has fully implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and united and led the whole Party, the armed forces and the people of all ethnic groups in securing new and major achievements in the undertakings of the Party and the state, creating favorable conditions for convening the 20th CPC National Congress.

The past five years since the 19th CPC National Congress have been unusual and extraordinary, said the communique.

Over the past five years, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has held high the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and united and led the whole Party, the armed forces and the people of all ethnic groups in completing the historic mission of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and thus realizing the first centenary goal, and in embarking on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing toward the second centenary goal, the communique said.

Xinhua rambled on a great length about how Xi has “united” the Chinese people and every branch of Beijing’s massive bureaucracy, pointedly including “Chinese people of all ethnic groups,” to serve “the common will of the Party.” No one should expect to hear any remorse about herding millions of Uyghur Muslims into concentration camps or using them as slave labor during Xi’s coronation.

The state-run Global Times on Tuesday used an interview with Saidmukhtar Saidkasimov, former deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan, to predict a major theme of the Communist Party Congress will be that the entire world is supposedly “amazed” by China’s achievements under Xi’s leadership.

Saidkasimov said “political figures, experts, and researchers from all over the world” will be paying “close attention” to the Party Congress because China is uniquely positioned to offer firm guidance and “constructive proposals” to a world in turmoil.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that at present the eyes of the peoples of the world are turned to this major political event in China in anticipation of real, pragmatic decisions, proposals, and actions aimed at reducing the growing tension in international relations and contribute to global peace and prosperity,” he said.