China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has secured an unprecedented third term as head of state, completing the transition to his second decade in power, as he seeks to reassert himself as a global statesman in the midst of the Sino-U.S. Leading China in an increasingly fierce situation.
On Friday, the National People’s Congress procedurally awarded Xi a five-year term as president, making him China’s longest-serving head of state since the Communist Party’s victory in 1949. His re-election was unanimously approved by more than 2,900 deputies to the National People’s Congress in Beijing. The 69-year-old broke with convention last fall to serve as general secretary of the Communist Party of China for the third time.
Xi Jinping derives much of his power from his role as leader of the Chinese Communist Party and military, but he has used his largely symbolic presidency to cast himself as China’s voice to the world, pursuing a tough foreign policy to pursue what he sees as China’s proper status as a major country.
Xi, who has taken an increasingly pessimistic view of U.S.-China relations, believes U.S. rhetoric about a potential conflict between the two superpowers could turn out to be a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” according to people familiar with his thinking .
In a rare speech earlier this week at a meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Xi criticized U.S. policy directly, accusing the U.S.-led Western powers of containing China. The next day, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned at a press conference that if the U.S. did not change its course, it would “certainly fall into conflict and confrontation.”
Some analysts say Xi may seek to define his legacy — and declare himself a distinguished leader — by taking bold action over the next five years.
“This will necessarily involve promoting effective party leadership in all areas of the country, ‘standing up’ in foreign policy, and being prepared to vigorously defend China’s interests internationally,” said Freiburg, Germany, despite significant risks. Daniel Leese, professor of Chinese history at the University of Freiburg, said.
China’s State Council Information Office did not respond to a request for comment. The agency handles media inquiries about the Chinese government and state leaders.
According to people familiar with China’s foreign policy, Xi Jinping may speed up foreign trips this year, in part to repair China’s relations with other countries. Relations between China and some countries have been strained due to geopolitical tensions and Xi Jinping’s interruption of foreign trips due to the epidemic. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Mr. Xi was preparing to visit Moscow in the coming months and possibly some European countries.
Xi Jinping faces serious challenges in his third term, especially outside China. Due to the epidemic, Xi Jinping has been staying in China for more than two years. This state of near self-isolation was only ended last fall. However, when he resumed visiting abroad, the world has become more hostile to China’s interests. Largely due to the actions of the United States. The United States has joined forces with allies in Europe and Asia to limit China’s access to key technologies and pressure China to continue supporting Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Xi Jinping has been gradually preparing for a confrontation between China and the United States. When Chinese officials set economic goals for 2022, Xi Jinping told them to ensure that China’s GDP growth rate surpassed that of the United States, in order to prove that China’s one-party system is superior to the American democratic system. China’s GDP growth rate of 3% in 2022 appears to be higher than that of the US at 2.1%. Xi has also strengthened China’s military and accelerated the expansion of its nuclear arsenal in case the United States suppresses China.
Chinese officials and diplomats say they cannot discuss any major issues with their U.S. counterparts without explicit instructions from Mr. Xi. A former senior Chinese diplomat said that in the current environment, few senior officials are willing to smile when posing for photos with Americans.
Xi’s U.S. bashing this week has helped divert attention from the many challenges he faces at home, including sluggish economic growth and the political fallout from an abrupt shift in strict COVID-19 containment measures. Still, barring a full-blown financial crisis or some other similar catastrophe, his position at home seems safe. Xi’s attacks on the United States did not appear in official English-language reports.
Before Xi won his third term as president, no Chinese head of state had served more than 10 years since Mao Zedong declared the People’s Republic more than 70 years ago. That’s partly because of the term limits imposed in the 1982 constitution, as China sought to create safeguards against one-man dictatorship and recover from the policy disasters suffered during Mao Zedong’s erratic dictatorship.
Xi Jinping lifted the two-term limit on the presidency in 2018, ensuring he can continue to hold the post beyond the 10-year cycle. The change aligns the presidency with that of Xi’s two more powerful titles, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, which have no formal term limits.
The approach shocked many in the party and ordinary Chinese, raising concerns that China was slipping back into a Mao-style autocracy. The change, officials said, ensures that Mr. Xi can exercise the “centralized and unified leadership” that China needs to tackle complex challenges and achieve national rejuvenation.
From Xi Jinping’s perspective, the presidency “may provide another official with a political platform , improve its image, influence policy making, and covertly present itself as a potential replacement for Xi Jinping; another president is unlikely to challenge Xi Jinping’s authority, but the possibility is still there, so why take this risk Woolen cloth?”
Since 2018, Xi has continued to concentrate power in his own hands, which he believes is necessary to overcome bureaucratic impasse. Late last month, he and other senior officials approved reforms to party and state institutions that would further entrench the party’s control over policy design and implementation. The part of the plan related to state agencies was approved by the National People’s Congress on Friday.
As Xi Jinping once again demonstrates the party’s dominance of the government and society, Carl Minzner, a senior fellow in the China Studies Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the real risk is that as China gradually slips into a Maoist one-man Authoritarianism, some features of Chinese politics in the 1950s and 1960s, such as elite political instability and policy disasters, will also start to emerge.
CCP insiders say Xi may flex his influence by appointing a member of the Politburo Standing Committee as director of the General Office of the Communist Party Central Committee, or Central Office. The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee is the core decision-making circle of the Communist Party of China and consists of seven members.
According to sources close to the CCP leadership, Cai Qi, the party’s No. 5 figure, is a popular candidate for the head of the Central Office. The Central Office is a powerful body that handles document circulation, scheduling and security for top CCP leaders.
Cai, who served as Xi Jinping’s subordinate early in his political career while working in local government, now oversees the party’s propaganda and censorship apparatus. If Cai Qi becomes director of the Central Office, he will be the highest-ranking official to be appointed to the post since the Mao era.