Xi Jinping set for super dictator avatar in 3rd term
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, March 6: After the ‘Two Sessions’, Chinese President Xi Jinping is set for assuming third term with accelerated consolidation of power in his hands with aims to crush dissents within the country. Between the Chinese Communist Party Congress last year and the ‘Two Sessions’, Xi has seen the internet-driven explosive protests across the country, which challenged his power.
With ‘Two Sessions’, Xi is seen to be undertaking extraordinary consolidation of power in his hands to complete the break from the ranks of his predecessors Hu Jintao and Den Xioping, who had brought collective leadership to China to align the economic interests with the globalizing world order. They were able to establish Beijing at the centre stage of the global supply chains.
Xi has in the past two term steered the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to his henchmen, packing the politburo with lackeys, while purging those who showed hints of independent political and economic worldviews. Xi has also lapped at the growing dominance of the US to justify his authority by stressing on military buildup and stoking nationalism to distract attention from an economy which has hit the worst level.
Former diplomat Sanjay Bhattacharya wrote on his timeline that the “big ticket items (on the agenda of the Two Sessions) included — dilute State-CCP separation of powers; new internal affairs committee in CCP; reform financial and technology system; and promote confidants”. Xi is indeed seen seeking centralization of power as a consequence of the eruption of widespread protests against the now shelved ‘Zero Covid Policy’ which saw spontaneous participation of students, labourers, academics, farmers and others.
Bhattacharya recalled that the CCP, which had seen the collapse of communism in Europe and also the breakup of the Soviet Union, concluded that anarchy came from conflict between base and superstructure, weakness in the party and slow growth. “The 12th CCP Congress amended Constitution to ensure that leadership of party shall continue for a long time to come” he noted. Under the watch of Xi, China saw its economic growth slumping to three per cent, which was the second worst since 1970s.
Xi’s nationalist stance was seen in his address on Sunday when he sought a relook at the education system, calling for a harmony between “China’s 5000-year-old culture and also the achievements of the western countries”. With absolute powers in his hands, Xi clearly wants the students to yoke to the communist engine to serve the interests of the regime while running the engine of global factories.
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