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Two questions kept coming up in the run-up to the party congress: what will Xi Jinping address in his speech? And how long will he speak?
Short story, nothing new
At less than two hours, Xi was much shorter than five years ago, when he committed his comrades to his goals for three and a half hours. In this regard, more was expected in China. But also in terms of content.
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They didn’t hear anything new: passers-by followed Xi’s speech in Shanghai.
Reuters/Aly Song
There was speculation in advance that China might move away from its drastic zero-Covid strategy after the congress. Those hopes were suddenly dashed. Nothing new regarding pandemic control. The fact that some of the measures taken also have drastic consequences for the affected population was not mentioned in the speech.
There was also nothing new regarding the tense situation with Taiwan. And nothing new regarding geopolitical positioning.
Xi repeated the known positions and propaganda statements. In his eyes, China – under his leadership – has rushed from success to success in recent years. The situation in Hong Kong was brought under control, Covid was successfully fought and foreign trade continued to grow.
warning for the future
And yet, looking to the future, Xi warned the Chinese. They should prepare to withstand “strong winds” and “dangerous storms”.
What sounds like a phrase can also be interpreted as an admission. The party recognizes that many people are suffering from the ongoing lockdowns and the slump in economic growth.
Despite this, Beijing should not move away from the policy it has adopted. At least Xi’s speech gave no indication of that. Not only with Covid, also in other matters such as the Taiwan question.
It is much more likely that China’s running direction will be cemented in the coming week. Because until next Sunday, various party bodies will be reassigned. China observers and experts assume that Xi Jinping can hoist followers to important posts and that he himself can run for a third term.
This will add even more weight to Xi’s word.
