BEIJING: Top Communist Party leaders held a crucial meeting in Beijing by passing a key resolution on the country’s past, state media said on Thursday, which is expected to strengthen the president’s Xi Jinpinghold on to power.
Xi, the unopposed leader of the world’s most populous country, has been leading a meeting of top ruling party leaders in the Chinese capital since Monday.
About 350 members of the powerful Central Committee passed China’s resolution on “Key Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party’s Centennial Struggle” – only the third of its kind in its 100-year history.
The last two resolutions were issued in 1945 under former leaders Mao Zedong and in 1981 under Deng Xiaoping.
In order to maintain “the correct view of the party’s history”, the long manifesto said the party had “written the most spectacular epic in the history of the Chinese nation for thousands of years”, the official Xinhua news agency said.
“The Party Central Committee calls on the entire party, the entire army and people of all ethnic groups to unite around the Party Central Committee with Com. Xi Jinping as the core, to create a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics of Xi Jinping. to be fully implemented,” the Xinhua readout said.
This year’s closed-door plenum paves the way for the 20th Party Congress next autumn, at which Xi will be given a third term in office, securing his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao. widely expected to be handed over.
Analysts say the proposal will help Xi establish his vision for China and tighten his grip on power by reducing the role of past leaders.
Xi’s “idea” embodies Chinese culture and spirit, the text reads, adding that his presence in the “heart” of the ruling party is “of decisive importance … to promote the historical process of the great Chinese nation”. renewal”.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan of Hong Kong’s Baptist University said the party is “rewriting its past to shape Xi Jinping’s future.”
He predicted that this would result in “an even greater form of taboo” in the dark days of Chinese history.
Xi’s tenure has been marked by anti-corruption crackdown, repressive policies in areas such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and an increasingly assertive approach to foreign relations.
He has also created a leadership cult that has rejected criticism, decimated rivalries and dissent and introduced his own political doctrine – “Xi Jinping Thought” – to school students.
State TV’s evening newscast said Xi’s resolution was of “widespread historical significance”.
It showed footage of Xi in front of a red flag and a communist hammer and sickle while addressing delegates at the Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square.
The first such resolution on the party’s history passed under Mao, four years before it seized power, helped to consolidate its authority over the Communist Party.
In the second resolution under Deng Xiaoping, the regime adopted major economic reforms and recognized the “mistakes” of Mao’s methods.
Contrary to the 1981 announcement, Thursday’s release highlighted the violence of the Cultural Revolution, a devastating period of upheaval in the last decade of Mao’s rule that shook the nation’s psyche.
Instead it refers to the period as “socialist revolution and construction”.
Xi has recently overseen his own clout over many aspects of Chinese society, including pop culture, academia, the business of the country’s tech sector and wealthy tycoons.
Chairman Mao is mentioned seven times in the document, while Deng is mentioned only five times.
In comparison, Xi Jingping – who Xinhua said this week was “undoubtedly a key figure in charting the course of history” – is mentioned 17 times.
But some suggested that the resolution might not go as far as Xi would have liked.
Hong Kong-based political analyst Willie Lam said, “Even though he doesn’t use the three words ‘leader for life’ as we expected, he has devoted almost half to Xi Jinping’s achievements.”
“I think it is now widely believed that he will remain the leader for life, but reducing those to three words or four words can create opposition.”
Lam said while Xi ruled for life after making sweeping constitutional changes in 2018, it was still “a contentious issue in the party.”
Xi, the unopposed leader of the world’s most populous country, has been leading a meeting of top ruling party leaders in the Chinese capital since Monday.
About 350 members of the powerful Central Committee passed China’s resolution on “Key Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party’s Centennial Struggle” – only the third of its kind in its 100-year history.
The last two resolutions were issued in 1945 under former leaders Mao Zedong and in 1981 under Deng Xiaoping.
In order to maintain “the correct view of the party’s history”, the long manifesto said the party had “written the most spectacular epic in the history of the Chinese nation for thousands of years”, the official Xinhua news agency said.
“The Party Central Committee calls on the entire party, the entire army and people of all ethnic groups to unite around the Party Central Committee with Com. Xi Jinping as the core, to create a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics of Xi Jinping. to be fully implemented,” the Xinhua readout said.
This year’s closed-door plenum paves the way for the 20th Party Congress next autumn, at which Xi will be given a third term in office, securing his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao. widely expected to be handed over.
Analysts say the proposal will help Xi establish his vision for China and tighten his grip on power by reducing the role of past leaders.
Xi’s “idea” embodies Chinese culture and spirit, the text reads, adding that his presence in the “heart” of the ruling party is “of decisive importance … to promote the historical process of the great Chinese nation”. renewal”.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan of Hong Kong’s Baptist University said the party is “rewriting its past to shape Xi Jinping’s future.”
He predicted that this would result in “an even greater form of taboo” in the dark days of Chinese history.
Xi’s tenure has been marked by anti-corruption crackdown, repressive policies in areas such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and an increasingly assertive approach to foreign relations.
He has also created a leadership cult that has rejected criticism, decimated rivalries and dissent and introduced his own political doctrine – “Xi Jinping Thought” – to school students.
State TV’s evening newscast said Xi’s resolution was of “widespread historical significance”.
It showed footage of Xi in front of a red flag and a communist hammer and sickle while addressing delegates at the Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square.
The first such resolution on the party’s history passed under Mao, four years before it seized power, helped to consolidate its authority over the Communist Party.
In the second resolution under Deng Xiaoping, the regime adopted major economic reforms and recognized the “mistakes” of Mao’s methods.
Contrary to the 1981 announcement, Thursday’s release highlighted the violence of the Cultural Revolution, a devastating period of upheaval in the last decade of Mao’s rule that shook the nation’s psyche.
Instead it refers to the period as “socialist revolution and construction”.
Xi has recently overseen his own clout over many aspects of Chinese society, including pop culture, academia, the business of the country’s tech sector and wealthy tycoons.
Chairman Mao is mentioned seven times in the document, while Deng is mentioned only five times.
In comparison, Xi Jingping – who Xinhua said this week was “undoubtedly a key figure in charting the course of history” – is mentioned 17 times.
But some suggested that the resolution might not go as far as Xi would have liked.
Hong Kong-based political analyst Willie Lam said, “Even though he doesn’t use the three words ‘leader for life’ as we expected, he has devoted almost half to Xi Jinping’s achievements.”
“I think it is now widely believed that he will remain the leader for life, but reducing those to three words or four words can create opposition.”
Lam said while Xi ruled for life after making sweeping constitutional changes in 2018, it was still “a contentious issue in the party.”
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