Armored against Covid, this Saturday ends the five-year conclave that will keep him in power by breaking the rule of retiring after ten years
After an intense week, but during which Beijing is closed to the rest of China, the XX Congress of the Communist Party, which will keep its Secretary General and President of the country, Xi Jinping, in power will come to a close this Saturday. To avoid Covid, this conclave has been held under a bubble that is a metaphor for the regime. While Xi inaugurated it last Sunday, promising a “bright future,” the National Bureau of Statistics delayed the release of third-quarter data on the economy, hit hard by its strict Covid 0 policy.
Exactly, a protest against the restrictions and lockdowns managed to break Beijing’s armor on the eve of the congress. Although there were only two banners hanging from a bridge and a campfire, it is surprising that the protester had time to unroll them before the police arrested him. Since then it has disappeared and the guards of the bridges have been reinforced with guard booths so that no one can bypass the security, another bubble that strives to be as impenetrable as the Great Wall.
On Thursday, Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu echoed the propaganda slogan that advocated “building a community with a shared future for humanity.” But in the United Kingdom, the Chinese consul in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, is leading a diplomatic conflict after he and several of his employees became involved in a fight against some demonstrators in Hong Kong protesting for his legation. As shown in a video, one of the protesters was dragged into the consulate courtyard by consulate officials, who beat him until he was rescued by police. The incident pierces another bubble, that of the diplomacy of the “warrior wolves” who have hardened China’s foreign discourse and are now going from howl to fists.
Yesterday, Deputy Environment Minister Zhai Qing had a bad day explaining China’s achievements in the fight against pollution, which has been significantly reduced in recent years. But after the blue skies that shone during the opening of the congress, Beijing has spent several days in lead and with levels of pollution that are harmful to health. Coming from the combustion of coal in thermal power plants, exhaust pipes and smoke from factories, the PM2.5 particles are so small that they end up not only in the lungs, but also in the bubble of this conclave.
And finally, we have the bubble of journalists, who entered two hotels in Beijing on Wednesday to spend three days in closed loop before attending the closing congress this Saturday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In this final session, the nearly 2,300 delegates will elect the 205 members of the Central Committee and their 171 deputies. In addition, they are expected to vote in favor of reforming the party’s statutes to further strengthen Xi Jinping, who will break the rule of retiring after two five-year terms imposed after Mao’s death to curb his personalist excesses. to prevent. According to some experts, the title of his political doctrine, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era,” could be shortened. Reduced to just “Xi Jinping Thought”, it would thus be equated with the “Great Mate”.
But if there is no change from previous years, Sunday will be the most important day of his coronation as China’s most powerful leader since Mao. Tomorrow morning, the new Central Committee resulting from this congress will elect the 25 members of the Politburo and from there will come the seven who make up the Standing Committee, the top leadership of the regime. In addition to Xi Jinping, who will continue as number one, there will be a renewal of at least four members, including Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who will finish his ten-year term in March. These changes will reveal whether there are still power imbalances between the party’s various factions or whether Xi is able to place all of his trusted men. In theory, it will be known tomorrow, when the new permanent committee appears before the press.
To attend the event, a group of selected media will also remain in the anti-Covid bubble. After a daily PCR since Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, there have been two to avoid the risk of contamination at Xi Jinping’s coronation as much as possible.
Source: La Verdad
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