Chinese President Xi Jinping called for accelerating the building of a world-class military while touting the fight against COVID-19 as he kicked off a Communist Party Congress by focusing heavily on security and reiterating policy priorities.
Xi, 69, is widely expected to win a third leadership term at the conclusion of the week-long congress that began on Sunday (Oct 16) morning, cementing his place as China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.
Roughly 2,300 delegates from around the country gathered in the vast Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square amid tight security and under blue skies after several smoggy days in the Chinese capital.
Xi described the five years since the last party congress as “extremely uncommon and abnormal”, during a speech that lasted less than two hours – far shorter than his nearly three-and-a-half-hour address at the 2017 congress.
“We must strengthen our sense of hardship, adhere to the bottom-line thinking, be prepared for danger in times of peace, prepare for a rainy day, and be ready to withstand major tests of high winds and high waves,” he said.
He mentioned “safety” or “security” 73 times, compared with 55 times in 2017, according to state news agency Xinhua’s transcripts, and said China will strengthen its ability to build a strategic deterrent capability.
By comparison, Xi said “reforms” 16 times in the televised speech, far fewer than the 70 mentions five years ago. Xi called for strengthening the ability to maintain national security, ensuring food and energy supplies, securing supply chains, improving the ability to deal with disasters and protecting personal information.
The biggest applause came when Xi restated opposition to Taiwan independence.
On Taiwan, Xi said, “We have resolutely waged a major struggle against separatism and interference, demonstrating our strong determination and ability to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose Taiwan independence.”
The delegates, wearing blue face masks, responded with loud and prolonged applause.
Xi said it was up to the Chinese people alone to resolve the Taiwan issue and that China would never renounce the right to use force. “The historical wheels of national reunification and national rejuvenation are rolling forward,” said Xi on Sunday. “Reunification of the motherland must be achieved and will be achieved.”
