Willy Wo-Lap Lam
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General-Secretary President Xi Jinping has consolidated his status as the anchor of efforts to attain a “high-standard socialist market economy in all respects (全面建成高水平社会主义市场经济体制)” by the year 2029 (People’s Daily, July 19; Xinhua, July 18).The enshrining of 2029 as the target for achieving these goals suggests that the Third Plenary Session of the CCP’s 20th Central Committee, which concluded on Thursday, July 18, has confirmed Xi Jinping Thought as the guiding light of the Party and nation. Likewise, the plenum guaranteed that the 71-year-old paramount leader will remain in power as CCP General Secretary and commander-in-chief for a fourth five-year term from 2027 to 2032 (Deutche Welle Chinese, July 19; rfi, July 18). Meanwhile, a thorough-going purge is being undertaken in both civilian and military sectors. While recent rumors that Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan (彭丽媛)—recently made a member of the disciplinary and assessment office of the Central Military Commission—would be elevated to the Politburo failed to materialize, the commander-in-chief’s hold over the top brass still seems to be as strong as ever (China Brief, May 24).
A Xinhua piece eulogizing “master reformer Xi Jinping (改革家习近平)” was mysteriously pulled from official media on the eve of the conclave. Beyond this, however, no voices challenging Xi’s position have been heard from rival cliques such as the Shanghai Gang, the Communist Youth League, or so-called second-generation “princelings” (rfi, July 20; CDT, July 18; rfa, July 17). Yet apparently due to Xi’s desire to appease all Party factions, the authorities have used careful and somewhat neutral language to describe his call for “high-quality development” and deepening “reform and opening up.” The relatively uncontroversial measures prescribed by the plenum and other Party and government organs seem unlikely to reinvigorate the PRC economy, which grew a disappointing 4.7 percent in the second quarter of this year (VOA, July 20, BBC Chinese, July 16).
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