Global Times/VOA – March 10, 2023

Xi Jinping wins third term as President of China

By  Yang Sheng

Xi Jinping was unanimously elected president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the PRC on Friday at the ongoing session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC).

The election result reflects the common will and unity of the whole country and also reinforces China's key advantage of political certainty and consistency that ensures the country is able to overcome challenges and realize Chinese modernization as the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Chinese analysts said.

On Friday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, deputies to the 14th NPC, China's national legislature finished the process of electing the president and vice president of the PRC, chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC, as well as chairperson, vice chairpersons and secretary-general of the 14th NPC Standing Committee.

Zhao Leji was elected chairman of the 14th NPC Standing Committee. Han Zheng was elected Chinese vice president. A total of 14 people were elected vice chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC. They are Li Hongzhong, Wang Dongming, Xiao Jie, Zheng Jianbang, Ding Zhongli, Hao Mingjin, Cai Dafeng, He Wei, Wu Weihua, Tie Ning, Peng Qinghua, Zhang Qingwei, Losang Jamcan, and Shohrat Zakir. Liu Qi was elected secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee.

The People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), published an editorial on Friday, saying that Xi’s election reflects the common will shared by the whole Party, the entire military, and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups.

Chinese experts

The world at present is neither peaceful nor predictable, with the complicated geopolitical crisis in Ukraine which is continually causing problems and tragedies to all nations in Europe, and Western-launched unwise unilateral sanctions which have negatively impacted an ongoing food and energy crises. A series of hegemonic actions of the US have seriously interrupted the global supply and industrial chains, threatening other countries' rightful development.

Experts said these are deeply changing the world and these are also the reasons why Xi said at the report to the 20th CPC National Congress in October 2022 that "Our country has entered a period of development in which strategic opportunities, risks, and challenges are concurrent and uncertainties and unforeseen factors are rising. Various 'black swan' and 'gray rhino' events may occur at any time."

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday that  the world, which is suffering from turbulence and uncertainty, also wants to see China, a major power with a second largest economy and growing international influence, be certain, stable and consistent, and the election result is providing what the world a clear answer from China, as China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting world peace and development, and to make its contribution to guiding global recovery, and to promote, reform and improve globalization when the globalization trend sees backlash due to the unfair and uneven order dominated by the West.

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Friday that in the long journey toward the Chinese modernization and the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation, a stable and efficient political system and correct strategies and policies are crucial, but more important is we need right and qualified people to best use these advantages and to correctly implement the policies by actions, and also to handle emergent and unpredictable impacts and seize opportunities in the crisis.

Congratulations from foreign leaders

Congratulations poured in from leaders of many countries around the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sent a message to Xi, warmly congratulating him on his election as Chinese president and pledging continued Russia-China cooperation in various fields.

The decision adopted by the NPC of China shows that Xi, as the head of state, enjoys high prestige and that the strategies he has formulated on promoting China's economic and social development and on safeguarding China's interests on the international stage have won the support of the Chinese people, Putin said, adding he firmly believed that with joint efforts of both sides, the Russia-China cooperation in various fields will continue to yield fruitful results

Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), sent a message to Xi on Friday, warmly congratulating him on his election as the president of the PRC.

Kim said it is believed that the traditional friendly cooperative relations between the DPRK and China will continue to deepen and develop in accordance with the common wishes of the two parties and peoples and the requirements of the new era.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1287060.shtml

Xi faces challenges

On Xi Jinping’s re-election, Verna Yu wrote on Voice of America (VOA):

Xi faces a plethora of domestic, diplomatic and economic challenges as China emerges from economic stagnation from three years of stringent zero-Covid policy and widespread discontent that culminated in mass protests late last year. China's GDP grew just 3 percent last year, among its lowest in decades. In January, China reported that its population had fallen for the first time in 60 years and officials have urged local governments to try to boost births.

Beijing's relations with the United States have also hit a low point, after the U.S. imposed restrictions over exports of some high-tech products to China and shot down a Chinese high-altitude balloon that flew across North America last month. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned China of adverse consequences if it intervenes in the ongoing Ukraine conflict by supplying weapons to Russia.

This week, Chinese leaders' sharp words for the U.S. indicated the relationship remains rocky. Xi accused the U.S. of carrying out a foreign policy that he alleged is "all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China" for bringing "unprecedented severe challenges to our country's development."

The White House brushed off the heated rhetoric from Beijing, saying Washington is not seeking conflict.

"We seek a strategic competition with China. We do not seek conflict," National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters. "We aim to compete, and we aim to win that competition with China, but we absolutely want to keep it at that level."

Analyst Wen-Ti Sung says China is caught between its allies of the past and those that it will need to improve relations with to become a bigger power.

"Xi's new China has to bridge its past and its future: With intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and the Ukraine War, China can't truly develop strong relations with potential new friends like Europe, Japan, and South Korea without leaving behind old partners like Russia and North Korea," Sung said.

"And China is having a tough time letting go of the security blanket that is its old partners. It will be interesting to observe whether and how China makes that strategic choice during Xi's third term."

By far the most important change analysts expect during the parliamentary session, which will end on Monday, would be the bolstering of the Communist Party's control in a sweeping overhaul of state and Communist Party entities.

A communique published at the end of a three-day meeting of the party's central committee last week stressed the importance of institutional reform to "bolster the centralized and unified leadership of the Party," according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The NPC on Friday passed government institutional reforms, including those in the science and technology ministry and the formation of a financial regulatory body and national data bureau. The changes in the party's role are expected to be unveiled after the session.

Analysts say Xi's tightening of party and state control over the private sector and confrontation with the West does not bode well for its economic recovery.

https://www.voanews.com/a/china-s-xi-jinping-elected-to-third-term-as-president/6998984.html
 

 

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