New Delhi: The four-day Sixth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee that concluded November 11, witnessed the setting up an alter ago for Xi Jinping to stage the self-crowning drama and making him “the first generation of leaders of the new era of the Communist Party of China”.
The Plenary Session passed the “Third Historical Resolution” in the history of the Chinese Communist Party”. It was like using a century of history is to better lock in the future. The Communist Party of China (CCP) unsurprisingly adopted the resolution to further enhance President Xi Jinping’s idol status in the country, which heralds a new era.
Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, delivered a work report to the plenary session on behalf of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to strengthen his strong leadership image. Agence France-Presse (AFP) described that in the most confidential and secretive circumstances, nearly 400 members of the Central Committee of the “Parliament” of the Communist Party of China approved a new resolution on the “Great Achievements” of the Communist Party founded in 1921.
Chinese government mouthpiece, Xinhua News Agency said it was “the most magnificent epic of the Chinese nation in thousands of years”. In a country that has traditionally used history to legitimize power, Xi used the resolution to make himself the undisputed heir to the regime. In the century of the CCP’s existence, only two resolutions on its history have been passed so far, and each time before a new political page has been opened.
The first was in 1945 when Mao Zedong’s authority was strengthened four years before the Communist Party came to power. The second time was in 1981 when Deng Xiaoping was given a chance to recognize the “mistake” of Mao Zedong, the Great Helmsman, when he initiated economic reforms, thus turning the page of Mao Zedong.
With a third resolution, Xi is following in the footsteps of his two distinguished predecessors to better open a new page in his name. He has not stopped concentrating power in his own hands since he became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012 and thereafter President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) the following year, AFP said. In 2018, Xi presided over amending the constitution so that he could continue to serve beyond the limit of two terms. Xi Jinping’s thoughts were also written into the Constitution like Mao Zedong.
The report said that along with Xi’s rise, Xi has cracked down on all forms of dissent, both in Hong Kong and in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest. Xi is now overshadowed by China’s victory against the coronavirus, with sporadic outbreaks still occurring even in countries with outbreaks at the end of 2019.
AFP believes that the Communist Party meeting is likely to be a secret room transaction, and there is still one year before the new leadership of the Chinese Communist Party takes office. There is no doubt that Xi will be elected for the third time in the fall of 2022 (this is the first time since the end of the Mao Zedong era), although he has just reached the seven-on-eight-down age limit traditionally imposed on Chinese leaders at the age of 68 (CCP’s principle of “Seven-Ups and eight Downs” -staying in office at 67 and retiring at 68).
The report said that the dissident political scholar Wu Qiang speculated that at next year’s five-year conference, the party’s Politburo Standing Committee might be reduced from seven to five, “This will further enhance Xi Jinping’s authority at meetings that hold real power”.
To conclude, the decision to enshrine Xi as a great man of Chinese history will cement his narrative that he is the only leader capable of leading China to a superpower in times of turmoil. Praising Xi’s achievements and making him shoulder to shoulder with Mao and Deng will help Xi resist any challenge to his ruling record. This resolution will inevitably be the centre of a fanatical propaganda campaign and the focus of indoctrination of party officials.