Xi set for historic third term as Prez

Landmark resolution adopted celebrating the Chinese Communist Party’s achievements and paving the way for Xi to become paramount leader for life

Beijing, Nov 11:

A high-profile conclave of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) has adopted a “landmark resolution” of the party’s major achievements in the last 100 years besides paving the way for a record third term for President Xi Jinping next year.

The “landmark resolution” - the only third of its kind in the party’s 100-year history - was reviewed and adopted at the sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, held in Beijing from November 8 to 11, an official communique released at the end of the meeting on Thursday said.

The party is due to hold a press conference on Friday to announce further details.

Xi made an important speech at the session. The meeting also heard and discussed a work report Xi delivered on behalf of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, it said.

He also explained the draft of the resolution whose details have not yet been revealed.

The session also reviewed and passed a resolution on convening the 20th National Congress of the CPC in the second half of 2022 in Beijing, which was expected to formally endorse Xi’s unprecedented third term.

Xi, 68, who holds China’s all three power centres - General-Secretary of the CPC, Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) which is the overall high command of the military, and the Presidency, is set to complete his second five-year tenure next year.

Politically, the meeting is regarded as significant for Xi who - in the last nine years of his tenure - has emerged as the most powerful leader after party founder Mao Zedong.

He is widely expected to continue for a third term unlike his predecessor, Hu Jintao, who retired after two terms, and perhaps may remain in power for life in view of a key constitutional amendment in 2018 which removed the two-term limit for the President. (PTI)

He was also made core leader of the party in 2016, a status enjoyed only by Mao.

China’s leader Xi warns against new ‘Cold War’

Wellington, Nov 11:

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Thursday against letting tensions in the Asia-Pacific region cause a relapse into a Cold War mentality.

His remarks on the sidelines of the annual summit of the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation forum came weeks after the U.S., Britain and Australia announced a new security alliance in the region which would see Australia build nuclear submarines. China has harshly criticized the deal.

And in a separate illustration of strains within APEC, one Southeast Asian delegate told The Associated Press that the group had so far failed to reach agreement on a U.S. bid to host the 2023 summit due to unmet demands from Russia.

Xi spoke in a pre-recorded video to a CEO Summit at APEC, which is being hosted by New Zealand in a virtual format. Xi is scheduled to participate in an online meeting with other Pacific Rim leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday.

In his speech, Xi said attempts to draw boundaries in the region along ideological or geopolitical lines would fail. His reference to the Cold War echoes Beijing’s oft-stated position that the U.S. should abandon that way of thinking in dealing with China.

The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era, Xi said.

Xi also said the region should make sure to keep supply lines functioning and to continue liberalizing trade and investment.

China will remain firm in advancing reform and opening up so as to add impetus to economic development, he said.

The most pressing task in the region is to make an all-out effort to fight the pandemic and to emerge from its shadow as soon as possible, he said.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian delegate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the issue, said Russia had refused to support the U.S. bid unless some of its diplomats were removed from a U.S. blacklist or allowed to enter the U.S. to participate in the APEC meetings. (AP)