CORE OF GLOBAL WORRY

PRESIDENT XI JINPING HAS ALWAYS PURSUED AN AGGRESSIVE POLICY TO SILENCE HIS CRITICS AND DISSENTERS. NOW, HAVING ATTAINED THE UNASSAILABLE POSITION OF AN ABSOLUTE, UNCONTESTED DESPOT, HE IS LIKELY TO BE EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN BEFORE

- JAIBANS SINGH

Intense political activity in China has now culminated with Xi Jinping securing for himself an unprecedented third term as President. Now Xi stands self-anointed as the uncrowned Emperor of China for life. It has happened amid a lot of speculation of his failing health and rumors of a coup led by some People's Liberation Army (PLA) Generals, who have been ruthlessly purged.

In getting to this unassailable position, Xi has successfully jettisoned the policy of "collective leadership" so assiduously nurtured by Deng Xiaoping, with the specific intention of ensuring that personality cults do not enter the Chinese political system. Now, as things stand, Xi is also going to be Chairman of the all-powerful Central Military Commission, which implies that only he will prevail in the party as well as the army. He has shaken off all opposition and surrounded himself with loyalists to further strengthen his position.

Political pundits, the world over, are quite amazed by the fact that Xi has managed this "coup" despite China being mired in one crisis after another under his decade-long stewardship. The post-COVID economy in China is in shambles and people are chafing under the Zero COVID policy which is causing severe setbacks on the economic front. 104-minute speech at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

BHARAT & THE US ON CHINA'S RADAR