The Communist Party of China (CPC) has issued new disciplinary guidelines, signalling consolidation of President Xi Jinping’s “core” status within the Party.
The CPC “has strengthened the core status of General Secretary Xi Jinping, members’ loyalty and strict party governance in its newly revised disciplinary action, a move observers believe will fortify the party’s leadership in complex domestic and international situations,” wrote the state-run Global Times .
Xinhua news agency on Sunday had reported the new instructions, which were highlighted by People’s Daily — the flagship of the CPC. The Global Times write-up follows media reports that Mr. Xi’s stewardship of China has been criticised within the country’s intellectual elite, following Washington’s trade war with Beijing. The ostensible negative fallout of the trade war was apparently also on the agenda of the “elders” — former leaders of the party-State — during their closed door annual meeting in early August with China’s top leaders at the Beidaihe coastal retreat near Beijing.
But several analysts say rumblings of brewing dissent against the President are overblown. “The stories in the international press join a long list of pontifications predicting the imminent demise of China,” says political commentator Einar Tangen, in a conversation with The Hindu .
Separately, in an article in the Nikkei Asian Review, Minxin Pei, a China policy expert, points out that “two weeks after top Chinese leaders returned from this year’s Beidaihe meeting, it is quite clear that Xi has weathered any challenges to his power and the conclave produced only marginal policy shifts”.
The write up spotlights that between August 17-22, President Xi participated in several events to showcase his grip on power. These included an important speech on party building at a conference of the apex Central Military Commission (CMC), which Mr. Xi heads.
Besides, during an address of the National Propaganda Work Conference, the President applauded the “correctness” of the propaganda work of the last five years — signalling that there would be no policy shift in the content or style of messaging from the leadership on his watch.
There are also no signs of any major shift in the economic direction pursued by President Xi, following the trade war. Reforms of the state-owned enterprises (SOE), the banking sector, or tax cuts to stimulate the economy, do not appear to be on the President’s priority list.
The GlobalTimes article asserted that Sunday’s guidelines call for the full implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, which has been adopted in the Chinese Constitution, following the 19th Congress of the CPC.
“Tightening political discipline and rules, the regulations aim at resolutely upholding the core status of General Secretary Xi in the CPC Central Committee and the entire Party, and upholding the authority of the CPC Central Committee and its centralised, unified leadership,” the circular said.
The article quoted Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, that the regulations “highlighted the core status of General Secretary Xi to ensure the Party could better lead the people to fulfil missions”.
