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RFI interviewed Jorge Heine, professor of International Relations at Boston University and former Chilean ambassador in Beijing, on the occasion of the start of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Heine points to a greater emphasis on the development of the Chinese government’s navy and air force in the past ten years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “unity” and defended his policy to fight covid-19 and corruption, at the opening of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (PCC), in which he is due to receive a historic third term in office. the power.
If all goes as planned, the 69-year-old leader should be ratified within a week as CCP secretary general, a prelude to his re-election next year as China’s president, and consolidate himself as the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Although Jorge Heine, professor of International Relations at Boston University and former Chilean ambassador in Beijing, expressed some reservations at the RFI microphone:
“Everything indicates, and this breaks precedents, that Xi Jinping would obtain a third five-year term. The practice since the 1990s established that presidents only exercised their functions for two five-year terms. There is speculation about a possible desire to remain in power, but I do not I share that analysis.
Professor Jorge Heine also highlights the military initiatives deployed by China.
“What we have seen in China these last few years is a major change in the armed forces that have traditionally privileged the army and ground deployment. These last ten years we have seen a greater emphasis on the navy and the air force. Especially the navy with Chinese initiatives in the South Sea, the development of mini naval bases and the positioning of its military fleet.”
The 20th CPC congress comes “at a critical moment when the entire party and the people of all ethnic groups embark on a new journey to build a modernized socialist country,” Xi told delegates gathered in the Great Hall of the CPC. Peking town.
Acclaimed upon his arrival, Xi gave a speech lasting more than an hour and a half in which he praised his management of the pandemic, with a restrictive “zero covid” policy still in force despite its economic impact.
Although his speech was mainly focused on domestic politics, Xi said that China “is totally opposed to any form of hegemony” and “opposes the Cold War mentality.” He made no mention of tensions with the United States or the war in Ukraine.
with AFP
