Topline
On Thursday, senior officials from the Chinese Communist Party gathered in Beijing for their annual autumn meeting. They aimed to secure a third term for China's leader Xi Jinping.
Chinese President Xi Jinping votes at the close of the 19th Communist Party Congress At the Great... [+] Hall of the People, October 24, 2017, Beijing, China. Getty Images
The Key Facts
The party's annual meeting, also known as the Plenum is scheduled to approve and review the rare "resolution" that will boost Xi’s status and support his bid for a third term as president next year. According to The New York Times, announcements at the annual meeting will be a significant part of the upcoming leadership shakeup at the Communist Party Congress next year. Xi, who removed term limits from the country's presidency in 2018, will likely seek a third term without opposition. This breaks with the long-standing rule that no Chinese leader can serve more than two five year terms. According to the Times report, Xi's elevation to the same rank as Mao or Deng will protect him against any criticisms to his record. The meeting on Thursday comes four months after Xi supervised elaborate celebrations marking the 100th anniversary party's founding.
Important Background
Mao, who established Communist rule in China, was the country's unquestioned revolutionary leader for over three decades. Deng, who ruled China for almost 15 years after coming to power in late seventies, resisted Mao's hardline communist economic policies. He opened up the Chinese economy to the rest of the world and moved the country away form Mao's harsh economic policies. Deng used his special resolution as a way to criticize Mao's rule in the latter years and promote his economic agenda. According to the Financial Times, Xi will likely take a different approach to his resolution and not mention the party's controversial past. According to reports, the Chinese leader intends to portray himself as the natural heir of Mao and Deng and will lead China to global power.
Important Quote
Xi made a recorded speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APECF) on Thursday warning against allowing regional tensions to escalate into a Cold War mentality. The Chinese leader made a mockery of the U.S. and U.K. regional security alliances, saying that attempts to draw borders in the region along geopolitical or ideological lines would fail. He stated that the Asia-Pacific region could not and should not fall back into the Cold War-era confrontation and division. China will continue to push reform and open up to increase economic development.
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China's Communist Elite Meets as Xi Jinping Seeks to Cement His Grip. (New York Times).
Xi lays the foundation for a third term by using Mao's and Deng’s power ploy (Financial Times).
