President Xi Jinping has been dubbed China’s ‘Supreme Leader’ by state media, fuelling rumours he could be appointed leader for life at this week’s Communist Party conference in Beijing.
The Chinese capital has become a security fortress for the week-long meeting which starts on Wednesday. During the most important gathering of China’s ruling elite in half a decade, the party will choose its leaders and, by extension, who runs the country.
The Sunday Times says Xi is “essentially guaranteed to continue as party general secretary and China’s president” for a second, and supposedly final, five-year term.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yet such is the adulation some experts have suggested the conference could endorse his premiership for life.
State media has taken the unprecedented step of dubbing Xi Supreme Leader, a title last used by Chairman Mao Zedong.
“From economic progress to military modernisation, from triumphs in space to innovations in cyberspace, from construction of high-speed trains to production of simple tractors,” Xi is being portrayed as “guiding hand behind every national advance” - and his face is everywhere in Beijing, says The Independent.
Willy Lam, China scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong told The Sunday Times this could be Xi’s “coronation as emperor for life”.
He is “the Mao Zedong of the 21st century”, said Lam. “He will emulate Vladimir Putin by ruling for as long as his health permits.”
As well as securing his personal position, Jinping will look to confirm important roles for loyal acolytes. Five of the seven-man standing committee of the Politburo, China’s ruling body, are due for retirement - and the party’s constitution is expected to be changed to recognise Xi’s guiding ideology.
Since becoming leader in 2012, Xi has extended China’s clout abroad while overseeing a massive crackdown on state corruption at home. However, his tenure has seen new restrictions on free speech and civil liberties.
Yet, despite criticism from human rights groups over the country’s slide towards authoritarianism, Xi remains hugely popular, with the latest Ipsos Mori poll saying 92% of the population believe China is on the right track.
This has led to comparisons with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The Washington Post asks if Xi will “simply stay on as president and party general secretary for a third term starting in 2022, take a Putinesque step of ruling through a puppet, or hover in the background with some other title, as Deng Xiaoping did”.
-
'Axis of upheaval': will China summit cement new world order?Today's Big Question Xi calls on anti-US alliance to cooperate in new China-led global system – but fault lines remain
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
