The 20th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party kicked off on Sunday.
The event is to continue for a week and brings together close to 2 300 delegates from across the country, as well as from various interest groups and exemplars for the country. The latter includes China’s first female astronaut.
President Xi Xinping is unlikely to be challenged for his positions as General Secretary of the CCP and country’s presidency. It is also unlikely that a successor will be identified.
Xi’s address indicated that the current trajectory of Chinese policy would be maintained. On the crushing of dissent in Hong Kong, he said that it signified a ‘turn for the better in the region’.
He also predictably reiterated the CCP’s commitment to bringing Taiwan under Chinese rule. ‘The wheels of history are rolling on towards reunification and the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation. Complete reunification must be realised and it can without a doubt be achieved’, he said.
He added that the country’s zero-Covid policy would remain in place.
It appears that no concessions would be made in light of criticisms about China’s human rights record and its treatment of ethnic minorities, such as the Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians. The CCP would ‘remain committed to the principle that religions in China must be Chinese in orientation’, he said.