– Despite everything indicating that a third term is almost guaranteed, Xi is still paranoid when it comes to control over appointments to key positions in the party, says Willy Lam. Lam is a political analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and speaks to the AFP news agency. Every five years, the Chinese Communist Party meets for a national congress. The 20th Party Congress starts on Sunday and is a particularly important event. At previous party congresses, successors have been designated long before the party members gather in the Great Hall at Heavenly Peace Square. This has not happened before this year’s congress. Xi Jinping will not pass on the baton after two presidential terms. By serving a third term, he becomes one of the People’s Republic of China’s most powerful leaders. Chinese President Xi Jinping waves during a military parade on China’s National Day on October 1, 2019. Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters Anti-corruption Analysts say the president is using his long-running campaign against corruption as a way to cement his grip on power. – The latest round of purges, masked as an anti-corruption campaign, will ensure that Xi has even stronger, if not absolute, control over both people and matters in Congress, says Willy Lam. When Xi was proclaimed China’s leader ten years ago, he promised to root out corrupt and unfaithful officials from both high and low in the system. Since then, more than 1.5 million civil servants have been punished, according to the Communist Party’s disciplinary committee. In recent years, several top managers have received sentences of 10 years in prison. – This can be seen as a warning against contradicting Xi Jinping’s orders in the run-up to the 20th Party Congress, says Victor Shih who is a professor of Chinese economics at the University of California to the Financial Times. – Xi is consolidating his power. He is a pragmatist. He will do whatever it takes to keep the Communist Party in power. He is not going to democratize China, because that could be the death of the party, believes political reporter in Beijing Benjamin Lim. When it comes to the purge among party members, Lim says that it is both about purging rivals and improving the legal system. – He has removed the energy minister and the head of the country’s largest state-owned company, but I believe that he has also tried to introduce legal transparency, says Lim to CNN. In the ten years that Xi has led the country, China has moved up a few notches on the ranking list of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International. 1,100 removed Critics believe Xi has also used the campaign to get rid of political rivals. In the run-up to this year’s party congress, a number of people have ended up behind bars. Since the start of the year, around 1,100 civil servants have joined the drag race, party data shows. Among them are former Minister of Justice Fu Zhenghua and former Vice Minister of Public Security Sun Lijun. Both must now spend the rest of their lives behind bars. – Sun’s case is linked to Xi’s absolute control over the security service, which is indispensable for his political agenda, says Yun Sun, who heads the China program at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. – The case also sends a clear message to everyone who has a different view of Xi’s leadership. People celebrate China’s development during Xi’s two presidential terms at the Beijing Exhibition Center on October 12. Photo: NOEL CELIS / AFP No takeover Chinese state leaders are not chosen by election. They are picked from the ranks of Communist Party members. The Chinese Communist Party is the world’s largest, with 96 million members. You cannot get high positions in the country without being a member of the party. Every five years, 2,300 delegates are elected who are allowed to participate in the party congress. Only a quarter of the participants at the congress are women, while 11 percent is reserved for Chinese with a different ethnic background. The Chinese Communist Party is the world’s largest, with 96 million members. It is difficult to get high positions in the country without being a member of the party. Photo: – / AFP During the course of a week, people are selected to fill various positions. The Communist Party is a hierarchical system. At the top sits the General Secretary, who is currently Xi. Under him is the Politburo. Politburo members fill important roles in the government, which now consists of 25 men. All of these are on the party’s Central Committee consisting of 400 people. The Communist Congress is a rare chance to catch a glimpse of the top of Chinese politics. Chinese television broadcasts the ceremony showing party members’ solemn entrance into the Great Hall. The order of the men who enter the hall tells who is the most powerful. Xi will enter first. It is among the first to spot Xi’s potential successor. During the party congress, many party members will be given new roles. Xi will remain in charge of it all.
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