Chinese President Xi Jinping hinted at the continuation of country’s aggressive foreign policy posture for the next five years as he presented his work report at the 20th party congress of the Chinese Communist Party where he is widely expected to be reaffirmed for a third term as the country’s leader.
Experts said, even though Xi did not refer to any individual nations but he clearly signaled that China is likely to continue a more aggressive foreign policy as he touted China’s growing global clout and warned against “external attempts to suppress and contain” China.
Xi put special emphasis on upgrading China’s national security and intensifying troop’s combat preparedness, urging “a strong system of strategic deterrence,” which media reports said is a reference to the People’s Liberation Army’s dramatic expansion of its nuclear weapons capacity in the past two years. He also said China will increase the proportion of new-domain forces with new combat capabilities, and promote coordinated development and application of the network information system.
China has been vigorously upgrading its capabilities in cyber/information warfare and space domain in last decade tenets of which were reflected in Xi’s speech. In his speech he said, China will gain a good grasp of the characteristics of “informatized and intelligent warfare” and the laws that govern it. With a new military strategic guidance, China will develop strategies and tactics for a “people’s war”, he added.
“We will resolutely safeguard the security of China’s state power, systems and ideology — and build up security capacity in key areas,” Xi said during his speech. “We will crack down hard on infiltration, sabotage, subversion, and separatist activities by hostile forces.” Experts said the emphasis on national security and ‘comprehensive’ security is striking and may be seen as a justification for his continuation in his anticipated third term as rhetoric flew in the years lead up to the 20th party congress.
Rafaello Pantucci, Senior Fellow at S. Rajarathnam School of International politics in Singapore said that the speech signaled at the continuation of his policies and the messaging was more for domestic audience.
In his tone setting speech for more than one and half hours on Sunday, President Xi called for accelerating the building of a world-class military with a strong emphasis on security. China will “intensify military training under combat conditions, laying emphasis on joint training, force-on-force training and high-tech training”. He said China will become more “adept at deploying our military forces on a regular basis and in diversified ways. This will enable us to shape our security posture, deter and manage crises and conflicts, and win local wars.”
He did not elaborate further on “local wars”. Experts said, his emphasis looks more on Taiwan as US is putting a lot of pressure there but other territorial disputes in the region can not be discounted. Xi referred to the Taiwan issue as a “matter between Chinese people” and to be solved by them. His speech put a strong emphasis on “national rejuvenation” which experts said refers to his determination to thwart any perceived violations of China’s unity and sovereignty.
“The changes in the world, the changes in the times, and the changes in history are unfolding in an unprecedented manner” and “human society is facing unprecedented challenges. The world is once again standing at the crossroads of history”, and “the choice of where to go depends on the choice of all peoples,” Xi said on Sunday.
His speech on the opening day of this week’s ruling party meeting charts a course for ongoing tense relations with the west led by the U.S. as he continued his centralization of power over the Chinese state. He said the party should foster a sense of “purpose, fortitude and self-belief in whole party… so that we cannot be swayed by fallacies, deterred by intimidation or cowed by pressure.”
Einor Tangen, Senior Fellow at Taihe Institute, a Beijing based think tank, said that generally party congress reports are focused on party achievements but this is the first time in many many years that Xi’s speech clearly noted the tough times lying ahead for China and expressed the resolve to defend China. This is making people nervous whether China is changing, he said. There are concerns that differences between China and western countries will further widen which will divide the world and jeopardize the international order. Since 18th party congress when Xi became China’s top leader, the world “fighting” has become a key word frequently mentioned in China’s diplomacy.
Speaking at a press conference on China’s diplomacy in Beijing on Thursday, Ma Zhaoxu, member of the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and vice minister hit out at the US for willfully pursuing power politics, bullying and hegemonism. He said the report to the 20th CPC National Congress stressed that China has entered a period of development in which strategic opportunities, risks and challenges are present and uncertainties and unforeseen factors are rising. “We must therefore be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms. We must carry forward the fighting spirit so that we can not be cowed by pressure. We must harness the indomitable “fighting spirit” to open up new horizons for our goals. We fought forcefully against egregious acts including Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan, resolutely opposed all acts of Taiwan independence and deterred interference from external forces,” he said. Rejecting west’s allegations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and into the origin of COVID-19, Ma said China stands against all forms of unilateral sanctions and maximum pressure and will never accept the “zero sum game” or the “law of the jungle”.
In his speech, Xi said China “will never promise to renounce the use of force” to ensure “reunification” with Taiwan. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit in August, China increased its military activities in Taiwan strait and blockaded the island for days.
Xu Heqian, Director, International department at Caixin newspaper in Beijing said that as compared to 2017, Xi’s political report the the 20th party congress was more vigilant about describing the external environment. Xi Jinping referred to the Chinese Communist Party as facing “a serious and complicated international situation and the enormous risks and challenges that follow” and unlike in the past, no longer defined the current “theme of the times” as “peace and development”. Xi said that the world has now reached a “crossroads”. In the 19th Party Congress in 2017, he said, peace and development remain the theme of the times,” Xu recalled adding that, in terms of rhetoric, peace and development can no longer be considered as the main features of the current global situation in China’s eyes.
An attack on a pro-democracy protester this week in UK who was dragged inside the Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten, allegedly by consular staff, was a manifestation of China’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy, media reports said quoting analysts.
