BEIJING —
Xi Jinping secured a historic third term as
China’s leader on Sunday and filled his inner circle with close allies,
achieving after a decade in power complete dominance over the ruling Communist
Party.
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The party’s Central Committee elected Xi as its
general secretary for another five-year term, bringing the country back towards
one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.
Xi, 69, was also reappointed head of China’s Central
Military Commission, keeping him in charge of the People’s Liberation Army.
He is now all but certain to sail through to a third
term as the country’s president, due to be formally announced during the
government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
Sunday’s developments cement him as the most
powerful leader since Communist Party founder
Mao Zedong.
In a wide-ranging acceptance speech on Sunday, Xi
made signature remarks celebrating China’s rise as a global power and its
success under his rule.
“The world needs China,” Xi said.
“After more than 40
years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two
miracles — rapid economic development and long-term social stability.”
Six of Xi’s proteges and allies were also unveiled
on Sunday alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee — the
party’s apex of power that rules the country.
Li Qiang — a former chief of staff for Xi who oversaw
a gruelling two-month Covid lockdown in Shanghai this year — was named as
number two in the Standing Committee.
This means he is likely to take over as premier from
Li Keqiang, a former Xi rival who will retire next year.
Close aide Ding Xuexiang and Guangdong party chief
Li Xi, a longtime confidante of the president, were among other allies named in
the Standing Committee.
“The new Politburo Standing Committee confirms
decisively that Xi has consolidated power at the top of the Communist Party to an
extent unseen since the Mao era,” said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at
Eurasia Group.
“Xi has installed allies onto all seven seats of the
Communist Party’s top decision-making body, allowing him to dominate the
political system for the foreseeable future.”
Alfred Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics expert at the
National University of Singapore, said: “It is all Xi’s people, signalling he
wants to rule even beyond a third term.”
Xi abolished the presidential two-term limit in
2018, paving the way for him to govern indefinitely.
Xi was swiftly congratulated on Sunday by some of China’s
allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un.
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