'Xi anxious to maintain his grip on CCP'

As the 20th national congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is drawing closer, President Xi Jinping is anxious to ensure that no calamity, not even the Coronavirus pandemic and the global pushback, loosens his grip on the party and the party's on the country, a Chinese dissident Jianli Yang said.

In an opinion piece in Washington Times, Jianli, a founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China, said Xi's Chinese Communist Party's Centenary speech emphasised that he was ready to lead the CCP towards the second centenary.

The second centenary is in 2049. It will mark the 100th year of the formation of the People's Republic of China.

In his speech on July 1, Jianli said that Xi admitted to the centrality of the unchallenged position of the CCP to his plans for the party's march towards the next calendar goal.

"The march will be in phases as Xi shifts focus from consolidation of power to innovation of power. The next phase will begin during the 20th national congress of the CCP in October-November, 2022, and the one after that will lead to the 21st congress in 2027. A decade is a small span in the Chinese understanding of time and space," Jianli noted.

The CCP's centenary celebration comes at a time as the world has taken notice of its ruthless actions in Hong Kong, Tibet, and its criminal treatment of Turkic minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, with some defining it as genocide.

Internally, China's economy has faced unprecedented challenges and an undercurrent of unrest has emerged because of rampant unemployment, Jianli pointed out.

Xi's "new journey that lies before us" depends on one principle: "We must uphold the firm leadership of the Party. without the Communist Party of China, there would be no new China and no national rejuvenation," Jianli said.

The emphasis of the speech was on the party, not politics, Jianli opines. Xi did not dwell much on issues that disturbed his presidency to no end, he added.

He kept his cards close to his heart as he reiterated known positions on Hong Kong and Macao -- "we will ensure that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong and Macao, and implement the legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for the two special administrative regions to safeguard national security".

Jianli said Xi, during his speech, did not refer to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or his Indian Ocean strategy. The former is his spearhead program to extend the road from China to Eurasia.

"As the 20th Congress comes closer, Mr. Xi is anxious to ensure that no calamity, not even the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact and the global pushback, loosens his grip on the party and the party's on the country. The CCP Centenary speech underlines this objective," he wrote.

"The president has to ready both the CCP and the Polit Buro for the road ahead after 2022. Between 2022-23, he needs to elevate some of his inner circle members to the highest policy-making body as well as certain key positions in the four, vital autonomous regions," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )