By Ebrahim Beheshti
It won’t be his first term in power. As expected, Xi Jinping was elected for the third consecutive term as the general secretary of the China’s Communist Party and the leader of the Asian country.
On Saturday, members of the newly-elected Central Committee of the Communist Party introduced Xi as the general secretary and chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
The 69-year-old leader of China has been able to deliver a convincing performance to the Chinese people and the members of the Communist Party over the past 10 years.
Continuing the tradition of former Chinese leaders who have given priority to the economy, he has been able to make China the second-largest economy in the world after the United States.
By adopting proper policies, he managed the pressures exerted by the Western countries, the US in particular. Especially during the COVID-19 outbreak, unlike other major countries, he managed to get his country through the pandemic with the least possible damage. During the period, China even recorded growth in the economy.
“China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China,” Xi told reporters after the congress meeting.
“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,” he added.
Xi said the country will be steadfast in deepening reforms and opening-up in all fields and in pursuing high-quality development.
During his third term, he will also face some challenges. The Western countries openly say China is an international threat. Therefore, they would have plans to intensify the pressure on Beijing and limit its power.
Struggling with the West’s pressure and competing with the United States are perhaps the most important challenges facing the Chinese Communist Party and its leader. However, China and Xi have the capabilities to overcome these challenges and move towards the realization of the Chinese dream of becoming a developed superpower. In separate interviews with Iran Daily, experts on Chinese affairs have talked about the challenges and China's capabilities to face them.
Avoiding confrontational approaches
Hossein Malaek, Iran's former ambassador to China, believes that Xi will not take confrontational approach towards the Western pressure, and will try to take peaceful measures to offset the pressures in a bid to avoid possible damages.
Malaek believes that China is trying to ignore the ongoing global crisis, i.e. the war between Russia and Ukraine, and not to interfere directly or even indirectly in the conflict.
Regarding the Taiwan issue, it seems that Beijing is not seeking to lock horns with Washington. Although, Beijing had military reactions in the form of large-scale exercises in response to a visit by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, but it is not seeking to take revenge on the US.
The former ambassador of Iran in China said Chinese authorities are deeply worried about the departure of investors from China, as well-known shoe manufacturing brands have moved from this country to Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Malaek emphasized that Xi and the new Chinese government will adopt peaceful but not confrontational policies to manage relations with the West in order to press ahead with their long-term plans which are focused on the economic field and require attracting foreign investment. Xi will never follow the path that Putin has taken in Russia.
Political reforms
Mehdi Zakerian, university professor and expert on international affairs, also in an interview with Iran Daily, believes that one of the priorities for the new leader of China is to seriously fight corruption in the internal structure of the country. China's significant economic growth in the last three decades, especially during the Xi era, has led to corruption and subsequently drew criticism, and now the new government should launch serious campaign against corruption.
Referring to China's successes in the past 10 years in the economic field and its successful performance in the face of COVID pandemic, Zakerian predicted that the West will exert more pressure, including sanctions, in the future to contain China.
Zakerian says these pressures will be applied under the pretext of not respecting human rights in China. And given the deep connection between China’s economy and the world’s economy, this issue will cause concerns and restrictions for large Chinese companies.
Zakerian added that I think that Xi, who now has great experience and is a smart politician by nature, will move towards carrying out some political reforms. It will not be possible to realize China's great economic plans without relations with the world, especially the Western countries. So, Xi Jinping will put some political reforms on the agenda to pave the way for their economic plans and manage the Western pressures.
Unstoppable China
Mohsen Shariatinia, a university professor and expert on China affairs, said in the past 10 years, Xi focused on realization of the Chinese dream, i.e. turning this country into a developed superpower. China is already a superpower in the world, but Xi tried to turn this great it into a developed superpower.
Referring to the fact that the international arena has been an opportunity for China's development, Shariatinia said, over the past 10 years, the perception that China is a global threat has intensified and the West, led by the United States, has tried to limit the international arena for China’s growth.
This approach has prompted the Chinese Communist Party to take a new policy that on the one hand it has tried to focus on domestic capacities for economic development and at the same time reduce vulnerability to external pressures.
Although, China has become an unstoppable power in the economic field, the pressures from the West can hinder the country’s progress. Now we should wait and see which policy the Chinese leader will adopt to confront the West.
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