BEIJING: China’s Communist Party must be better prepared for mounting risks even while staying the course on key long-term goals, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday (Jul 1), as he cast the party as best placed to guide the country through an increasingly turbulent world.
In a speech marking the party’s 105th anniversary, Xi said the world had entered “a new period of turbulence and transformation” and urged the party to prepare for “high winds, rough seas and even perilous storms”.
At the same time, Xi, who is the party’s general secretary, said its enduring strengths would enable it to navigate future challenges.
While the Chinese leader did not refer to any specific conflict or country, his remarks come as China implements its 15th Five-Year Plan amid domestic economic headwinds, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and intensifying strategic competition with the United States.
In his roughly 40-minute speech, Xi also reaffirmed Beijing’s long-standing goal of reunification with Taiwan, pledged to uphold the “one country, two systems” framework in Hong Kong and Macau, and called for military modernisation and anti-corruption efforts to be sustained.
THE PARTY’S ENDURING ROLE
Speaking at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing, Xi portrayed the Communist Party’s 105-year record of overcoming challenges as proof of its ability to steer China through a more uncertain world.
He highlighted six key qualities, including the party’s pursuit of truth, close ties with the people, willingness to struggle and commitment to self-reform.
“The reason the Communist Party of China has been able to continuously create glory over 105 years of struggle, and the reason history and the people have chosen the Communist Party, fundamentally lies in the outstanding qualities our party possesses that no other political party or political force can match,” Xi said.
He called those traits the “key code” behind “why the Communist Party can succeed”, saying the party must continue to carry them forward to ensure it never changes its nature, conviction or character.