Xi, 69, has been reappointed as the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and head of the Central Military Commission (CMC) — the overall high command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for an unprecedented third five-year term by the party’s once-in-a-five-year Congress here last month.

Holding the three powerful posts of the head of the party, the military, and the Presidency, Xi is the only leader besides the party founder Mao Zedong to continue in power after completing 10-year tenure, while all his predecessors retired.

On 8 November, Xi inspected the joint operations command centre of the CMC here which provides vital support to the strategic command of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC.

Upon arriving at the command centre, the Chinese leader was given a briefing, the official media reported.

In his first address to the two million-strong military — the largest in the world — as he kicked off his third term as head of the CMC, Xi said the world is undergoing more profound changes unseen in a century and stressed that China’s national security is facing increased instability and uncertainty, and its military tasks remain arduous.

He said the entire military should devote all its energy to carry out all its work for combat readiness, enhance its capability to fight and win, and effectively fulfill its missions and tasks, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi instructed them to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and successfully complete various tasks entrusted by the party and the people, the report said.

Though President Xi did not mention a particular country in his address, it came amidst growing international concern over China’s aggressive military manoeuvring in the resource-rich Indo-Pacific region. The armies of China and India are also engaged in a prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.

Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

Xi said the military leadership must focus on realising the PLA’s centennial goal – to make the PLA a world-class armed force by 2027, which is broadly interpreted as making it on par with the US armed forces.

“We must do all we can to make this happen,” he said.

During his speech at the party congress last month, Xi also set “victory in local wars” as a goal and told the PLA to “improve training and preparation for war in all aspects and improve the ability of the army to fight and win”.

“We will strengthen the normal and diversified use of military forces, carry out military struggles with determination and flexibility, shape the security posture, contain crises and conflicts, and win local wars,” he said.

Commenting on Xi’s address to the military, retired Air Force General Xu Qiliang, who was the former vice-chairman of the CMC, said in a commentary that the PLA must prepare for a rapid transformation from peace to wartime.

“Always maintain a high readiness posture like arrows on a taut string ready to go, to ensure that the troops are prepared to fight at all times,” Xu, who retired from the top post in the CMC, was quoted as saying by Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

In his address to the CPC Congress last month, President Xi said China will establish a strong system of strategic deterrence, which was interpreted by observers as a call to increase China’s nuclear weapons.

Analysts said Xi’s remarks indicated China would improve its nuclear deterrence capability amid its increasing rivalry with the US.

Song Zhongping, a former People’s Liberation Army instructor, said the statement meant China would “strengthen its development of strategic nuclear forces” to safeguard its national security.

Song said the PLA must strengthen its “nuclear triad” forces – its combination of ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched missiles, and air-launched weapons – as well as its second-nuclear strike capability to respond to a nuclear attack.

“All of these require the PLA to have a modern nuclear-armed force … and to moderately increase the nuclear arsenal,” he told the Post.

In his address to the military officials on Tuesday, Xi instructed the armed forces to thoroughly study, publicise and implement the guiding principles of last month’s 20th CPC

National Congress and take concrete actions to further modernize national defence and the military.

He said the entire armed forces implement the Party’s thinking on strengthening the military for the new era, following the military strategy, and adhering to combat effectiveness as the sole criterion.

The new era refers to his assumption of the leadership of the party in 2012.

The command centre, which provides vital support to the strategic command of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, is of great importance and shoulders heavy responsibilities, Xi said.

The command centre should make new and greater contributions to boosting military training and combat preparedness, effectively fulfilling all missions and tasks in the new era, Xi said.

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The most significant outcome of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which ended on 23 October, is the re-election of Xi Jinping for a record third term as the general secretary of the party. This is a prelude to his extension as the President of the People’s Republic and the Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission for yet another term, and possibly for life.

Deng Xiaoping, who led China following the disastrous decades of Maoist excesses, pushed the CPC to adopt the norms of collective leadership that led to presidential terms being limited to two and put in place an informal retirement age of 68. Xi has pushed all these conditions aside to emerge as an all-powerful figure after the last 19th Party Congress did away with presidential term limits.

Xi’s power is evident from the two key political ideas introduced into the CPC constitution last week. “Two establishes” calls on the party to recognise Xi as the “core” and to accept his ideas as a key tenet of the party rule. The “two safeguards” calls on the CPC to protect Xi’s status and safeguard the party’s leading role in China.

Xi’s centralisation of power was visible on Sunday, when he paraded China’s apex ruling team, the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) on the dais at the 20th Party Congress on its closing day. They are all his key allies, signalling that loyalty was the key criterion for their appointment.

No. 2 to Xi in the CPC’s apex body is Li Qiang, who is expected to replace Li Keqiang as Prime Minister in March 2023 when the National People’s Congress meets to select a new government. Li Qiang’s current job is as chief of the CPC in Shanghai. Among the other new appointees are Cai Qi, party chief of Beijing, Ding Xuexiang, former chief of staff of Xi, and Li Xi, party leader from Guangdong.

Premier Li Keqiang and Vice-Premier Wang Yang were both dropped from the PBSC. Both are 67 and could have been considered for another term. Another 67-year-old leader, Wang Huning, an associate of Xi was re-elected. Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua, who was once considered a potential successor, failed to make it to the PBSC and was actually dropped from the Politburo itself.

In the lineup of the new leaders, what is significant is dropping of leaders like Li Keqiang, who is a trained economist. Another two important figures — People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang and banking regulator Guo Shuqing — have been dropped from the new Central Committee. There is speculation that leaders who take a more liberal approach to economic policy have been dropped.

Having done away with the only significant constitutional limitation on the personal power of a leader attempted by Communist China, the fears are that Xi will also shed restraints in the exercise of that power. He has been known for policies of nationalism, enhancement of the role of the CPC in the everyday life of China, a hard line on Taiwan and confrontation with the West and other countries like India.

There is every expectation that Xi will double down on his policies relating to the economy and security, both of which were important themes of his work report to the Party Congress on its very first day. In the ensuing week, some of the issues were written into the CPC’s constitution. The report provided a policy blueprint for the coming five years.

In his two-hour speech, Xi spelt out the CPC’s priorities on economic policy and security. There were new sections on science and education, signalling the increased emphasis on their role in China’s plans for the future. The essence, according to observers, was on the “Chinese characteristics” of modernisation and governance.

Xi’s emphasis on the economic front was a call to promote the development of science and technology and at the same time orient Chinese economic growth towards a more equal distribution as indicated by the slogan he gave in 2021, calling for “common prosperity”. He has, however, made it clear that the overall policy of promoting economic growth will continue.

There was a significant emphasis on security and a veiled attack on the US, which was attempting to “blackmail, contain, blockade and exert maximum pressure on China.”

Xi boasted that China would have a world-class army by 2027 and said besides “strategic deterrence” (nuclear), “new domain forces with new combat capabilities” would be introduced. From India’s point of view, there was a reference that the PLA modernisation would “shape our security posture, deter and manage crises and conflicts and win local wars.” There is little doubt that this refers to China’s issues with Taiwan and India. The screening of clips of the Galwan clash for the Congress delegates confirmed that India is very much in the minds of decision-makers in Beijing.

The notion of term limits for high offices goes back into history, and so does the opposition to it by strong men like Julius Caesar and Napoleon. Modern experience suggests that in eight to 10 years of office, leaders get jaded. This is evident from the record of office of leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and numerous African heads of government.

There was a certain wisdom in Deng Xiaoping’s effort to promote collective leadership and check the power of a single leader. Those restraints have been removed by Xi and China may once again have to confront the consequences of being ruled by a supremo who has no check on his authority.

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