China tipped to overtake US as military power with Xi now ‘more powerful’ than Mao
In a rather uncommon incident, protest banners criticizing the Chinese President were sighted last week.
According to prominent Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, Xi Jinping is now even more powerful than Mao Zedong, who founded the People's Republic of China. The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, according to the head of Parliament's defense committee, will strengthen President Xi's grip on power even more and pave the way for China to overtake the US as the world's leading superpower, he said.
At the CCP Congress, which begins today in Beijing, Xi is expected to earn a third five-year term as General Secretary, the most powerful position in the nation.
Every five years, some 2,300 party officials gather at the enormous Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square in Beijing for a conclave that lasts about a week and is largely conducted behind closed doors.
Xi also has the titles of president, which will be up for renewal in March, and head of the central military commission, which is anticipated to be renewed during the congress.
A banner with a message of protest is hanging from Sitong Bridge in Beijing as smoke rises (Image: Reuters)
A member of Parliament's China Research Group, Mr. Ellwood, responded to a question about how Xi's position compares to that of the man known as Chairman Mao, who ruled his nation from 1943 until his death in 1976, by saying, "He's more powerful now, I suppose."
"Only because he not only possesses home authority, but also international power and the greatest war force in the world—certainly the largest, though untested.
"Our state's leadership style is considerably different from theirs. China, which was formerly considered to be a rising superpower, is now under the leadership of Xi Jinping and is poised to surpass the United States militarily, economically, and technologically.
Jinping, Xi
Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen in Beijing on a TV screen (Photo by REX/Shutterstock).
And President Xi is to be credited for it. The price of such is a lack of essential liberties, including social, religious, and democratic freedoms.
"It is a surveillance state, and they function more and more out of fear."
Mr. Ellwood predicted that China will have severe difficulties in the years to come.
Beijing PLA
He said: "They're having to build big canals and pipes because some of the communities have such severe water shortages.
"Millions of people have been lifted out of poverty and placed in higher social classes as a result, but that's getting harder to maintain.
President Xi will have challenges, but I believe he will succeed because there is no one else who can do it.
Jinping, Xi
President of China Xi Jinping (Image: Express) Over the past ten years, he has been successful in eliminating any possible challengers.
According to pictures posted on social media on Thursday, Beijing officials took down a few unusual political protest flags from an overpass in the Chinese capital.
According to several photographs and videos shared on Twitter, which is restricted in China, the banners had different themes, including a call for President Xi Jinping's ouster and a plea to repeal the harsh COVID-19 laws.
Byers Ellwood
The head of the Parliament's defense committee is Tobias Ellwood (Image: GETTY)
The pictures showed smoke coming from the road above where the flags were placed in Beijing's northwest Haidian neighborhood. There are numerous prominent universities in Haidian.
"Let us strike from schools and from work and overthrow the authoritarian traitor Xi Jinping," read one of the rallying cries.
It is quite rare for Xi to be mentioned in protests in China, where people frequently employ euphemisms, indirect language, and ambiguous imagery to get over censorship.
Source:
China tipped to overtake US as military power with Xi now ‘more powerful’ than Mao | World | News | Express.co.uk
