As the week-long 19th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) began at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a strong message to the neighbouring countries and world powers, saying that the Asian giant would never give up its legitimate rights or allow anyone to undermine its interests.
In a dig at the ‘US First Policy’, President Xi said that China would enhance relations along its borders and maintain cordial ties with the international community. At the same time, he said that Beijing would modernise its Armed Forces, stressing that a modern Army could only deter and win wars. He told the delegates: “China will never pursue development at the expense of other’s interests, but nor will China ever give up its legitimate rights and interests. No one should expect China to swallow anything that undermines its interests.” The president assured major powers that his country would never seek “hegemony or engage” in any expansion.

During his three-and-a-half-hour speech, Xi emphasised the importance of the “five principles of peaceful coexistence” (or the set of principles prepared by India and China in 1954 for peaceful co-existence), insisting: “China will deepen relations with its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership with its neighbours.”
In what appeared to be an indirect reference to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, President Xi said that China would not tolerate separatist activities. “Any separatist activity is certain to meet with resolute opposition of the Chinese people. We will never allow anyone, any organisation or any political party at any time or in any form to separate any part of Chinese territory from China,” he added.

As far as the national security is concerned, the president assured CPC members that the government would improve the defence mobilisation system, apart from building strong and well-structured border defence, coastal defence and air defence. According to Xi, Beijing is preparing policies in order to tackle unconventional security threats, such as terrorism, cyber insecurity, major infectious diseases and climate change.
He expressed serious concern over regional conflicts in the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea, Kashmir and Afghanistan, stressing: “We should commit to settling disputes through dialogues and resolving differences through discussions, co-ordinate responses to traditional and non-traditional threats, and oppose terrorism in all its forms.” He informed the global community that China rejected “cold war mentality and power politics”, as the country was interested in developing state-to-state relations with “communication, not confrontation, partnership not alliance”. “We oppose acts that impose one’s will on others or interfere in the internal affairs of others, as well as the practice of the strong bullying the weak,” he told the audience.
Meanwhile, the 64-year-old Xi laid out a vision for a ‘new era’ of Chinese power at the Party Congress. He pledged to build a ‘modern socialist’ nation for a new era that would be “proudly Chinese and steadfastly ruled by the party, but open to the world”. “With decades of hard work, socialism with Chinese characteristics has crossed the threshold into a new era,” he told the CPC delegates.
Experts are of the opinion that the ongoing 19th National Congress is a crucial event for the CPC, as the party may appoint Xi as its chairman. Xi, who has been serving as the party’s general secretary since 2012, managed to satisfy the Politburo with his performance in recent times. Two former Presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, who attended the opening ceremony on Wednesday, showered praises on Xi for making China a ‘strong’ nation and also for his anti-corruption drtives.
Over the next week, the Congress will discuss the CPC’s performance and policies fundamental to the country’s development and also elect a new leadership team.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das