The Daily - Xi Jinping Opens a New Chapter for China

Episode Date: October 31, 2022

Four years ago, Xi Jinping set himself up to become China’s leader indefinitely.At last week’s Communist Party congress in Beijing, he stepped into that role, making a notable sweep of the country’s other top leaders and placing even greater focus on national security.Guest: Chris Buckley, chief China correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: At the congress, Mr. Xi didn’t mention two long-repeated maxims. To many, it’s a warning of the turbulent times to come.Mr. Xi has created a new ruling elite packed with loyalist officials primed to elevate his agenda of bolstering national security and turning China into a technological great power.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

From The New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernisi, and this is The Daily. Four years ago, China's ruling Communist Party proposed to remove term limits on the office of president. President Xi Jinping set himself up to become China's ruler indefinitely. This is a major shift in policy. Yet another indication he could remain in power for a long time. A week ago, he stepped into that role. Xi further cemented his power by appointing six close allies

to the government's senior leadership team. And made a dramatic sweep of the country's top leaders. Today, I talk to my colleague Chris Buckley on why the changes signal a new chapter for China. It's Monday, October 31st. So Chris, what just happened in Beijing? The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China now officially begins. What just happened in Beijing is part of the grand ritual cycle of Chinese politics. Beijing is part of the grand ritual cycle of Chinese politics. So every five years, the Chinese Communist Party,

the party that rules China, holds its congress right in the middle of Beijing in the Great Hall of the People. It's this grandiose building with an enormous meeting hall with a red star on the roof. What the congress is, is this combination of things. It's partly a State of the Union speech in which China's top leader, the party leader, gives his account of where China has been in the past few years and where it's headed. It's a time when the Communist Party rallies its membership around the key themes that the party leader lays out at the Congress.

And finally, particularly these days, it's also a coronation as well. So these are the events in which leadership transitions happen in China. And since 2012, the top leader, of course, has been Xi Jinping. The party has made spectacular achievements through its great endeavors over the past century. So this was his party congress. Let us strive in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts.

There was no doubt going into this Congress that Xi Jinping was poised to make a big move to open the way to a third term as China's Communist Party leader, president and military commander, the three roles in which he controls China. The big uncertainty is who is going to walk out on stage with him when he introduces China's new leadership. This is the Politburo standing committee, the handful of officials, generally men, who run the country. And so... A big golden door opens on the side of the hall. And at that moment...

Now, please join me in a warm applause to welcome the General Secretary and other Political Bureau Standing Committee members. Out steps Xi Jinping, no surprise there. And then walking rather stiffly behind him, one official, two official, three, four, five, six. And there's somebody missing from that stage, an official who many people had expected would be China's next premier. His name is Wang Yang, and he's a vice premier.

He's also seen as a bit of an economic reformer. Wang Yang. The economic reformer Wang Yang. Why do we call him that? Because of his past history as the boss of Guangdong province in southern China. He'd established his credentials as the leader of Guangdong province next to Hong Kong. Guangdong is one of China's most dynamic and vibrant provinces. Very bustling commercial place where private business is very important.

Now the region accounts for 50 to 60 percent of the country's economy. I remember going down there for reporting trips and just being struck by how the atmosphere was very different from Beijing. And Wang Yang is the flag bearer of a new generation of reformers. Thoughts are, though, that he might be a little bit too reformist. He'd shown himself to be, if not a political liberal, then somebody who was willing to tolerate a bit more debate and contention in society. Now, over the past 10 years, he'd also established himself as a firm follower of Xi Jinping.

So I'm not saying he represented some sort of opposition figure, but given his experience, given his seniority, and given the fact that he'd been in charge of one of China's most important economic provinces, there were a lot of people thinking that he would be in the next group of leaders. But he wasn't there. And I think a lot of people took that to be a sign of how drastically things have changed. Okay, so he's not on that stage, which is kind of surprising because China is important and powerful in the world because of its economy, right? And he is someone who was presiding over the province that was really one of the engines of China's economic growth. So this is an important moment. Wanyong is out. Who is in? And what does that tell us about where she's going?

Well, Sabrina, let's go back to that scene on the stage in The Great Hall of the People when Xi Jinping comes walking out. The man immediately behind him is Li Qiang, the Communist Party leader of Shanghai, China's biggest city. Li Cheng, the Communist Party leader of Shanghai, China's biggest city. And earlier this year, Shanghai was the site of this ferocious COVID lockdown. This woman's door was kicked in by police when she refused to go to quarantine. After an outbreak of cases there,

Li Cheng and other city leaders put this enormous city, 25 million people, under a two-month lockdown. Under the strict policy, residents are not allowed to leave their homes, even for food. There were food shortages.

In broad daylight, a confrontation. The police up against the people. Clashes happened as police forcibly moved people out of residential compounds. And it was really difficult for a lot of people. Horrifying videos have emerged from Shanghai. Residents can be heard screaming from their windows. And there was a lot of talk that that would have done

mortal damage to Li Cheng's prospects of going into the top leadership. But no. What we saw on that day when Li Cheng came out is that he's going to be China's next premier. He's going to be the man in charge of China's government, the ministries, the regulatory agencies. He's going to be the man who Xi Jinping has put in charge. And I think the clear message from his elevation that day was, it doesn't matter what the public popularity contest is in this particular race. What matters is how Xi Jinping judges your effectiveness and judges your loyalty. And whatever Xi Jinping's priorities are,

this team is there not to debate them, but to enforce them. And Chris, what are those priorities? I think to understand those priorities, you also have to start looking at the broader leadership team that Xi Jinping revealed that day. So one of them is China's Minister of State Security, previously a pretty obscure post, but his elevation tells you something about Xi Jinping's focus on national security now. We've got China's military commanders. And what we also saw very importantly was a group of new technocrats in China. These technocrats are officials who are rising, in some cases, from China's space program, from its weapons development. We've got a number of officials who are literally rocket scientists. So I think this sends us a message that Xi Jinping's

agenda, yes, it is about personal loyalty to him, but it's about personal loyalty to a purpose. And that purpose is building up China as this techno superpower, which is going to keep growing and growing strong in coming decades. You know, we think of China as rising and coming to power because it is this great economic might. That was how it really got onto the global stage. And this is essentially Xi refocusing, kind of pointing this country in a different direction. That's really true. What we've seen Xi Jinping saying again and again is this message of security and development. Yes, China wants to continue growing. He's not going to dispense with trying to grow China's economy. But his message again and again is that that has to happen hand in hand with a greater focus on national security. And we saw that imprint very much on China's leadership that came out at the end of this party congress. And this phrase that

he's used before, which really comes to mind now, is Mao was the leader who had made China stand up, who had liberated it and brought it independence in the world. And Deng Xiaoping was the leader who had made it prosperous, who had brought it economic growth. And he said that he, Xi Jinping, would make it strong. He keeps telling us that the world is entering this new period of turbulence and uncertainty and risk that China's rise in the world, its ascent as a superpower, could come under challenge. Now, throughout all of these comments, certainly at the Party Congress, Xi Jinping never mentions the United States. But I think unmistakably behind a lot of his warnings

is a sense that the world is entering a phase when there's going to be greater contestation between China and the United States. And one of China's biggest challenges is how to rise as a superpower when it sees the United States standing in the way. We'll be right back. So, Chris, you just told me that China was in this era of potential conflict with the United States. But what does that mean exactly? I mean, the U.S., of course, is one of China's biggest trading partners.

This is a very deep and very longstanding relationship built over many years. I think to answer this question, it's important to think of how the world is sort of developed into this split screen. The United States and many Western countries see China as initiating conflict, as undermining their power and prosperity. But if you're in China, particularly if you're in the Communist Party headquarters, you have a different view of the world. And what you see, Xi Jinping, is a world where the United States is refusing to acknowledge that China is rising as an economic, military and technology power and deserves a rightful place at the high table of global politics across the world.

And it sees the United States is now mobilizing to try to stymie that rise. And I think that's why we're seeing greater conflict here, greater tensions, and also Xi Jinping emphasizing that again and again, particularly at this party congress that just finished. And why does Xi see it that way? Well, looking back, even before Xi Jinping came to power, back in 2011, I believe it was, one of his guests in China was now President Joe Biden, who was Vice President Biden then. Xi Jinping was surprisingly candid then about his worries about the world

and implicitly his worries about the China-United States relationship as well. He kept raising this idea of colour revolution. Now, this is an idea that China imported from Putin's Russia. Yes. This belief that the United States and its allies are involved in these schemes to foment insurrections, democratic uprisings across the world, particularly in socialist and former socialist countries. And so he was raising that even then, his belief that the United States and China, however much the two sides might want to get together,

are also at ideological odds as well. And I think that suspicion of US ideological intentions has deepened over the past 10 years. Protest organizers in Hong Kong estimate one million people have rallied against the proposed extradition bill. It's deepened because of episodes like the protests in Hong Kong. Hundreds of young protesters, furious at their Beijing-backed government, stormed the city's legislature. In the eyes of the Chinese government, these were rebellions. These were attempted color revolutions. Lots of people are holding umbrellas.

That's become a symbol of pro-democracy. And we've seen that suspicion grow in other areas as well. The Chinese have in the past engaged in cyber attacks directed at our companies to steal trade secrets and proprietary technology. So now you're telling me they're hacking. So what else is new? Tell me. I think particularly in technology, we have seen the United States and other countries galvanize at what they see as Chinese theft of intellectual property, hacking, spying, espionage. In response to that, China is criticizing the U.S. over its decision to tighten export controls that would target Chinese chip manufacturers. The Trump administration and then the Biden administration has introduced a number of policies intended to ensure that Chinese access to technology is controlled, regulated and above board.

And then I think since then, we've seen another escalation. We are going to support Ukraine as long as it takes. That is the Ukraine war as well. As I indicated to Putin, this would be his action would cause worldwide response. It's hard on Chinese suspicions that the Western bloc in general is galvanizing, not just against Vladimir Putin's Moscow. The focus on the challenges that matter to our future and to defend the rules-based order against the challenges, including from China.

But also potentially and quite likely against Xi Jinping's Beijing. And what does Xi see as the U.S.'s motive for opposing China? Like, is it economic? I mean, that the U.S. just can't face an economy that's bigger and soon to be or potentially stronger than its own? Or is this really a clash of ideology? Sabrina, I think it's both and probably a bit more as well. What we've seen is all of these disputes in areas like trade, technology, human rights, coalesce into a broader sense in Beijing that the United States is opposed not just to China's economic expansion, but also its place

in the world as a communist party regime. So I think that's come increasingly to the fore. And I think it's reflected in some of the internal statements that Xi Jinping has made to party officials. And Chris, does Xi have a plan? What do you think he's going to do? He has plenty of ambitions and aspirations. And we saw them laid out in the party work report that he gave at the Congress. It's about building a world-class military. It's about making China a technology superpower that's reliant on homegrown innovation for core technologies.

It's about building up a national security state that can ensure Communist Party power remains uncontested and unchallengeable. And I think there's one particular area that could become a flashpoint, and that's Taiwan. So this is the self-ruled island off the east coast of China, which generations of leaders in Beijing have said belongs to them. And Xi Jinping has made it clear that he wants to move closer to this grand goal of claiming Taiwan,

of making it part of China once again. And he repeated that at this party congress, and he made the point that China does want to do it peacefully, but won't rule out the use of force. It wants to ensure that external forces, read that to mean the United States, cannot intervene in a conflict over Taiwan. And so I think you can see there that it's one potential flashpoint where friction between China and the United States could become a real conflict. So Chris, Xi is really warning of a world where conflict is becoming more and more likely. But he's of course also part of that world and also part of making that conflict, right? He's talking

about building up his military, taking back Taiwan with force if necessary. I mean, in some ways, military taking back Taiwan with force if necessary. I mean, in some ways, he's making the prophecy, but he's also fulfilling it. I think that's the great paradox that the world is going to have to get used to living with in the next five to 10 years. It's certainly true that Xi Jinping's policies in many areas have increased tensions between China and its neighbours and other countries. On the other side, when you look at these things from within the Chinese Communist Party, I think that's where you can see how Xi Jinping's particular message still has a potency that can overcome those criticisms. And I think that message that we saw repeated at the Party Congress is really a very simple one. I told you so.

I came to power 10 years ago warning you that Western countries and Western influence were a threat to us. And therefore, I'm the leader who's best equipped to take China forward. who's best equipped to take China forward. One of the episodes at the Party Congress that illustrated just how much power Xi Jinping has now is the one unplanned episode that we saw when the former leader Hu Jintao was hustled off the stage on the closing day of the Congress. And I think for many people, that's the scene, strangely enough,

that they're going to remember this Congress by. There's been any number of theories about what happened at that time, and people are trying to read into it as much as they can. But to me, what really stands out is what happens afterward. The officials persuade Hu Jintao to get up and to leave the stage at this crucial moment of the ceremony and he walks past all of the other officials on the stage and they don't turn around, they don't say anything.

They remain staring rigidly ahead. And to me it was like this moment that sort of signified that this former leader of China, somebody who in another era may have commanded enough authority that other leaders may have turned around and at least given him a greeting or some recognition, they didn't feel that they could this time because this was Xi Jinping's moment.

And so what we saw on that stage was almost a symbolic moment when one era ends emphatically, and we see that Xi Jinping is just as emphatically in power now, and the world and China are going to have to live with that power for a long time to come. are going to have to live with that power for a long time to come. Chris, thank you. My pleasure. Thank you, Sabrina.

We'll be right back. Here's what else you should know today. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was declared the next president of Brazil on Sunday night. It was a stunning political revival for the former trade unionist, who served as president for eight years ending in 2011, but later went to prison on corruption charges. His victory delivered a stinging rebuke to the country's current leader, Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain whose far-right rhetoric had deepened divides in Brazil. Lula, as da Silva is known, won nearly 51% of the vote, to Bolsonaro's 49%. Lula ran on a campaign appealing to the poor and working classes at a time when Brazil's economy has slumped. Bolsonaro will be the first incumbent president to lose re-election in the 34 years that Brazil

has been a democracy. He leaves widespread destruction of the Amazon rainforest, a high COVID pandemic death toll, and an erosion of Brazilian democracy by repeated attacks on its voting system. And more than 150 people were crushed to death at a Halloween celebration in South Korea on Saturday night. Authorities said that part of the crowd became trapped in a narrow roadway, but that it was not clear how precisely the crush had happened. On Sunday, South Korea's president declared a week-long period of national mourning and ordered flags to fly at half-staff. Among the dead were at least two Americans. Finally, police in San Francisco have identified a 42-year-old man

as having been responsible for a break-in at the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday. Police identified the man as David DePepe. They said he entered the home through the back door, yelling, Where is Nancy? before attacking Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. Police said Depepe would be charged with attempted homicide. Mr. Pelosi underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and other injuries. He's expected to make a full recovery.

Today's episode was produced by Stella Tan, Will Reed, and Eric Krupke. It was edited by Lisa Chow and Anita Bottigio, contains original music by Dan Powell, Alicia Baitube, and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Bunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. that's it for the daily i'm sabrina tavernisi we'll see you tomorrow