MNI ANALYSIS: China's Xi Address Promises Celebrations Ahead

--Lighthearted, Jubilant Mood As New Chinese Leadership Introduced

By William Bi

     BEIJING (MNI) - One could say it was staged humor with Chinese

characteristics. 

     Right before Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping's

scheduled media appearance was set to begin Wednesday, as reporters anxiously

waited for the new Chinese government leadership to enter the maroon-carpeted

Eastern Hall of the Great Hall of the People, a slender female catering staffer

calmly glided in from the right side of the stage, carrying a tray with a single

glass of water covered with a paper lid. The eyes and cameras of the hundreds of

reporters who filled the hall immediately zoomed in on her.

     The crowd spontaneously broke into laughter. The woman was unmoved: with

practiced elegance, she placed the water on the single podium on the stage and

walked off the other side.

     As if a preview for things to come, 10 minutes later a smiling dark-suited

Xi ambled in, waving to the crowd as he ascended the stage, backed by a sweeping

Chinese painting of the Great Wall atop mountains. The other members of the

Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), dubbed the "dream team" by the official

media, followed in lockstep, with Premier Li Keqiang right behind Xi, then the

other five members, all in dark suits. Taking their places on the stage, they

glanced down at their feet. Observant reporters had noticed earlier that pasted

on the stage floor were seven tiny red markings: a red star flanked by three

dots on each side, showing the new PSC members where to stand. 

     Xi spoke much more briefly this time compared with his three-and-half-hour

marathon lecture on the opening day of the 19th Communist Party Congress. He

began by thanking the reporters for bothering to come and then proudly detailed

some statistics: 452 major parties of 165 nations sent 855 congratulatory notes,

and 814 of those were from heads of state and "important" organizations.

     Then Xi briefly named his colleagues: comrades Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang

Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng -- names the foreign media had

speculated on for days.

     Xi hinted his next five-year term would be full of celebrations: next year

is the 40th anniversary of the leader Deng Xiaoping's "reform and opening-up," a

policy that will lead to the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he

said; the year after, the 70-year-anniversary of the People's Republic of China,

which will be accompanied by "sustained and healthy economic growth." That will

be followed by China becoming a "moderately prosperous society" by 2020. "No one

shall be left behind" on the road to shared prosperity, Xi promised.

     The following year, 2021, is the centennial of the Communist Party of

China. The CPC is "the world's largest political party, so it must act

commensurate to that fact," Xi said. The CPC can lead its people to "glorious

social revolution, and it can engage in glorious self-initiated revolution." It 

can also be rid of its own "viruses," he said in apparent reference to his

anti-corruption drive.

     Perhaps mindful of some Western's media's concerns that the now supremely

powerful Xi would take China back to the one-man rule era of Mao Zedong, Xi

finished his speech by inviting "constructive suggestions," although asserting

he doesn't need anyone's approval. Xi ended his speech by citing a lofty line of

Chinese poetry: "Not angling for compliments, I would be content that my

integrity fills the universe."

     The choices for the new leadership hierarchy suggest Xi has not broken all

ties with past practices, Xie Yanmei of Beijing-based analytical firm

Dragonomics said in written comments to questions from MNI. There had been much

speculation that Xi would move toward a so-called "presidential system," turning

the PSC into a smaller group of lieutenants handpicked by Xi in defiance of

retirement age or other strictures. In the end this scenario did not

materialize: the PSC has remained a seven-member grouping not wholly dominated

by Xi's people, Xie said. 

     The CPC elite apparently were not ready to completely throw out established

convention and all aspects of collective leadership, Xie wrote. Nevertheless,

their destiny is now tied  to a single figure; from now on, the Chinese

Communist Party rises and falls with Xi Jinping.

     And to a large extent, so too does China's destiny. 

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 10 8532 5998; email: william.bi@mni-news.com

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,MC$$$$,MT$$$$,MGQ$$$]