China sealed Xi’s authoritarian power at the annual meeting of its legislature

China celebrates lThe most important political meeting of the year with an eye on recovery economy in the post-covid era and in dealing with Pressure from the West to invade Ukraine. During the annual session of the legislative body, the new government team will be ratified and reforms in state institutions will be announced to strengthen the control of the Communist Party.

The major political event gathered in Beijing more than 5,000 senior delegates from all provinces, including the special administrative zones of Hong Kong and Macao. It is popularly known as “two sessions” (lianghui, in Chinese) as it includes a meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body that opened its doors this Saturday, and the National People’s Congress (NPC), the annual plenary session of Parliament, which opens this Sunday and ends on March 13.

wide police schedule Highly visible in the center of the capital, volunteers with red armbands and Communist Party insignia guarding the streets clearly show that an important meeting is taking place in Beijing. Airspace is limited, and flying kites is even prohibited. As every year, there were dissatisfiers or those who organized some kind of protest “invited” days before to leave town.

Although the Chinese media defends that the two sessions are an example of democracy where the initiatives presented by the people’s representatives are voted on. The reality is yes the proposals reach the plenary agreed and are approved by overwhelming unanimity. At the meeting, the renewal of state bodies will be visualized and the appointments agreed upon in October at the Communist Party congress will be ratified.

third term

President Xi Jinping will begin his historic third term. He comes to the appointment with less calm than expected due to the sudden cancellation of the questionable covid zero policy after the outbreak of protests.

But mass infection of the population is not expected to take its toll. In preliminary meetings and in official documents covid zero is still a success. Using common war terminology, which has been used throughout the pandemic, the coronavirus has been defeated and the battle won with fewer deaths than in the West.

The political program of the Chinese government will be presented at the plenary session with the clear goal of stabilizing the economy and stimulating growth. It is expected a increasing the defense budgetwith reference to tensions with Taiwan and the United States.

Xi Jinping also defends controlling the technology and financial sectors and promoting scientific self-sufficiency to avoid dependence on the West.

New laws were also announced oppose foreign sanctions. The United States has pushed for a ban on the sale of advanced microchips to Chinese technology companies. Some companies have also been sanctioned for developing surveillance methods against ethnic minorities, such as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, or for trading with Iran.

Beijing restricts Western media coverage

Is the first lianghui which is celebrated after three years of severe restrictions due to China’s zero covid policy, but it is not a return to normality. Participants move in Closed circle who takes them from the hotel to meetings in the National Assembly.

The days when restaurants and karaoke bars were crowded all over the city have not yet returned. Lawmakers who traveled from outside Beijing, before entering the capital, had to show two PCR tests performed in the previous 48 hours.

Journalists were forced to spend the night in quarantine in a certain hotel and undergo PCR. But most of the western media is accredited in the capital they are not authorized follow the opening of the sessions in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Instead, it has invited and paid significant number of informants from friendly countries on the trip. Evidence that China is committed to taking care of its influence in the global south.