Communist Party National Congress opens in China

The Chinese ruling Communist Party opened its twice-a-decade National Congress on Wednesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the weeklong meeting with a speech from the Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square. Xi hailed a “new era” for China, outlining a plan for economic and social development to make China a “great modern socialist country” by midcentury. The congress is mostly secretive—2,287 hand-picked delegates representing the party’s 89 million members attend the meetings. Throughout the week, delegates will select around 200 members to serve on the Central Committee. The committee will then pick a 25-member Politburo and the elite Politburo Standing Committee. The delegates will also likely give Xi a second five-year term as his party’s leader. In addition to daily broadcasts throughout the country, the meetings have also led to a widespread security crackdown and additional monitoring of so-called dissidents. Access to foreign websites and social media—including messaging sites like Whatsapp—have been restricted, and in Beijing, authorities have suspended the selling of knives, fireworks, and chemicals.