New Chinese Communist Party resolution strengthens Xi Jinping’s power

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders issued a rare resolution on Thursday that elevates President Xi Jinping to the status of former Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. The resolution establishes an official interpretation of Chinese history, glossing over political violence in the past several decades. Members of the 19th Central Committee wrote in the official communiqué that Mao “blazed the right revolutionary path,” that Deng achieved “socialist modernization,” and that Xi follows their footsteps by leading the country into economic prosperity. The party also praised Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.

What does this mean? Experts say the resolution sets the stage for Xi to extend his rule over the party next year. The CCP already removed the two-year presidential term limit in 2018, effectively allowing Xi to remain in president for life. But the five-year term as the party’s general secretary ends next year, and Xi is expected to break tradition and extend his role in that position for a third term. The CCP has only issued two other similar resolutions in its 100-year history, one for Mao and one for Deng.

Dig deeper: Read June Cheng’s report in WORLD Magazine on the persecuted Early Rain church in Chengdu, China.