(TibetanReview.net, Jan16’24) – President Xi Jinping has sought to drive home the point that China is more than anything else a Communist Party of China-state and demanded continued, absolute loyalty to the Party from the country’s judicial and law enforcement authorities to keep it that way as the country faced prospects of significant decline in economic growth.
Xi’s instructions, calling on the courts, prosecutors and public security authorities to “defuse” social and economic risks, and safeguard national security, were delivered during a two-day national conference over the weekend for the country’s zhengfa departments – the political and legal authorities responsible for domestic security – reported the scmp.com Jan 16.
Xi has been demanding similar Party-loyalty commitments during army meetings as well, while also telling the armed forces to be battle-prepared at all times.
The latest instructions were delivered at the virtual meeting by Chen Wenqing, the head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, a party body that oversees all security-related matters, the report said, citing state news agency Xinhua.
In his instructions, Xi has said judicial and law enforcement departments should “uphold the absolute leadership” of the party, and use their development to support and serve China’s modernisation.
Xi, who did not take part in the virtual meeting, has called on them to provide strong security guarantees for “the comprehensive advancement of the construction of a strong nation and the great cause of national rejuvenation”.
The report noted that Beijing has been placing growing significance on national security, especially over the past year. Xi has also repeated the significance of security issues at high-level meetings, urging the departments to “resolutely safeguard national security” and “prevent and resolve major security risks”.
Xi has also called for strengthening the party’s political construction of the judicial and law enforcement departments to “forge a loyal, clean and responsible iron army”.
Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong has presided over the meeting, which was also attended by Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People’s Court, and Ying Yong, procurator-general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
Xi’s call for stability maintenance came ahead of a warning by the head of the International Monetary Fund Jan 15 that China needed structural reforms in order to avoid “a fairly significant decline in growth rates.”
Speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Kristalina Georgieva said China was facing both short-term and long-term challenges, reported the cnbc.com Jan 15.
In the short-term, she has said China’s property sector still needed “fixing,” along with a high level of local government debt. Longer-term, Georgieva has noted demographic changes and a “loss of confidence.”
“Ultimately, what China needs are structural reforms to continue to open up the economy, to balance the growth model more towards domestic consumption, meaning create more confidence in people, so [they] don’t save, they spend more,” Georgieva has said.