China: Outcome of the 20th Party Congress – The Secretary-General and his Yes-men

Communist and post-Communist oppression China | 03 November 2022

All seven members of the Standing Committee appear to have been chosen in such a way that neither their accomplishments nor their advanced age make it likely that they would be able - let alone willing - to challenge Secretary-General Xi Jinping’s rule or even voice meaningful alternative views.

The long-awaited 20^th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in Beijing wrapped up on 22 October 2022 with the revealing of the decisive 7-man Politburo Standing Committee (Al-Jazeera, 23 October 2022).

Thomas Muller, persecution analyst for World Watch Research, shares some observations: “Decision-making within the CCP remains an opaque process judging by the chosen line-up of the Standing Committee: Macro Polo thinktank invited 1,000 China experts to predict the outcome and not a single one guessed correctly. It will of course take time until policies unfold, but it is already clear that old influential factions such as the Chinese Youth League have lost out, not even making it to the 24-member strong Politburo anymore (Reuters, 26 October 2022). All seven members of the Standing Committee appear to have been chosen in such a way that neither their accomplishments nor their advanced age make it likely that they would be able - let alone willing - to challenge Secretary-General Xi Jinping’s rule or even voice meaningful alternative views. At the same time, this brings a certain risk. No commentator forgets to mention the long list of challenges the country’s leadership is currently having to tackle. With the Secretary-General being surrounded by a group of ‘Yes-men’, it will be harder for him to deflect the blame for any problems or policy blunders on anyone else (NBR, 25 October 2022). One catchphrase in Xi Jinping’s report to the 20^th Party Congress was ‘national security’, which he mentioned 89 times, up from 55 times in 2017 (Grid News, 24 October 2022). It remains to be seen if blaming ‘the West’ will be enough in the long term. But the problem with ‘Yes-men’ goes deeper: As reported by AP News on 31 October 2022, there is evidence to show that even internal documents are being heavily censored causing China’s powerful leaders to ‘live in a cocoon’. If no one dares or is able to tell the truth without massaging numbers etc., China is in trouble - and so is the world.”

Thomas Muller continues: “The Party Congress could be summed up by the equation: ‘High Ambition + Deep Insecurity = Tighter Controls’ (USIP, 26 October 2022). The last paragraph of this USIP commentary is worth being quoted in full, as it also illustrates the situation for Christians:

The citizens of China can expect a continuation of current hardline policies and greater centralization of power; other countries should anticipate an assertive and combative PRC led by an activist dictator and an energetic party-military-state obsessed with seeking to control all aspects of human activity and to dominate all arenas both inside and outside its borders.

Thus, the push for control looks set to increase and, judging from experience, Christians are more likely to be seen as a threat to security than an asset.”

Thomas Muller adds: “Almost unnoticed, the Vatican extended its agreement with the Chinese government concerning the appointment for bishops for another two years, as reported by AP News on 22 October 2022. Despite all criticism and clearly aware of the agreement’s limitations, the Vatican has apparently decided that the benefits outweigh the risks. As the content of the agreement continues to be barred from publication, further details are not available.”