President Xi"s name and ideas under the title "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era" have been officially
incorporated into the Communist Party"s constitution at the 19th Party Congress, as reported by The Washington Post on 24 October 2017. As stated by the New York Times on 24 October: "While there may be no "˜Little Red Book" of quotations for mass consumption like in the bygone Mao era, Mr. Xi"s thinking will now
infuse every aspect of party ideology in schools, the media and government agencies."
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, explains: "Although time is needed to see how everything plays out in practice, there are still three important results to note from this Party Congress: 1) President Xi Jinping is the first leader since Mao Zedong to have his ideas added to the Party constitution during his lifetime. This illustrates how powerful his position really is. 2) Unlike previous congresses, the leadership has not indicated an "˜heir apparent" to take over from President Xi in 2022, when the next Party Congress takes place. Whether this means that he will be seeking a third term in office or will just wield influence behind the scenes, remains to be seen. 3) In his speech lasting more than three hours, President Xi mentioned religious issues quite prominently and emphasized the
state"s need to control religion and to sinicize it, as Newsweek reported on 24 October 2017. Times for Christians are therefore like to get increasingly complicated in the future."
