China’s Xi surges to power with plan to rewrite Communist Party history

At a closed-door conference in Beijing next month, Mr. Xi and other senior officials will review a draft resolution that gives an authoritative account of the party’s “major achievements and historical experiences” since its founding 100 years ago. , state media said, citing the decision taken on Monday by the party’s 25-member Politburo.

The resolution will be the third such document enacted by the party, placing Mr. Xi along with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping as the leader who commanded the key authority needed to formally reinterpret modern Chinese history.

The passage of the resolution at the conclave on November 8-11 will reflect a sense of unity around Mr. Xi’s leadership as he prepares for a two-party party congress next year, where he will be serving his third term. Hope to be safe. as party leader, defying the two-term precedent set by his predecessor.

Discussing the proposed resolution at Monday’s meeting, the Politburo heaped praise on Xi, saying his administration has led China on a new “historic course” of drastic progress toward national greatness.

Historians say that the resolutions on the history of Mao and Deng, which were adopted in 1945 and 1981 respectively, were intended to consolidate control over the party, stoke dissenting views and establish their own ideological point of view as party doctrine. Had to do. For example, Deng’s document denounced Mao’s 1966–76 Cultural Revolution as a disastrous error, paving the way for market-opening reforms that would propel China’s economic miracle.

“The last two resolutions were highly critical in nature. This time, it will be mainly about self-affirmation,” said a retired politics professor in Beijing. Possible goals, he said, would be “to strengthen the image of the party, the image of the current leader and that of the current leader.” The will is to strengthen.”

The passage of the resolution, which observers say is a formality, would signal Xi’s firm grip on the party, even as China’s crackdown on electricity shortages, supply-chain disruptions and Beijing’s crackdown on technology, private education and real struggling to shore up the affected economy. – Property areas. China on Monday reported slower-than-expected growth in the third quarter, when its GDP grew 4.9% from a year earlier, compared to a 7.9% on-year expansion in the previous three months.

Faced with economic challenges, Mr. Xi has ramped up efforts to build a “right perspective on history” at home, with the aim of reducing introspection about the party’s past mistakes. Instead, he has sought to portray the party as an invincible one. The force that has endured war and chaos to advance China’s rise.

Mr. Xi, the son of a revolutionary hero, has stressed the importance of controlling narratives about the party’s past. He has stressed that China’s successes in recent decades cannot be separated from its struggles under Mao, whose political strategy has been revived by Mr. Xi to quell dissent and claim greater control over society. has been done.

As part of a national campaign to celebrate the party’s 100th anniversary this year, officials revised historical texts to downplay Mao’s absolutist missteps during the Cultural Revolution, while removing some famous Deng quotes that appeared to be a Individuals warned against the dangers of rule and advocated polite diplomacy. .

Mr Xi cited history again earlier this month to reiterate Beijing’s resolve to regain control of Taiwan’s self-governing democracy, which China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing, ceded to Japan in 1895. previously controlled.

In a speech marking the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which toppled the Qing government, Mr. Xi declared that those opposing the unification of China and Taiwan would be “condemned by history.”