Xi Jinping: China's Third New Era

Contents: Preface. 1. Xi Jinping Prepares to Lead China into New Thirty-Year Era. 2. China’s Internal Situation before the 19th Party Congress: An Overview. 3. China’s Internal Situation: Is Xi Jinping under Pressure. 4. The China Dream. 5. China: Path to Hi-Technology. 6. China’s Maritime Challenge in the Indo-Pacific. 7. Belt and Road Initiative and its Future Implications. 8. China’s 19th Party Congress: New Leaders to Steer China to the China Dream. 9. Initial Assessment of Xi Jinping’s Work Report at 19th Party Congress. 10. Analysis of China’s 19th Party Congress. 11. Distancing the PLA From Politics: Representatives in CCP Standing Committees. 12. Initial Assessment of China’s CPPCC Plenary Session, 2019. 13. A Brief Assessment of China’s 3rd Session of the 13th CPPCC, May 2020. 14. An Assessment of the Second Plenum of China’s 13th National People’s Congress. 15. An Assessment of the 13th Session of China’s 13th NPC, May 2020. 16. China’s Military and the National People’s Congress. 17. No Change in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Assertive Policies Despite Pressure. 18. CCP CC’s 4th Plenum Could Suggest a Dilution in Xi Jinping’s Authority. 19. Chinese President Xi Jinping Faces Difficult Times Ahead. 20. Popular Protests Undermine Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Credibility. 21. The Covid-19 Epidemic and China’s Economy. 22. China’s Economic Revival will Face Serious Headwinds. 23. Dissatisfaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping Mounts. 24. Chinese President Xi Jinping Reacts to Inner Party Opposition. 25. Xi Jinping Shores up Position to Fend off Opponents. 26. Qiu Shi Calls for Protecting Xi Jinping as “Core” of the Whole Chinese Communist Party. 27. Xi Jinping Launches ‘Yan’an Style’ Campaign to Cleanse China’s Security Apparatus. 28. Xi Jinping’s Efforts to Consolidate Marxist Ideology among CCP Members to Counter US. 29. China and the Post covid-19 World. 30. The US-China Trade War: A Strategic Move. 31. The US-China Trade War: Fall-Out in China. 32. China’s View of Ties with the US: Hints of Concessions? 33. China’s ‘Big Two’ have Domestic Discontent and US-China Tension as Backdrop: India Finds Mention in US-China Exchange. 34. Chinese Researchers Suggest Modulation of China’s Policy Towards United States. 35. Tension is High Within China’s Leadership Echelons as United States Maintains Unrelenting Pressure. 36. Chinese Assessments of the International Situation. 37. Cicir’s Assessment of China’s Major Country Diplomacy. 38. China Debates Policy Towards US as Biden’s Administration Takes Over. 39. China: Conference on Peripheral Diplomacy. 40. Xi Jinping Launches Campaigns to Entrench the Chinese Communist Party Among the People. 41. China’s 19th Party Congress Indicates No Change in China’s Policy Towards Tibet. 42. Tibet has been Receiving Higher Priority in Recent Months. 43. China Intensifies Efforts to Diminish Dalai Lama’s Influence. 44. Tibet Autonomous Region’s Expenditure on Public Security. 45. China’s Xiaokang (Well-Off) Border Defence Villages in Tibet Autonomous Region. 46. China and US Could Emerge as Adversaries over the Tibet Issue. 47. China’s Seventh Tibet Work Forum, August 29-30, 2020. 48. China’s Third Central Xinjiang Work Conference. 49. Inner-Party Differences on Hong Kong Issue Pose Problems for Xi Jinping. 50. DPP’s Win in Taiwan Elections will have Repercussions. 51. CPEC and Challenges for Pakistan. 52. Brief Analysis of Chinese Propaganda During India-China Face-Off at Doklam, June 16—August 1, 2017. 53. Different Facets of the Doklam Face-Off: An Overview. 54. Composition and Implications of Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe’s Visit to India. 55. Chinese State Councillor and Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi’s Visit Yields Little Tangible Results. 56. Can the Second Xi-Modi Summit Tackle the Really Difficult Issues. 57. Implications of the Ongoing Tension with China Along the LAC. 58. China Probably has a Larger Hidden Agenda. 59. Chinese Thinking on the India-China Border Issue. 60. China Appears to have Initiated a Phase of Deception along the LAC. 61. Chinese Publication Asserts Aksai Chin is ‘Illegally Occupied by India’. 62. An Authoritative Chinese Assessment of how China Views India. Index.

As its title ‘Xi Jinping: China’s Third New Era’ suggests, the book covers the period mid-June 2017 till the end of 2020—a period when, Xi Jinping’s acolytes claim, China had already embarked on a third thirty-year era under his leadership, like those of Mao and Deng before him.

This period also saw an outpouring of criticism against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese President not witnessed since the Tiananmen Square events in 1989. The resentment was sparked by Xi Jinping abolishing tenure limits that govern the cadres’ terms in office as well as the mishandling of the initial stages of the Covid pandemic. It is also the period when Xi Jinping began using the country’s security apparatus to further consolidate his position and impose progressively restrictive controls on society. He followed through on his slogan: “party, government, military, civilian and academic; east, west, south, north and centre, the Party leads everything”!

The essays explore the modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA); Xi Jinping tightening his grip on members of the Politburo and the higher echelons of the Party; China’s policy on Tibet and Beijing’s efforts to negate the Dalai Lama’s influence inside China as well as abroad.

China’s attitude and posture towards India, which have undergone definite change since Xi Jinping adopted an aggressive foreign policy to achieve the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, have been covered at length. This includes the ongoing incursions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh since May 2020.