As an elderly man, Joe Biden is slower than Xi Jinping in his response to events such as the abrupt political change in Myanmar. On February 9, Xi presided over a summit between China and Central and Eastern European countries and delivered a keynote speech. No matter how many top European leaders come to him, and whether the European media praise or criticize him, Xi is always faster in his actions than when Biden makes a phone call. On February 9 Eastern Time, the US Senate impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump began. The polarization and confrontation prompted by the US presidential election, together with the worsening pandemic, mean Biden has not taken part in any important international summit, not to mention he has not presided any.

And what about Xi, who has been busy inspecting different localities and is eager to deliver online speeches to the international community? On February 8, the Voice of America ran a report entitled “CCP issues 10 bans for 20th National Congress; experts: Xi Jinping fails to show his authority but has been slapped on face”. According to the report, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Organization Department and the National Supervision Commission published in January “Notice on the Discipline for the change of leadership and strengthening supervision over the change of leadership”, which contains 10 don’ts. Commenting on the notice, a US-based Chinese commentator said: “In terms of forming cliques, not living up to one’s promises, practicing nepotism and hiring people in violation of rules, Xi Jinping and the senior CCP officials surrounding him are experts. The biggest irony [of the notice] is the 10th rule, which ‘strictly prohibits interference with the procedure of the change of leadership’. In striving for a third term, isn’t Xi the worst offender who has interfered with the procedure?”

Xi has already put the preparation work for the 20th National Congress on the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ‘s. He is using party discipline and the 10 don’ts to shut up local delegates who hold different opinions than the party. Within the CCP Central Committee, he is also using harsh legal means to put up a fight in which the party cannot afford being defeated and will not allow itself to be. At the fifth plenary session of the 19th CCDI on January 22, Xi stressed the importance of the “two maintenances” (maintaining Xi’s status as the core of the party and maintaining the CCP Central Committee’s authority and centralized, unified leadership), the need to focus on tackling corruption cases that involved both political and economic issues, and to rigorously investigate those who are disloyal to the party and secretly violate rules. He also emphasized the need to strictly punish corrupt officials of the CCP’s political and legal organs. His remarks have triggered widespread speculation. The shroud of mystery surrounding the speech was lifted on February 8, when the CCP released a video about the result of the sixth round of CCP Central Committee inspection. Among the 14 central government organs subject to inspection, the Public Security Bureau topped the list. According to the first inspection team, the Public Security Bureau is still a long way off from being able to prevent and defuse resolve risks, and that it has not done enough to eradicate the “remaining toxins” of Zhou Yongkang, Meng Hongwei and Sun Lijun. The bureau also has problems with its personnel appointment system and has not done enough in its political efforts to build up the security bureau force.

On January 29, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission held a video conference on the national cyberspace system regulating the order of online communication. Zhuang Rongwen, head of the commission, quoted Xi’s latest instruction on cyberspace management: “Positive energy is the general requirement; management is the absolute principle; effective usage is competence.” The instruction represents Xi’s renewed effort to clean up the cyberspace since he “brandished his sword” targeting the cyberspace on August 19, 2013. The broad scope of the campaign is flabbergasting. Cyberspace affairs offices have been established in different provinces and cities and at the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The campaign also covers local and state-level online media outlets controlled by the party, commercial websites, different online portals, apps, browsers, Weibo users, audio and video websites, live broadcast, search engines, instant communication tools, online forums, information sharing, and hosts of public accounts. No stone is left unturned. The overt message is that the cyberspace is run by the party. By now, China’s cyberspace, just like the traditional media, has completely fallen into the hands of the CCP. There is no more room for dissent. Currently, public security and judicial organs are stepping up efforts to arrest and punish activists, netizens and lawyers who try to defend human rights. The repressive political environment is akin to that in 2015 when hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists were arrested.

But the repression does not stop on the home front. Xi wants to make sure the 20th National Congress will be held without a hitch and so he wants to create an international environment that favors the CCP. He has dealt a blow to former US state secretary Mike Pompeo’s Mekong plan in Myanmar, a move that has affected Japan and India. Urging Europe to foster economic cooperation and join hands with China to fight the Covid-19 pandemic is not enough. What matters most is to have Biden’s recognition. On January 20, Xi delegated the wolf warriors of his foreign affairs team to call for other countries to have phone conversations with China. After taking office, Biden has had phone calls with various state leaders, including rival Vladimir Putin, and yet he has not spoken to Xi. Panicking, Yang Jiechi, a leading wolf warrior, delivered an online speech calling for the US to have a phone conversation with China. Eventually he managed to speak to the newly appointed US State Secretary Antony Blinken. In the typical CCP way, Xinhua News Agency took out certain comments made by Blinken which the CCP does not want to hear, prompting the US media to make clarifications and elaborate Blinken’s points later.

On January 7, CBS broadcast an exclusive interview with Biden, who acknowledged the fact that he had not spoken to Xi on the phone since he took office. He praised Xi, saying “he’s very bright” and “very tough”. That was just an etiquette of typical Western leaders. Yet Biden also said Xi “doesn’t have a democratic bone in his body”.

Biden noted: “I am not going to do it the way Trump did. We are going to focus on the international rules of the road.” But here comes a crucial question: will Xi follow any rules? What should the US do when the CCP keeps violating economic regulations and military norms and also human rights? The “extreme competition” in Biden’s words may evolve into Trumpism that he does not want to but has to inherit.

(Lui Yue, veteran Chinese journalist)

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