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As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates 100 years of its founding, the state media published an article about the history of the party and glorified its achievements but did not mention any of the predecessors of Xi, except Mao Zedong, local media reported.
Moreover, national media have bestowed on Xi the title of lingxiu, a grandiloquent variant of "leader" in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lexicon. Its importance is seen in that the title lingxiu has only previously been ascribed to Chairman Mao Zedong. The entire machinery of the country is focusing on providing prominence to Xi's credentials ahead of the 20th Party Congress in the fourth quarter of the year. Xi Jinping is aspiring for CCP's Secretary-General, the highest position, for an unprecedented third term. As per the local media report, the article titled "What is the Communist Party of China? What does it do?" talks about the 101-year-old history of the party and underlines that the CPC is the vanguard of the Chinese working class, the vanguard of the Chinese people, the Chinese nation, and the leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It also talks about the broader achievements of the CCP. It mentions Xi nine times, Mao only once and does not mention Deng, Jiang, or Hu at all, local media reported. It also reported, Xi after securing his historic third term, may seek to change his close circle. CCP has a super-powerful central committee which President Xi Jinping has reshuffled regularly so that no one gets too comfortable. The party chooses the 25-member Politburo. Of them, seven members, including the President, form the Politburo Standing Committee, an exclusive, super-powerful body. It comprises Xi and six others. The article mentioned Wang Xiaohong, the newly appointed minister of public security in Xi's Cabinet. It stated that in addition to overseeing the public security system, another significance of Wang Xiaohong's promotion to minister is that he can directly participate in Hong Kong and Macao affairs. The Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs have a deputy leader Zhao Kezhi, who is in that position because of his post as the then Minister of Public Security. Therefore, Wang Xiaohong may also become a part of this leading group (or he already is, as many appointments don't get public for months). As China's first police-turned-public security minister, the hard-line Wang Xiaohong will definitely raise concerns in Hong Kong about Beijing's iron-fisted rule. Recently, Xi appointed Wang Xiaohong as minister of public security, overseeing the country's police force. It is to be noted that Wang and President Xi have long-standing ties. Wang Xiaohong was appointed as minister of public security, replacing Zhao Kezhi. Xi Jinping on Friday presided over tightly choreographed celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain defended the crackdown on dissent. "Hong Kong's 'true democracy' started after the handover. China has acted 'for the good of Hong Kong' and there is 'no reason at all to change' One Country, Two Systems," said Xi Jinping. He said that Hong Kong's "true democracy" started after the city's 1997 handover to China from Britain. Xi insisted that democracy is flourishing despite a years-long political crackdown that has silenced dissent. "After reuniting with the motherland, Hong Kong's people became the masters of their own city... Hong Kong's true democracy started from here," he added. Xi's visit was as much a message intended to reinforce Beijing's rule over Hong Kong to the city's 7.5 million residents as it is a message of defiance to the Western governments that had denounced his crackdown. (ANI)
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