Xiwho also heads the ruling Communist Party as well as the world’s largest standing armypromised deeper reform and the rule of law in the coming year, comparing them to “a bird’s two wings.”
The 10-minute prerecorded address ended on an appeal for world peace. While he hit all the right notes, Xi saved the most dramatic metaphors for his massive anti-corruption campaign.
The 61-year-old leader, considered China’s most powerful in decades, reiterated his “zero-tolerance” stance, vowing to keep “waving high the sword against corruption” and “fastening the cage of regulations.”
For a nation still largely ruled from behind closed doors, however, official pronouncements after a series of year-end leadership meetings have offered better clues on Xi’s ambitions and priorities in 2015.
Corruption fight
In the last week of December, Xi presided over the gathering of the 25-member Politburo, the Communist Party’s elite decision-making body.
“Organizing cliques within the Party to run personal businesses is absolutely not tolerated,” read a statement issued after the meeting, while acknowledging the challenges in the ongoing fight against corruption, a lightning rod for mass discontent.
The past year has certainly seen Xi break some powerful cliques involving an intricate web of officials, cronies and tycoons as well as billions of dollars worth of bribes and deals.
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“Anybody associated with thought work or ideology or the image of China — everything is being squeezed or tightened or limited,” said Jeremy Goldkorn, a leading commentator on China’s media landscape.
“I think this is connected to Xi’s idea of the new normal,” he added. “These things are going to go on, not just a cyclical campaign — whether it’s anti-corruption or tightening up on media, ideological issues.”
Already, signs were plenty throughout last year: universities and state-run think tanks warned to toe the Party line in their teaching and research, civil rights groups forced to cancel most public events, and Google’s popular Gmail service completely blocked in China.
All the worrying developments have only confirmed some observers’ grim view on Xi’s signature political campaign.
“Fighting corruption is necessary,” offered economist Mao. “But it’s a complex issue related to income, education, freedom of speech and the rule of law. Without fundamental changes in these areas, the campaign won’t succeed in the long run.”
“There were expectations that once he consolidated power, he would launch far-reaching reforms — but the past two years has not been encouraging,” said analyst Lam. “The big question in 2015 is: How will Xi use his new-found supreme power?”
READ MORE: Xi Jinping’s success so far: Taking control by following Deng Xiaoping
