Dækningen af den 19. partikongres er bemærkelsesværdig af flere grunde: Kommunistpartiet har igen hentet hammer og segl frem og bruger igen de tunge, ideologiske slagord. Flere har sagt, at Xi Jinping er ved at køre sig selv i stilling som en stor leder, og sådan iscenesætter han sig selv på kongressen. I en tre og en halv time lang tale til nationen skitserede han nye mål for et nyt Kina:

His speech beamed around the nation on state television, China’s leader also set out his ideological contribution to the Party’s intellectual canon: ponderously named “Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” One official later described it as the “third milestone” in the Party’s “ideological innovation”— after Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping theory.

De som troede, at et rigt Kina ville slække tøjlerne, må tro om igen. De ideologiske tommelskruer er strammet. Kommunistpartiet vil have fuld kontrol, mere kontrol end nogensinde før. Hvad betyder det for verden? Washington Post er forbavsende kritisk over for de tanker præsidenten fremlagde:

set out a vision of total control — with the party guiding not only the economy and the Internet but culture, religion and morals.

China’s leadership already has a hand in just about every aspect of life. But Xi’s speech — three-and-a-half hours long — cast the net even wider.

It was a vision of a reinvigorated Communist Party, backed by a strong economy and a powerful, modern military that increasingly has challenged U.S. influence in the Pacific.

Et kommunistparti, som vil have total kontrol, betyder større og flere konfliktflader med Vesten. Det har Washington Post fattet.

Kina kan ikke på nogen rimelig måde kaldes et kommunistisk samfund. Det er flere år siden, det forlød, at ingen længere tror på ideologien. Partiet er blevet en karrierestige. Hvilken betydning har det derfor, at kommunismen igen fremhæves som rettesnor og disciplineringsværktøj? Man kan vanskeligt forestille sig andet end at det vil medføre mere undertrykkelse hjemme og mere konfrontation ude.

the run-up to the 19th Party Congress has been most marked by the Communist Party’s particular brand of paranoia.

Dissidents been arrested or railroaded out of town, lest they disrupt the celebratory mood by saying anything remotely critical. Ordinary public gatherings — including a top-level soccer match — have been closed down or postponed.

Censorship of the Internet and controls on private chat groups have dramatically intensified, while massive lines built up at subway stations in the capital this week as security checks were stepped up. Volunteers with red armbands and security personnel patrol almost every street corner, while banners extolling the Party dominate almost every free space.

Hvad vil det nye Kina bruge sin magt til? Vil det blive en ansvarlig medspiller, en stormagt, som bidrager til at sikre international lov og orden? Mest nærliggende er truslen fra Nordkorea. Men det var ikke sådanne signaler Xi Jinping udsendte. De var magtorienterede og aggressive.

“The party exercises overall leadership over all areas of endeavor in every part of the country,” he said, the first sentence of the first bullet point of his ideological exposition.

Den som ledte efter tegn på et mere selvsikkert Kina, som har råd til at være venlig, blev skuffet.

Her var det ideologisk rigiditet og kontrol som gik igen:

The speech was long on aspiration but largely devoid of concrete new policy measures. Much was devoted to the idea of keeping the Party’s ideology the center of public life.

“Culture is a country and a nation’s soul,” Xi said, before explaining how he wanted Chinese culture harnessed to the cause of socialism, and following the guidance of Marxism.

“Ideology determines the direction a culture should take and the path it should follow as it develops,”’ he said. Writers and artists should produce work that both thought-provoking but also extols “our Party, our country, our people and our heroes.”

“Erroneous” ideology must be opposed, he added, while religion must be “Chinese in orientation,” and guided by the Party to adapt to socialist society.

Set udenfra tyder understregningen af kontrol på svaghed. Dem som har ventet på, at Kina skulle liberaliseres, kunne ikke blive andet end skuffet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/confidence-control-paranoia-mark-xi-jinpings-speech-at-china-party-congress/2017/10/18/6e618694-b373-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html?utm_term=.cf4828cfed98