Officials vie to offer pledges of loyalty to Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of 20th Party Congress

Name: Chinese Communist Party resolution cements Xi Jinping leadership, putting him on par with Mao
Uploaded: 2022-06-26T00:00:28.000Z
Duration: 1 min 9 s
Description: Chinese Communist Party resolution cements Xi Jinping leadership, putting him on par with Mao

At least nine provincial party chiefs have written long articles in party publications extolling China’s president and pledging loyalty to him

Political scientist says the praise by senior officials is unusual for its critical timing ahead of the crucial party congress

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Strong acclaim for China’s President Xi Jinping from senior communist party officials comes in the lead-up to the 20th Party Congress. Photo: AP Photo

Amber Wang

Published: 8:00am, 26 Jun 2022Updated: 1:47pm, 26 Jun 2022

Senior officials in the Communist Party around the country are lavishing praise on President Xi Jinping in the final run-up of the 20th Party Congress, using words such as “beacon”, “compass” and “fulcrum” to refer to his status.

The acclaim comes months before China’s important political event when Xi is expected to kick off his third term as the party’s leader, and the party is expected to see a new leadership line-up.

Lou Yangsheng, party boss of Henan province, said on Wednesday Xi’s political theory should be taken as a “lifelong lesson” by local officials, and called for an “item-by-item” and effective implementation of Xi’s instructions.

In an article published on the front page of Study Times, a publication from the Central Party School, Lou also called for “remembering the lingxiu’s instructions”.

Lingxiu is a reverential term for “leader” that was common during the era of Mao Zedong and his successor Hua Guofeng more than three decades ago, but has rarely been used since the late 1970s.

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Chinese Communist Party resolution cements Xi Jinping leadership, putting him on par with Mao

In the past two months, at least nine provincial party chiefs, including Lou, have written long articles in party publications extolling Xi and pledging loyalty to him.