IN ONE stroke, Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping has elevated himself to a high pedestal alongside Mr. Mao Zedong, founder of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Mr. Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s economic surge. A high-profile conclave of the CPC has approved a landmark resolution reassessing the party’s achievements in the last 100 years and anointed Mr. Jinping in the haloed list of era-defining leaders.

 

The influential leader in China’s history has now secured a third five-year term as President with no rival or heir apparent in sight. Mr. Jinping had already paved way for a third term by making a bold reform in 2018 to eliminate term limit on presidency. The ‘landmark resolution’ has now firmly cemented Mr. Jinping as the most powerful leader that ever led China and also bolsters the narrative of him steering the country towards being the new superpower in the world. Mr. Jinping’s power-play is also a message to the international community, especially those building alliances to stop Chinese imperialism, that China is set to come back hard with all its might. It can be a preposterous thought to see China as the big bully in the class but these are signals for the world to prepare for more aggression from the Dragon.