Beijing [China], May 10 (ANI): Chinese President Xi Jinping is suffering from ‘cerebral aneurysm’ and had to be hospitalized at the end of 2021, media reports said. It is learnt that he preferred to be treated with traditional Chinese medicines rather than going for surgery, which softens the blood vessels and shrinks aneurysm.

Of late, there have been speculations about Xi’s health as he had avoided meeting the foreign leaders since the outbreak of COVID-19 till the Beijing Winter Olympics. Earlier in March 2019, during Xi’s visit to Italy, his gait was observed to be unusual with a noticeable limp and later also in France during the same tour, he was seen taking support while trying to sit down.

Similarly, during an address to the public in Shenzhen in October 2020, his delay in appearance, slow speech and coughing spree again led to speculation about his ill health. These reports come as China’s economy is under a lot of strain due to oil and gas price hikes and disruption to the supply chain caused by the Ukraine conflict, and strict implementation of the zero-COVID policy.

With the Chinese President eyeing a historic third term, the country, in a tactical move, has decided to temporarily suspend focusing on “common prosperity”, slapping penalties on tech behemoths, and instead is scurrying to stabilize the economy, which is under a lot of stress.

In the run-up to the forthcoming 20th Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is tactically moving away from its “common prosperity” policy as with the economic slowdown the country does not want to become a less attractive market for investors, as per reports.

As Xi prepares to get re-elected for a third five-year term later this year, he has attempted to portray China as more prosperous, influential, and stable under his rule. The country’s officials who till a few months ago were ferociously advertising a new era of “Common Prosperity” slapping penalties on tech behemoths and wealthy celebrities have shifted their focus to keeping the economy stable and growing, for now.

Uphill task for Xi Jinping to retain power after zero COVID policy failure

Beijing [China], May 10 (ANI): As Chinese president Xi Jinping eyes his third tenure as the country’s supreme leader, his policies have now been questioned within China as he no longer commands unquestioned loyalty from the people, said a media report. The unprecedented response came after President’s Zero COVID policy began to test the patience of the Chinese people. Dozens of cities and towns, including Shanghai, went under lockdown for weeks and months, leading to a shortage of food and groceries.

According to Hongkong Post, the lockdowns have affected the economy, already weighed down by the President’s actions against Chinese unicorns and big businesses to teach them who is their master. Trade is impacted, ships are neither being loaded nor unloaded in Shanghai ports, factories are shut, manufacturing is down, and inflation and prices are constantly rising.

The Chinese Communist Party recently elected President Xi as a delegate for the 20th party Congress. The decision came about at the party’s Guangxi regional Congress by a unanimous vote, The Hongkong Post reported. As per the report, the CCP Central Committee nominated him as a candidate for delegate to Congress amid speculation that the date of the 20th party Congress may be advanced in view of the complex internal and external situations. The idea is to get it over with, with the least damage to Xi’s image, however, that is not the case as the public image of his invincibility has been dented severely.

The Diplomat reports that for Xi to get his third term, “some institutional adjustments and explanations will be needed”. Another issue for Xi is his age. Under the convention “commonly referred to as the ‘seven-up and eight down rule, a cadre who is 68 or older must retire while a cadre who is 67 or younger may remain in office but Xi will benefit from the practice he established of selecting personnel on the basis of their abilities and other criteria rather than their seniority.

As Xi prepares to get re-elected for a third five-year term later this year, the Chinese Communist Party will also bring forward their political goals to portray China as more prosperous, influential, and stable under his rule in order to bolster public support for Xi’s leadership.

Xi asks Chinese communist youth league to cultivate trust in Marxism, CCP

Beijing [China], May 10 (ANI): Chinese President Xi Jinping advised Communist Youth League (CYL) to help the youth cultivate their trust in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Marxism “from the bottom of their heart”. Addressing a grand gathering in Beijing to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League (CYL) of China, Xi Jinping on Tuesday asked the organisation to always lead the “ideological progress of young people.”

The members of the Communist Youth League (CYL) are Chinese youth over the age of 14 and under the age of 28, generally, school and college-going students as well as early-stage working youth, Xinhua reported Xi said the CYL is a school for young people to understand “socialism with Chinese characteristics and communism in practice,” the report said.

Xi further said that the league should help the youth aim high at an early age and cultivate the trust in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics and the belief in Marxism “from the bottom of their heart”. On May 2, Communist Youth League released statistics that as of December 31, 2021, there were 73.715 million members of the CYL nationwide.

Among them, there are 43.81 million student members, 5.6 million corporate members, 13.2 million township members, 4.6 million members from government agencies and institutions, 4.5 million urban street members, and 1.8 million members of social organizations and other fields. It is widely believed that “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the internet who help in building a pro-CPC narrative — are members of the CYL.

Little Pink are different from the 50 Cent Army (also known as Wumao) as the former are not paid for their online activities whereas the latter is paid to comment and counter-narratives that are detrimental to the CPC. (ANI)