President Xi puts China in crisis mode, even as his continuing rule is secure: Analysis

President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing, China on Oct. 16, 2022. - AP

BEIJING (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): In President Xi Jinping's political report at the opening of the 20th national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), there was no dearth of justification for him to secure a rare third five-year term.

Xi had no qualms about patting himself and the party on the back for a job well done in the past 10 years of his rule - from the economy to the environment, from battling Covid-19 to corruption, from modernising the military to sinicising Marxism, and from poverty to prosperity, albeit moderate.