Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping visited Beijing’s Central Military Commission (CMC) command center on Tuesday, telling soldiers there to prepare to “fight and win” any future wars.
Xi’s visit to the center was the first since last month’s Communist Party Congress, which cemented his stranglehold on power and resulted in an influx of Xi loyalists into the all-powerful Communist Party Politburo. Xi used the opportunity of addressing the Congress to emphasize the importance of war readiness and modernizing the Chinese military to prepare for upcoming war.
In his remarks to soldiers during an “inspection” of routine operations on Tuesday, Xi did not name any specific threat or potential war opponent but claimed that China was facing “increased instability” that demanded “arduous” labor from soldiers.
China’s latest military engagement occurred in a battle against India on their mutual border in 2020. The Galwan Valley exchange, known for its location deep in the Himalayas, resulted in twice as many Chinese soldiers killed as Indians, according to Indian government officials. China initially refused to identify a single lost soldier before, months later, eventually admitting to only four deaths.
The Communist Party has spent most of its efforts with military rhetorical threatening not India, however, but Taiwan, a sovereign nation off its coast that it falsely insists is a province of China. In a 2019 speech, Xi promised that anyone supporting Taiwan’s right to sovereignty would have their “bones ground to powder.”
Chinese state propaganda outlets published photos and videos of Xi at the military center shaking hands with soldiers and observing their operations.
Xi Jinping inspects CMC joint operations command center, stressing troop training, combat preparedness. pic.twitter.com/v3ebfSqLmD
— Xiao Yewen肖业文 (@XiaoYewen) November 9, 2022
In an address to the soldiers, Xi ordered the entirety of the Chinese military to “devote all its energy to and carry out all its work for combat readiness, enhance its capability to fight and win, and effectively fulfill its missions and tasks in the new era,” according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Xi “instructed the armed forces to thoroughly study, publicize and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC [Communist Party] National Congress and take concrete actions to further modernize national defense and the military,” the outlet added.
Xi reportedly told the troops that China is facing “increased instability and uncertainty, and its military tasks remain arduous.” The reports did not elaborate on Xi naming any particular sources of “uncertainty,” though Beijing’s state media arms often mention the United States as a potential threat to the Party.
The South China Morning Post, an independent newspaper based in Hong Kong, quoted Xi as stating specifically that the military should “concentrate all energy on fighting a war.”
“The entire military must … focus on combat ability as the fundamental and only criterion, concentrate all energy on fighting a war, direct all work towards warfare and speed up to build the ability to win,” it relayed Xi as saying. The Morning Post added that Xi had mentioned during his extended speech to the Communist Party Congress that the military should focus on “victory in local wars.”
In those remarks last month, Xi did mention Taiwan specifically.
“Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese,” he told his party’s elite. “We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary.”
“This is directed solely at interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and their separatist activities; it is by no means targeted at our Taiwan compatriots,” he emphasized.
China considers “resolving” Taiwan as reaching full control over the country and abolishing its democratically elected government. Xi has succeeded during his time in power in convincing a growing number of international states to stop recognizing Taiwan as a country – 14 currently do, not including America – and in blocking international agencies such as the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) from allowing the government of Taiwan membership.
Xi’s calls to prepare for war contrast with the tone of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, addressing China’s participation in an event called the “Paris Peace Forum.”
“China attaches importance to and supports the efforts from all quarters to advance world peace and uphold multilateralism,” Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters. “It is our hope that this event will help galvanize the international community into action to practice true multilateralism, improve global governance, and promote world peace and common development.”
Zhao also took the opportunity to address American laws that prohibit American investments in companies tied to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), condemning them as damaging to the “global financial market.”
“This is a move driven by its political agenda and a wanton denial of fact and the actual situation of relevant companies,” Zhao claimed. “It has seriously undermined the rules and order of the market, and hurt the legal rights and interests of Chinese businesses and those of global investors including the American investors. China firmly rejects it.”
This autumn’s Communist Party Congress served as a platform to stifle any potential dissent from Xi’s leadership within the Party. Xi used his speech to prioritize “informatization and intelligentization” of the military, along with further promoting his cult ideology, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”
A strange sign of potential discord within the Party occurred shortly before the announcement of the new members of the Politburo, however: the violent ejection of Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, from the forum for no clear reason. Hu, 79 years old, was sitting next to Xi at the event when cameras caught him shuffling some papers and apparently speaking, resulting in two minions grabbing him by the elbows and abruptly dragging him out of the Congress, clearly against his will. Hu appeared to address Xi upon leaving, apparently asking for help, but Xi ignored him.
Hu remains missing at press time and Xi’s regime censored mentions of him on Chinese social media.
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