Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping offered an optimistic message to mark the Lunar New Year, which began on Tuesday, welcoming the Year of the Horse and encouraging Chinese people to embrace the “vigor, strength, and resilience” that are the hallmarks of that animal.
China and several other countries in Asia marked the Lunar New Year on Tuesday, ending the Year of the Snake and beginning the Year of the Horse. The Year of the Snake is traditionally viewed as a time of volatility and challenges; Xi’s speech a year ago, shortly after President Donald Trump became president for a second time, featured apprehension of what the future may bring and warns to expect the unexpected. This year, Xi addressed the nation at a Lunar New Year banquet on Saturday, sharing more optimistic words and celebrating that the Communist Party survived the Year of the Snake.
According to the flagship state news agency Xinhua, Xi described the ending year as “extraordinary” and applauded the Communist Party for maintaining stability in the country.
“Over the past year, China’s economy withstood pressure and sustained growth, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality, Xi said,” according to Xinhua.
“Describing the ending Year of the Snake as extraordinary, Xi said China met difficulties head-on and made new progress in the face of a complex and volatile environment at home and abroad,” Xinhua continued, “elevating China’s economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, national defense capabilities, and composite national strength to new heights.”
Another Chinese state propaganda outlet, the newspaper China Daily, shared that Xi called on China “to forge ahead on the journey of Chinese modernization.” He used the occasion to celebrate several events of the past year, including the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the anniversaries of the colonization of Tibet and East Turkistan. Xi’s Communist Party refers to the two regions as “Xizang” and “Xinjiang,” respectively, and is currently engaging in ethnic cleansing and genocide practices against the indigenous peoples of these territories.
Elsewhere in his address, Xi also applauded the Communist Party’s many purges of high-ranking officials over the past year, which he described vaguely as “anti-corruption efforts” in which the Party “exercised the full and rigorous self-governance.”
Among those purged this past year was Zhou Xianwang, best known in the West for being the mayor of the central city of Wuhan during the onset of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic and revealing that 5 million people had left the city for the Lunar New Year holiday before the Chinese government admitted that an outbreak of a novel disease was wreaking havoc in the city. Zhou was purged for alleged “serious violations of Party discipline and national laws.”
Similarly, Xi purged the top-ranked vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC), Gen. Zhang Youxia, in January, fo alleged “severe violations of party discipline and laws.” The Chinese government did not specify what kinds of laws Zhang violated and international outlets highlighted that his removal, as well as that of Gen. Liu Zhenli, left Xi almost completely unchecked as the commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army. Zhang’s removal was followed by the ouster of three lawmakers with close ties to the military in February, for the same crime of “severe violations of party discipline.”
Xi Jinping ended his remarks to herald in the new year, according to state propaganda outlets, by reminding his audience that, “in Chinese culture, the horse embodies vigor, strength and resilience, symbolizing steady progress and lasting prosperity.”
“Xi encouraged the Chinese people to maintain high morale and forge ahead on the new journey of Chinese modernization in the Year of the Horse,” according to Xinhua.
The tone of this year’s speech was a notable departure from that beginning the Year of the Snake.
“We will press ahead with deepening reforms, expand high-level opening-up, guard against and defuse risks in key areas and external shocks,” Xi said at the time, “and promote sustained economic recovery and improvement while maintaining social harmony and stability.”
Outside observers suggested that Xi’s warning of “external shocks” was a response to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has made the elimination of malign Chinese communist influence around the world a priority. Rather than highlighting words such as “vigor, strength, and resilience,” Xi said last year that the Chinese must “strengthen our conviction and confidence” and expect to “confront problems and obstacles directly.”
Much of China marked Lunar New Year’s Eve on Monday with elaborate fireworks and lights shows.
Chinese state media shared dramatic images from the nation’s largest cities of light displays making the shapes of horses as well as dragons and other traditional imagery.
The Lunar New Year is also considered one of the largest annual mass migrations in the world. The Chinese Communist Party estimated this month that Chinese citizens will make 9.5 billion trips during the holiday season, many of them workers living in major cities returning home to their families.
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