As he prepares for his third term in office, President Xi emphasises national security.

As he embarks for an unprecedented third term in office this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for more efforts to ensure national political security and social stability. Xi said in an instruction to the ruling Communist Party of China’s (CPC) political and legal work committee on Saturday that measures should be made to ensure that everyone has access to justice, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Xi urged party officials to promote the ability to prevent and defuse major risks and improve law enforcement and judicial policies and measures, calling on the political and legal work fronts to uphold the CPC’s absolute leadership and draw wisdom and strength from the party’s century-long struggle. He also emphasised the importance of furthering the comprehensive reform of political and legal work, as well as cementing the gains obtained in the frontline officers’ education campaign.

In the directive, Xi stated that party committees at all levels should investigate and resolve the major difficulties that limit political and legal activity in a timely manner, as well as help political and legal organs in carrying out their tasks in accordance with the law.

He emphasised that efforts should be made to give a firm guarantee for advancing the ‘Peaceful China’ agenda and establishing the rule of law at a higher level, and that the 20th CPC National Congress should be welcomed with concrete actions.

This year, 68-year-old Xi’s second five-year term as CPC General Secretary, the country’s highest political authority, will come to an end. After the once-in-five-year CPC Congress, which is set to take place in the middle of this year, he is largely expected to be re-elected as president and chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission for an unprecedented third term, and maybe for life (CMC).

All of his predecessors, including Hu Jintao, who turned over the reins to Xi in 2012, left after two terms in office as part of a widely observed tradition to promote the party’s new and collective leadership.
In 2018, a major constitutional revision abolished the president’s two-term limit, allowing Xi to stay in office.

At last year’s meeting of the party’s Plenum, a major conclave of the party, the decks were cleared for Xi’s continuation in power, maybe for the rest of his life. Politically, the meeting is vital for Xi, who has become as the most powerful leader after party founder Mao Zedong in the previous nine years of his presidency.
In 2016, he was elevated to the position of party core leader, a position previously held by Mao.