Day: October 13, 2022

China’s leader Xi Jinping will soon be given a historic third term in power, at the country’s Communist Party Congress, which opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday. In the run up to the meeting, the propaganda effort – boosting the president’s image – is in full swing, with state media describing the almost miraculous transformations said to have taken place in poorer towns, following a visit by Mr Xi. The BBC’s Stephen McDonell visited Zhangbei in Hebei Province, northern China – an area said…

Advertisement In the lead up to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on October 16, all eyes will be on one man: Xi Jinping. To pave the way for a smooth Party Congress, the CCP has gone to extreme efforts to crack down on any sources of what it perceives as “social instability” ahead of the Congress But even still, a rare street protest that broke out in Beijing on October 13 showed how tension is building against Xi’s rule just under the surface. A lone protester…

Advertisement For years, the leaders of China and Pakistan have eulogized the relationship between the two countries as “higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, sweeter than honey.” Then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promoted the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – an infrastructure investment megaproject in Pakistan financed by China since 2015 – as a “game changer.” Now there is firm evidence in the form of survey data that such phrases are more than just rhetoric – at least as far as the citizens of Pakistan are concerned. As part of…

No other regular political event in China involves the mobilisation of people and resources on the scale of a Communist Party congress. None other dominates the agenda of so many officials, for so long. Never mind that the country is being battered by pandemic-related lockdowns—red banners everywhere urge citizens to “joyously welcome” the gathering that will open on October 16th. As they do every five years when such events are held, the country’s eyes are turning to the capital, Beijing, for the party’s big reveal, the tightly choreographed culmination of…

For ChinESE showbiz, October is a month for waving the national flag. With each passing autumn, especially in the ten years since President Xi Jinping came to power, audiences are offered ever more patriotic works. During the week-long public holidays around National Day, on October 1st, cinemas present historical war films or action movies with gleaming fighter planes and warships. Streaming services offer television dramas about selfless public servants, from pandemic-fighting medics to police squads hunting fugitives overseas. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.…

Will the Communist Party congress mark a turning-point in China’s fight against covid-19? The week-long event, beginning on October 16th, will see Xi Jinping re-anointed as the party’s leader. Some hope he will use the stage to signal an end to his “zero-covid policy”, which relies on mass testing, big lockdowns and draconian restrictions to contain outbreaks. But in recent days the People’s Daily, a party mouthpiece, has dimmed those hopes. “Fighting the epidemic is a test of the spirit,” said one commentary in the paper. Another condemned “war-weariness and…