[Beijing Diary] The Surface and Substance of Xi Jinping's Third Term

A screen installed inside a bus traveling through downtown Beijing. On the screen, Xi Jinping, the President of China who is about to begin his third term, is giving a speech promoting the country's economic growth so far.

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyunjung] Over the past week, all of China was abuzz with cheers for one individual. Local state-run media praised his achievements by tracing his footsteps over the past decade and seemed moved by the proposed vision of future society. Grandiose epithets such as 'People’s Leader' and 'Great Leader' also appeared. Following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (Party Congress), which concluded on the 22nd, and a full-scale propaganda campaign, President Xi Jinping secured his third term.

Local sources and major foreign media agree that President Xi is looking beyond adding five more years to the past decade of leadership. The revival of the title 'People’s Leader,' which disappeared after the Mao Zedong era, is widely interpreted as a sign of his determination to remain at the pinnacle of Chinese politics by any means until his physical life ends. Looking at the lineup of the third-term top leadership revealed on the 23rd, there is no figure who could pose a challenge to Xi Jinping.

Before the Party Congress, President Xi’s presence was evident even in everyday spaces for reporters around Beijing. In large bookstores, a four-volume collection featuring a clean portrait of President Xi on a white background and his name (priced at 80 yuan per volume, about 15,900 KRW) was prominently displayed on prime shelves (though no one was seen buying them). On buses, instead of the usual announcements, President Xi’s voice emphasizing national development echoed, and small electronic displays showcased flashy moving graphs boasting economic growth over the past decade. When glancing around at such moments, people of all ages simply stared at the screens.

A COVID-19 nucleic acid testing site in Wangjing, Beijing. As the deadline for students' nucleic acid tests was suddenly changed, a crowd gathered, but no additional staff or testers were deployed, resulting in a very chaotic scene.

However, some quietly harbor concerns and worries about President Xi’s 'third term.' While the exposed media and commentaries pour out full support, graffiti opposing dictatorship, called the 'quiet revolution,' has repeatedly appeared on bathroom walls and toilet stalls in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. According to CNN, Chinese international students abroad are also participating in this movement by posting anti-third-term flyers on bathroom walls. CNN reported that posters criticizing dictatorship have been spotted in hundreds of universities in China and worldwide, indicating the movement is growing.

The grassroots sentiment expressed in anonymously posted bulletin board comments also carries a cynical tone. Recent local media reports promoting the Party’s policies related to the real estate market received comments like: "Provide a fundamental solution to the problem where the growth rate of asset income far outpaces that of labor income. Working in China now means you will never become rich." Another comment read: "You don’t talk about any important issues at all."

Even the COVID-19 prevention measures, which lack rationality, could ignite public discontent. On the afternoon of the 22nd, the day the Party Congress ended, the nucleic acid testing time standard for students returning to school in Beijing was 'suddenly' changed and announced. This caused long lines at testing sites near major residential areas, and as the testing deadline approached, rampant line-cutting led to unrest and protests. Loud voices directed at officials were a first sight since arriving in China. "Why is there no consistency like this!" When one person shouted in frustration, the commotion grew louder. "How can you manage things so messily? What are the administrators even doing?" "There should be proper policies!" The orderly lines quickly disappeared without a trace.