China’s president defends zero-Covid policy and promises to reduce income inequality

China’s president Xi Jinping has defended the country’s zero-Covid policy, promised to reduce income inequality and declared that the future of Taiwan was for the Chinese alone to determine. Opening the five-yearly national congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Mr Xi also defended the crackdown on anti-government protests in Hong Kong as marking a turn for the better in the city’s fortunes.

China’s strict zero-Covid policy, which involves mass rapid testing and quarantine for infected persons and their contacts, has seen entire cities put under lockdown and contributed to a slowdown in economic growth. But Mr Xi said China would continue to prioritise public health over the economic consequences, indicating that there will be no immediate relaxation of the rules.

“In the face of the sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus, we have adhered to the supremacy of the people and the supremacy of life, adhered to dynamic zero-Covid, carried out the people’s war, the overall war and defensive war against the epidemic, protected the people’s life, safety and physical health to the greatest extent, and achieved major positive results in the overall prevention and control of the epidemic, and economic and social development,” he said.

Mr Xi warned foreign actors against interfering in China’s pursuit of reunification with Taiwan, asserting that Beijing sought to achieve that goal by peaceful means but warning that it would not rule out the use of force. President Joe Biden has stated a number of times in recent weeks that the United States would defend Taiwan against an attack from Beijing and has outlined plans to send arms worth more than $1 billion to the island.

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“We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the upmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary. The wheels of history are rolling on towards China’s reunification and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The complete reunification of our country must be realised and it can without a doubt be realised,” Mr Xi said.

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The congress will continue for a week with most of its deliberations conducted in private, and it will be followed by the introduction of a new standing committee of the politburo which is expected to be led by Mr Xi for a third term. In his speech on Sunday, Mr Xi said the Communist Party had strengthened its position through “self-reform” including a campaign against corruption.

He reaffirmed his commitment to protect the environment and to addressing climate change with a 40-year zero-emissions target, although he made clear that energy security must come first.

“We will work actively and prudently toward the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Based on China’s energy and resource endowments, we will advance initiatives to reach peak carbon emissions in a well planned and phased way, in line with the principle of getting the new before discarding the old,” he said.