V OLUME 24 • I SSUE 1

This is a contrast from earlier years, when mentions of the world beyond China were restricted to a small paragraph at the end of the speech or included references to commemorating the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the Nanjing Massacre—something that has disappeared in the last few iterations. [...] The rest of the speech, in and among the stock Party phrases, was a mixture of lauding technological achievements from the past year and mentions of some of Xi’s personal favorite topics. [...] However, the actions of this quasi-Maoist supreme leader indicate that he is equally keen on total Party control of the economy and the imperative of preventing the West from “infiltrating” the country. [...] A series of measures have reinforced the drive to elevate the importance of correct ideology These include the promotion of Wang Huning (王沪宁)—long recognized as the CCP’s lead ideologist—to the fourth- ranked position in the CCP Politburo Standing Committee at the 20th Party Congress in October 2022, despite his lack of senior experience in either the Party’s functional bureaucracies or in provinc. [...] The plan reinforces the message that the sine qua non for cadre evaluation and advancement will be adherence to the correct “politics” of loyalty to Xi Jinping and the Party center.