Bridging the Oceans #43: China’s 20th Party Congress: Foreign and Domestic Implications

Originally published 26 October 2022.

Does the recent Congress indicate triumph or challenges ahead for China?

Veerle Nouwens speaks with two guests on China’s 20th Party Congress, in which Xi Jinping attained an unprecedented third term in office and brought in a set of personnel changes in Party governance. Raffaello Pantucci, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, explores how Xi’s speech and the Party Congress’s work report indicate an emphasis on internal stability and continuity in domestic and foreign affairs, including on Taiwan. Dr Lai I-Chung, President of Taiwan’s Prospect Foundation, explores differences in language and the listing of topics in the work report as a possible indication of subtle messaging to audiences that Beijing is serious about reunification. An accelerated push for peaceful reunification is to be expected with below-the-threshold advances that circumvent official channels for communication across the strait, while Beijing will further limit Taiwan’s space on the international stage. For this, I-Chung has some ideas of how countries, including the UK, can help.