China's 75th National Day: Xi Warns of Challenges Ahead

Beijing, Oct 1 (PTI) China celebrated its 75th National Day Tuesday, with President Xi Jinping issuing a stern warning that the road ahead for the Communist nation won't be smooth as it is weighed down by economic headwinds coupled with intensifying rivalry with the US and growing tensions with neighbours, including India.

A large number of people attended the ceremonial flag hoisting at the sprawling Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Tuesday to celebrate the National Day as the country shut down for a week-long holiday.

Other than this, there were no festivities nor grand military parades displaying China's military might like in the 60th and 70th anniversaries of the National Day, but a rallying call from Xi asking people to prepare for hard times.

"The road ahead won't be smooth and flat, there will be difficulties and obstacles. [We] might face high winds and rough seas, even stormy seas," Xi said at a banquet on the eve of the anniversary as China tries to regain economic momentum amid an increasingly challenging set of geopolitical headwinds.

"We must be vigilant in times of peace, plan ahead, and rely closely on the entire (Communist) Party, the entire army, and people of all ethnic groups across the country," he said. "No difficulties can stop the Chinese people from moving forward," he said.

Heading the Party, the military and the Presidency, 71-year-old Xi is currently in his unprecedented third five-year term and expected to continue life-long in power.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) was formed in 1949 after the Communists headed by Mao Zedong seized power in the civil war while the nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan, which over the years emerged as the self-governing island adhering to a democratic system.

But 75 years on Taiwan's integration with the mainland continues to be an unfinished agenda for China's Communist Party, especially for Xi, who has been vowing to reunify it with China.

"Taiwan was China's sacred territory and the people on both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait are connected by blood," Xi said in his banquet speech on Monday, warning that Beijing will resolutely oppose Taiwan's independence.

Also, Xi's speech was focused on reviving the economy, which is not able to shake off its slowdown aggravated by the slump in the property market, resulting in billions of dollars of losses.

In his speech, Xi pledged to press ahead with reform and opening up to revive the economy, which has been weighed down by a host of internal issues, especially the stagnant domestic consumption and the bankrupt property market, besides high tariffs imposed on Chinese Electric Vehicles and batteries imposed by the US and the EU.

The government has announced a slew of measures, including interest rate cuts, to regain economic momentum and bring down the unemployment rate, a major concern for the Party.

Observers say China's economic slowdown has an impact on its global strategic initiatives like the Belt and Road (BRI) under which China wooed the smaller countries across the globe with huge investments.

Post-COVID, the big-ticket investments turned out to be “debt traps” as many countries facing economic crisis wanted Beijing to write off their debt or roll over the loans.

On the strategic front, besides the intensifying rivalry with the US, China's claims over most of the South China Sea have resulted in close conflict with the Philippines, which is militarily backed by the United States.

Besides China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

China's maritime tensions with Japan over the East China Sea made Tokyo invest heavily to step up its security forces.

Also, over four-year-long India and China military standoff in eastern Ladakh continues even though both countries, through a sustained diplomatic and military dialogue, could disengage from some friction points.

The talks continued for disengagement in the remaining areas to end the freeze in India-China relations.