Reuters-Chinas Xi not premier delivers National Day speech in break with convention
September 28, 2023 3 min 526 words
这则报道揭示了中国国庆日前的一项引人注目的变革，即国家主席习近平发表了国庆致辞，而不是通常由国务院总理发表。这一举动突破了传统，引发了广泛的关注和讨论。 习近平在致辞中呼吁国家"团结一致共同努力"，并表示未来充满希望，但前路不会一帆风顺。这种变化发生在中国国内政治格局发生了一些变化的背景下，包括两名内阁部长和高级军事指挥官神秘失踪的事件。这引发了外交官员和学者之间关于政治清洗的讨论，增加了政策制定的不确定性，可能影响了与外国政府的互动。 文章还提到了中国国防部长李尚福的神秘失踪，以及在10月29日至31日举行的中国最大的国防外交活动——香山论坛中，中国军队的代表将由谁来担任的问题。这进一步增加了人们对中国政治和国防领域的不确定性。 总之，这一举动和其中的种种迹象都引发了国内外广泛的关注，对中国政治和决策制定的未来产生了一定的影响。我们将继续密切关注中国政局的发展，以了解这一变革是否会对国内外政策产生实质性的影响。
At a dinner reception before the 74th anniversary of the founding of modern China on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the nation to "work together in unity" in a speech more usually delivered by the premier.
Since assuming the office of president in March 2013, Xi has previously delivered a speech twice at the annual reception, usually held on the eve of National Day on Oct. 1. In other years, the speech was given by his premier.
The first time Xi delivered it was in 2014 during a reception with over 3,000 guests, far more than the 1,200 normal at that time. In 2019, Xi again delivered a speech at the reception, which that year marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The third time was on Thursday, three days before the 74th anniversary.
"Our future is bright, but the road ahead will not be smooth," Xi told his roughly 800 guests, some of whom were foreign diplomats, at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing.
At the start of Xi's precedent-breaking third term as president in 2023, China's domestic political landscape has shifted, such as with the unexplained disappearances of two cabinet ministers and top military commanders.
Such change in the highest tiers of China's government has stirred talk among diplomats and scholars about political purges, with the growing unpredictability potentially clouding expectations for policymaking and hampering engagement with foreign governments.
The latest official to have vanished inexplicably from the public eye was Defence Minister Li Shangfu. He was last seen in Beijing on Aug. 29 giving a key-note speech at a security forum with African nations.
It is unclear who China's face of the military will be when Beijing holds its largest defence diplomacy outreach event, the Xiangshan Forum, on Oct. 29-31.
At Thursday's reception, Xi told his guests that China must continue to climb over "obstacles" as his current premier, Li Qiang, listened intently at his banquet table, according to footage aired by China's national broadcaster.
"Our strength comes from unity and confidence is more valuable than gold," Xi said.