Global Impact newsletter: With China’s 20th party congress less than a month away, Russia and Taiwan remain hot topics

Global Impact is a fortnightly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world

In this edition, we look at Beijing’s position on Russia and Taiwan after President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and following Joe Biden’s remarks about the self-ruled island.

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Published: 2:00pm, 27 Sep 2022Updated: 5:41pm, 27 Sep 2022

The 20th party congress is less than a month away. Apart from the opening date of October 16, little information about the conclave has been released.

A monthly Politburo meeting is expected this week. It will be followed by the seventh plenum of the 19th Central Committee on October 7 – just over a week before the start of the congress – during which members will review a draft report, amendments to the party constitution and a work report by the party’s top anti-corruption watchdog.

In the interim, China will also celebrate its National Day on Saturday, which kicks off a seven-day holiday on the mainland.

Unlike previous “golden week” holidays in the pre-pandemic era, expectations are low about a holiday-induced consumption binge due to the country’s zero-Covid policy and sluggish economy. Tales of doom and gloom under lockdowns have also discouraged potential holidaymakers to travel this year.

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Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin speak in person for first time since Russia invaded Ukraine

Yet, there is little evidence that China’s senior leaders are overly concerned. President Xi Jinping just made his first overseas visit in more than two years to Kazakhstan before attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan. On the sidelines of the summit in Samarkand, Xi met Russian President Vladimir Putin – their first face-to-face meeting since before the Ukraine war – and the two sides vowed to support each other “on issues concerning their respective core interests”.

The Xi-Putin meeting and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit were closely watched around the world for clues as to how far Beijing would go in backing Moscow, especially as Russia has suffered major setbacks in Ukraine, and about China’s growing influence in Central Asia.