Those three and half hours have shone a light on the path he’s willing to follow for the next five years. At the last CCP congress, in 2012, he was appointed as China’s new President. Now settled in power, this new monumental meeting was the moment for the man in Beijing to provide his first, real “state of the nation” address.

Until now, the story about Xi is one of a politician who strengthened his rule through a massive campaign tackling corruption. The hunt for “tigers and flies”, as it’s known, has already targeted more than two million officials (according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asian Review), thousands of them with high positions in the state apparatus. Moreover, he has replaced most of the party’s leaders and governors of China’s 31 provinces, in addition to the majority of the army’s top command. This has allowed Xi to foster an image of integrity and get rid of political opponents.

Take this purge, take his national and military leadership, and add up his control over several commissions, from economic reform to national security. The result is a beefy combination that gives him tight grip in governing the country. Almost imperially. In Xi’s thought, increasing power makes it easier to lead China exactly where he wants. Obviously, this autocratic endeavor doesn’t come without a strong domestic repression. As The New Yorker magazine notes: “the media are censored and civil society has been silenced”, as well as activists and human rights advocates.

But Xi Jinping’s tale is that of a man appointed with the task of saving the party from corruption. When one states saving the party, it also means keeping the regime up and going. Therefore, apart from the internal cleansing operations, that’s why the man in Beijing has launched a powerful ideological campaign: reinstate support for to the PCC and keep the machine intact.

All of this allows us to better understand the fundamental messages behind Xi’s speech at the latest congress. Domestically, he plans to increase public spending, reinforce the state-owned enterprises, improve public services, whilst squeezing even more internal security to counter possible insurgencies, through increased control over the internet or the use of censorship. There was also room for a call to secessionist hungers, as in Hong Kong: you can rule yourself however you want, as long as it doesn’t move aside from party line.

However, more than Xi Jinping’s “first great speech on domestic politics”, as the Financial Times labeled it, this was a moment to tell the world that China is entering a new era, that China wants to take the lead in the international scene. This is one of the cornerstones in the current Chinese President’s “national rejuvenation” dream – a dream that, in his words, “is a dream about history, present and future”. And the country is not willing to wait for the West, as it offers “a new option for other countries and nations that want to accelerate their development while preserving their independence”, as he stated this week.

The Economist sharply described the figure of Xi Jinping: “he sees himself as the third transformational President” of China, after Mao and Deng Xiaoping. And, internally, the table is set for it to become a reality. At the end of this 19º Congress, we’ll discover the new Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s most important structure and, consequently, the country’s. The new leadership that will emerge, as well as the possibility of introducing a reference to Xi’s thought in the PCC’s constitution (something exclusive to Mao and Deng) are sufficient signs to indicate if the leading man will surpass the usual 10 years in power – and the place that modern Chinese history has for him.

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« As I have said many times, the Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into, » Mr. Trump said in a major speech at the White House.

If such happens, it’ll be the latest sting in the already edgy flick between Washington and Teheran. Last September, Mr. Trump called the deal an « embarrassment » for his country, in what was his first speech at the United Nations’ General Assembly.

But let us emphasize that this doesn’t mean that a divorce is sealed after the announcement. Actually, what the man in the White House will do is simply to put responsibilities on Congress, which will have 60 days to assess and decide. Congressmen will need to evaluate if it reinstates the same sanctions imposed on Iran prior to the agreement (in 2015). If such an option is taken, then the US are definitely out of the arrangement settled with other world powers as Russia, China, Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

Therefore, Mr. Trump’s speech will be nothing more than another mise-en-scène to entertain part of his base. What the New York billionaire wants is to look as if he’s ripping the agreement apart, when he’s actually shifting pressure.

But this dramatic move shows us that the US President is lying. Why? Simply put, if Mr. Trump really wanted to take his country out of the deal, without Congress in the loop, then he’d already done it.

According to a Vox report, every 120 days, the Administration must issue a waiver blocking the reinstatement of old sanctions on Iran. So, all Mr. Trump had to do was abstain from issuing the waiver. He did not.

The President chose another path instead. Last Thursday, in a meeting with military officials at the White House, the erratic Republican said: « The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos in the Middle East (…). That is why we must put an end to Iran’s continued aggression and nuclear ambitions. They have not lived up to the spirit of their agreement. » 

This last sentence is important because it’s false. The US is alone making this accusation since other powers have reinstated their support for the deal, as well as the United Nations’ body responsible for monitoring Teheran’s actions.

The Trump Administration essentially believes that the Iranians have abusively expanded their influence in the region. And this is true, especially if one considers the way they intervened in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon or Iraq. The 2015 deal isn’t perfect but it’s an essential mechanism to ensure that Iran doesn’t start developing nuclear weapons. Tearing it up would destroy a useful resource in the Middle East, particularly between two nations that have constantly clashed in recent history. Besides other nations’ willingness in keeping it, there is also a geopolitical potential at stake.

The agreement is really of « national interest » for the US. A nuclear Iran would simply be a threat to American security.

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