White House Declines to Comment on Chinese Leader Xi Jinping’s Anticipated Third Term

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Oct. 19, 2022. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The White House wouldn’t comment on either the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head Xi Jinping’s anticipated third tenure or his speech delivered on Oct. 16, the opening day of the 5-year national congress.

“I don’t want to comment from here on any internal political process of other countries,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the press briefing on Oct. 17, when asked by reporters to comment on Xi’s speech and his highly likely third term.

The week-long national meeting of the CCP is drawing to an end. It is widely believed that Xi will secure his third tenure in the coming five years as the top leader of the communist party, the country, and the military of China.

Xi delivered a 25,000-word speech on the first day of the meeting, addressing the work of the CCP in the past five years and the CCP’s domestic and foreign policies for the five years to come.

On Oct. 19, Jean-Pierre also declined to confirm the Biden administration’s meeting with Xi at G20 Summit to be held on Nov. 15 and 16 in Bali, Indonesia.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (C) is applauded by senior members of the government and delegates as he walks to the podium to make a speech during the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress in Beijing, China, on Oct. 16, 2022. Xi is expected to secure a third term in power. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Jean-Pierre told the reporters at the briefing: “I don’t have a meeting or anything to preview for you at this time with the President.”

The White House released this year’s National Security Strategy on Oct. 12, which states that China is “the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective.”

China’s deputy foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu didn’t respond to the media if Xi would be going to the G20 Summit.

At a press conference on Oct. 20 held on the sidelines of the CCP’s national meeting in Beijing, an Indonesian journalist asked Ma to confirm if Xi would attend the G20 summit in Bali.

Ma answered: “We will release information on the participation of Chinese leaders in due course.”

American Public Opinion on China and Xi: Pew Survey

Amid the gloom of the bilateral relationship between China and the United States, Xi’s third term isn’t among “the most pressing concerns” for Americans, according to a new survey by Pew Research Center conducted Oct. 10–16 among 5,098 U.S. adults.

Only 30 percent of Americans say that Xi’s third term as China’s leader is a very serious problem for the United States. They are more concerned with the partnership between China and Russia (57 percent), China’s military power (50 percent), the tension between China and Taiwan (43 percent), China’s policies on human rights (42 percent), and economic competition with China (41 percent), according to the Pew survey report.

Wang Xiang contributed to this report.