ANALYSIS: Communist Party seeking China's 'rejuvenation'

BEIJING (AP) — The catchword “rejuvenation” has been tucked into the major speeches at China's biggest political event of the year, the meeting of its 3,000-member legislature.

It encapsulates the ruling Communist Party's overriding long-term objective: To build the nation into a truly global power, one that commands respect from the rest of the world.

That goal is intertwined with another one: retaining a hold on power. The party keeps a tight grip by censoring the digital space, controlling the news media and locking up those who publicly challenge its line. But it also tries to woo the public by stoking national pride in the country’s growing global clout to justify its continued rule after more than 70 years at the helm.

“By enabling the Chinese nation to make another giant stride toward rejuvenation, the (Communist Party) Central Committee has delivered impressive results that our people are happy with and that will go down in history,” Li Zhanshu, the party's No. 3 official, told lawmakers this week.

Rejuvenation is repeated like a mantra, even woven into a sprawling exhibit at the national art museum marking the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac. The exhibit's introduction invokes the diligent ox and credits party leader and head-of-state Xi Jinping for deepening “the understanding of the great striving of the Chinese nation.”

That perspective is an important dynamic as policymakers in Washington and other capitals work out how to navigate China's rise and the global changes in its wake.

Chinese leaders are bent on developing a more sophisticated economy and a more powerful military, and accelerating growth of the domestic market and high-tech capabilities in the face of U.S. tariffs and restrictions. They are looking for opportunities to demonstrate global leadership, from the COVID-19...