Xi Jinping Says China to Become Dominating World Power Within 30 Years

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the achievements of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and confidently declared its future goals on Thursday as tens of thousands gathered in Beijing to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

The paramount leader, who donned a Mao suit while other officials arrived in formal attire, told attendees at Tiananmen Square that the party had accomplished its centennial goal of creating a "moderately prosperous society."

"[We] now march in confident strides toward the second 100-year goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects," he declared, referring to the People's Republic of China centennial in 2049.

Xi heaped praise on the party's early history, including its humble working-class roots in the years after Russia's October Revolution. The Chinese leader's speech exuded a sense of bullishness—even assertiveness—as he pronounced China's readiness to fend off bullying and oppression by "foreign forces."

"We have never bullied, oppressed or subjugated the people of any other country, and we never will," he told the nation, before warning of the party's "unshakeable commitment" to resolving the "Taiwan question."