In post-Covid China, the masks are off, but Xi’s tight control is here to stay

Beijing CNN —

No more face masks or social distancing rules. For the first time in four years, thousands of delegates attending China’s biggest political event of the year were able to mingle and sip tea like the old days in the sprawling foyer of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

While some Covid testing requirements remain in place, on the surface, everything else seems back to pre-pandemic normal at the annual meetings of the rubber-stamp national legislature and China’s top political advisory body.

But this year’s event also provides a fresh window into persisting controls and increasing opaqueness of the political system underleader Xi Jinping, who has prioritized security and strengthened the ruling Communist Party’s grip over everything – including the so-called “two sessions” itself.

More than ever, Xi is looming large over the gathering, which had traditionally been a stage for the Chinese premier and the central government to shine.

Beijing sent what observers say was a strong signal of that a day ahead of the opening of the National People’s Congress earlier this week – announcing that it was scrapping an annual press conference led by the premier – a three-decades-old political tradition that has long been a key landmark of the meeting, typically televised and highly anticipated.

A government representative claimed the change was due to other opportunities for interviews.

But observers saw one fewer chance for the world’s media, international observers, and Chinese citizens to get first-hand insight into the thinking of the country’s nominal No. 2 official, who is charged with running its economy – and one more move for Xi to cement his control over the official narrative.

“The press conference is