TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — During his speech at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Sunday (Oct. 16), China's Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) repeated the word 安全, meaning "security" or "safety" 50 times, with far fewer uses of the term "opening up," while the world "struggle" was favored over the word "reform."

During his speech at the opening ceremony of the 20th CCP congress on Sunday, Xi's remarks lasted about two hours. Based on the written text of the speech, Xi used the word "socialism" 81 times," "security" 50 times, "struggle" 17 times, "Marx" 15 times, "Taiwan" seven times, "Taiwan independence" five times, "reform and opening up" four times, and "freedom" only once.

The official theme of the 20th congress was "Hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," Xi only mentioned "reform" four times in his report. Instead, he placed a clear emphasis on "security" and struggle" with the two mentioned a total of 67 times.

Independent scholar Wen Chih-kang (溫志剛) was cited by Radio Free Asia (RFA) as pointing out that Xi only mentioned "reform and opening up" a few times. Wen said that Xi mainly replaced the words "reform and opening up" with the words "self-confidence, self-reliance, and innovation."

Wen asserted that "struggle and security" are contained in the "self-confidence, self-reliance, and innovation" slogan. He said that it seems that "struggle" has replaced "reform" and "security" has replaced "opening up."

Senior media personality Hung Lin (洪林) was cited by RFA as saying that "political security may be the only area the CCP is most concerned about now." How to ensure that his ruling position is not damaged, is Xi's only direction and the only consensus within the party, said Hung.