Beijing pulls out of human rights talks, while vowing to become the world’s most powerful nation, by Greg Sheridan.

The Chinese government has walked away from its long-­standing human rights dialogue with Canberra, as President Xi Jinping delivered a striking 3½-hour address to the 19th Communist Party Congress yesterday in which he vowed to make China the world’s most powerful nation.

Mr Xi, the most dominant ­national leader in China since Mao Zedong, told 2300 delegates that China was entering a new era and it now “stands tall in the East”.

He rejected Western notions of liberalism and confirmed ruling party ideology, including promoting “socialism with Chinese ­characteristics”. …

He also reaffirmed his commitment to modernising China’s military and, in a sharp warning against moves to independence in Taiwan, said: “We will not tolerate anyone, using any means, at any time, to separate one inch of land from China.”

The people of China would ­become rich under Communist Party rule, Mr Xi said, while by 2050 the nation would be the leading international power.

Mr Xi’s strong political self-confidence is reflected in Beijing’s decision to radically downgrade, or walk away from, the formal ­annual Human Rights Dialogue it has held with Australia since 1997. …

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop … was attacked by China’s hawkish Global Times after she said she did not want to see “freedom of speech curbed in any way involving foreign students or foreign ­academics”. Her comments were criticised by the Global Times, which editorialised that it was time for Chinese students to ­reconsider studying in Australia.

hat-tip Stephen Neil