When Xi Jinping took over as the ruling party’s secretary in 2012, many saw him as a reformist with ways to become the most liberal leader in Chinese history. They couldn’t be more wrong. In this decade, Xi has been ruthless with dissent, cornered the opposition and strengthened his control over the formation that governs the steps of the second largest economy on the planet. An incontestable mandate that, except for a major surprise, will emerge reinforced from the imminent congress of the Communist Party (PCCh) and will consecrate him as the most powerful Chinese leader since the times of Mao.
At 69, Xi has more positions than anyone: he is president of China, general secretary of the CCP, chairman of the Central Military Commission, head of various working groups (cyberspace, finance, national security and others) and “core” of the match. Since 2017, his “thought” on Chinese socialism is enshrined in the national constitution and is compulsory study material.
This accumulation of power has been accompanied by a regression of the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping in the eighties to avoid the excesses of Maoism. Xi has diluted basic principles such as collegiate leadership or the banishment of the cult of personality, which in the state press sometimes borders on North Korean levels. In 2018, he also abolished the two-term presidential limit.
“Xi has spent years making the entire ideological apparatus say that the CCP only works with him as a leader and that his way of looking at things is the only correct one,” said Joseph Torigian, a historian versed in the Chinese president.
Xi was a red prince who sucked politics from the cradle. His father, Xi Zhongxun, was a revolutionary hero who fought side by side with Mao and later held high posts such as deputy prime minister. But that pedigree did not save him from falling victim to the purges unleashed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). At just 15 years old, he was forced to move to a village and work in the fields as part of the collective re-education campaign.
It was a stage that would mark his career. For seven years, the future president tilled the land, dug ditches and spent the night in caves dug into the rocks, now converted into tourist attractions. According to his official biography, he learned there to endure hard life and appreciate the value of work. According to a US embassy cable leaked by Wikileaks, it was around this time that he decided to adapt to the system and “become redder than anyone else.”
After some time, but not before being rejected several times, Xi finally joined the CCP in 1974 and began his political career. Divorced and remarried to the famous soprano Peng Liyuan (1987), his breakthrough came in 1999 when he was appointed governor of Fujian province. From there he went to the party secretariat in the coastal province of Zhejiang in 2000 and in Shanghai in 2007. That same year, he became part of the select permanent committee, the party’s highest body of power, from where he rose to the top five years later as a compromise leader between the different factions.
Since then, his mandate has focused on legitimizing the PCCh as the only entity capable of leading China and him as the main axis on which the formation pivots. On an external scale, in the face of the announced western decline, Xi opted to present himself as a great world leader willing to fight against climate change and in defense of globalization. At the same time, he advocated a much more assertive policy on issues such as Taiwan and the disputed waters of the East and South China Seas. His diplomats began to use an increasingly bellicose tone.
Within its borders, Xi has strengthened party discipline with his anti-corruption campaign, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of coins and served to rid himself of potential rivals while replacing them with allies. Under his command, the Chinese internet is more censored than ever and heavy-handed policies prevail in problematic regions such as Hong Kong or Xinjiang. The repression against unruly groups – human rights lawyers, feminists – and social control, now protected by the zero covid policy, have also increased.
His supporters see Xi as the strong man needed to lead the nation into the “new era” that will enshrine China as a superpower in turbulent times. However, the absence of a clear successor is also a potential source of instability, as his sudden incapacity or castling in power could open the door to infighting. “Xi’s reluctance to empower a younger successor and his moves to break the norms of collective leadership have made China a less resilient country as it navigates into an increasingly uncertain future,” political scientist Ashley told Reuters. Esarey of the University of Alberta.
