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The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#21

Post by wisty »

Iv wrote: post #18
norswap wrote: post #13

I find the parallels between Xi and Putin fascinating: both had "modest" origins (or modest spells in the case of Xi) and much publicize them. Both were not really accounted for much, simply managing to rise through the ranks without making a wave, and always scrupulously deferring to authority. Both were nominated to the head of their respective party as a compromise or a strawman. That is until they took power, aft…

Can someone explain to me why Xi is considered to have "consolidated his grasp"? This seems to be a well accepted idea but I don't see what substantiates that. He starts his second term as prime minister of China, and serving two terms has been the norm in recent times. I did not remark China becoming more authoritarian under his rule. I do not see indications that he may stay after 2022, his scheduled depart. What d…

His anti-corruption campaign is the main one. There's a focus on "tigers" and "flies" - high profile targets and a general clean-up of low-level corruption. It seems like quite a lot of the "tigers" were opponents of Xi.

Also, he gets compared to his immediate predecessor (Hu) who was was very bland and worked more on a consensus model.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#22

Post by richsinn »

Iv wrote: post #18
norswap wrote: post #13

I find the parallels between Xi and Putin fascinating: both had "modest" origins (or modest spells in the case of Xi) and much publicize them. Both were not really accounted for much, simply managing to rise through the ranks without making a wave, and always scrupulously deferring to authority. Both were nominated to the head of their respective party as a compromise or a strawman. That is until they took power, aft…

Can someone explain to me why Xi is considered to have "consolidated his grasp"? This seems to be a well accepted idea but I don't see what substantiates that. He starts his second term as prime minister of China, and serving two terms has been the norm in recent times. I did not remark China becoming more authoritarian under his rule. I do not see indications that he may stay after 2022, his scheduled depart. What d…

Exactly.

Check this article out: "Xi Jinping May Be Less Powerful Than He Seems" ( https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/04/xi... )

The fact of the matter is that the outside world knows very little about the inner workings at the top of the Communist Party in China.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#23

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Iv wrote: post #18
norswap wrote: post #13

I find the parallels between Xi and Putin fascinating: both had "modest" origins (or modest spells in the case of Xi) and much publicize them. Both were not really accounted for much, simply managing to rise through the ranks without making a wave, and always scrupulously deferring to authority. Both were nominated to the head of their respective party as a compromise or a strawman. That is until they took power, aft…

Can someone explain to me why Xi is considered to have "consolidated his grasp"? This seems to be a well accepted idea but I don't see what substantiates that. He starts his second term as prime minister of China, and serving two terms has been the norm in recent times. I did not remark China becoming more authoritarian under his rule. I do not see indications that he may stay after 2022, his scheduled depart. What d…

He isn't prime minister, but party secretary and president. Li Keqiang is premier, the closest thing to a PM, but not as powerful as a party secretary (the president position is ceremonial).

Hu Jintao served two terms as party secretary, but never consolidated his power base (Jiang Zemin protruded a lot into his reign), so was not very powerful, even compared to his premier (wen jiabao). Xi, on the other hand, has completely consolidated his power base and sidelined Li Keqiang. His competitors and apparent successors have been hit up on corruption (they are all corrupt, but who gets prosecuted depends on power plays).

If his successor (maybe another Hu) isn't apparent at this congress, then there will be a lot of talk of him staying passed his terms. If the successor is named, which is probable, then that talk will stop. However, he could totally pull a Jiang Zemin and retain some powerful poets (e.g. Head of the military commission) to keep more influence afterward. But in reality, all the retired leaders retain power behind the scenes, and it's just a matter of how much (him putting his protégés in power and kicking out Hu's will help a lot).

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#25

Post by LiweiZ »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #10
dmoy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not wrong about some mainland Chinese refusing to believe (or never learning in the first place) anything about 6/4. My wife is among them, or used to be at least. Then again if you ask the average US freshman if the US military shot and killed a bunch of student protestors, you'd find a number who wouldn't believe you. Difference is in the US a trivial we search answers that question for you, while in China a…

It isn't 6/4, but May 35th (5/35). It isn't completely scrubbed, many know it happened, they just don't talk about it because (a) they don't care and (b) they aren't allowed to (in that order). Historical reflection is where the Chinese gov really clamps down, and even the cultural revolution is taboo even if everyone knows just about what happened. Kent state happened so long ago that most American students just don…

AFAIK as a Chinese, the 1938 incident is known to many since it was said to be Jiang's decision. As of Changchun, I saw that topic a few times in some forums 10+ years ago.

The things people want to know change over time as well. Now, China is feeling its power and strength like a growing teenager (not very accurate, but you get what I mean), so the glory of the past, now and future is what people want to know. Zhanlang 2 (War Wolf 2)'s phenomenal financial success (close to 1bn usd box office maybe?) is a recent strong signal.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#26

Post by LiweiZ »

yeukhon wrote: post #6

This is the classic "what breaks you only make you stronger" but in a very aggressive way. Throughout history those who were oppressed and then made it to the top would usually end up wanting to seize full control and more oppressive than their oppressors. Xi looks friendly to the people, but there is a Chinese saying: 笑裡藏刀 (xiào lǐ cáng dāo)or "smile in hiding knife.” He is the alpha male of the entire Party. On one…

If you are aware of the movements(运动) in the ruling party's history, the effort to cleanse is nothing new. But we did not see that for a while.

Today is tomorrow's history. Compared with yesterday, today is not that different from yesterday. But history does not simply repeat itself, either.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#27

Post by seanmcdirmid »

LiweiZ wrote: post #25
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't 6/4, but May 35th (5/35). It isn't completely scrubbed, many know it happened, they just don't talk about it because (a) they don't care and (b) they aren't allowed to (in that order). Historical reflection is where the Chinese gov really clamps down, and even the cultural revolution is taboo even if everyone knows just about what happened. Kent state happened so long ago that most American students just don…

AFAIK as a Chinese, the 1938 incident is known to many since it was said to be Jiang's decision. As of Changchun, I saw that topic a few times in some forums 10+ years ago. The things people want to know change over time as well. Now, China is feeling its power and strength like a growing teenager (not very accurate, but you get what I mean), so the glory of the past, now and future is what people want to know. Zhanl…

Chest beating is a thing in the USA also, some of our block buster movies can be like that.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#28

Post by LiweiZ »

tristanj wrote: post #2

It's also worth reading the leaked 2009 US diplomatic cables about Xi published by Wikileaks. They're cited by the BBC story and give a lot of background. The source is from a former close friend of Xi who is currently a professor at a U.S. university. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09BEIJING3128_a.html I found this section quite interesting. Familiarity with the West and Taiwan ----------------------------------…

Good to know. But I bet Xi is able to hide a lot of his real thoughts and feelings from many, esp. someone is in the US. I would suggest to read some information about his father's experience in those movements(运动). And you'll have a better idea why many of his family are outside of China. And how strong and capable he is to be able to reestablish everything from the bottom.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#29

Post by simongray »

mslate wrote: post #9
dmoy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not wrong about some mainland Chinese refusing to believe (or never learning in the first place) anything about 6/4. My wife is among them, or used to be at least. Then again if you ask the average US freshman if the US military shot and killed a bunch of student protestors, you'd find a number who wouldn't believe you. Difference is in the US a trivial we search answers that question for you, while in China a…

For everyone else who doesn't know what "6/4" refers to, it refers to the date of the Tiananmen Square protests: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1...

To be exact, it refers to the massacre. The protests lasted for a long time before the crackdown.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#30

Post by Iv »

wisty wrote: post #21
Iv wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain to me why Xi is considered to have "consolidated his grasp"? This seems to be a well accepted idea but I don't see what substantiates that. He starts his second term as prime minister of China, and serving two terms has been the norm in recent times. I did not remark China becoming more authoritarian under his rule. I do not see indications that he may stay after 2022, his scheduled depart. What d…

His anti-corruption campaign is the main one. There's a focus on "tigers" and "flies" - high profile targets and a general clean-up of low-level corruption. It seems like quite a lot of the "tigers" were opponents of Xi. Also, he gets compared to his immediate predecessor (Hu) who was was very bland and worked more on a consensus model.

But his anti-corruption campaign really looked like an anti-corruption campaign. I understand that they can be used as power tools but what are the elements to believe this is the case presently?
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