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The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#61

Post by richsinn »

Iv wrote: post #56
richsinn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

As a foreigner this feels a bit like a US' reaction about their loss of leadership. There has to be something wrong about China's rise. Imagining that it will surpass their own economic power through good management by a central government is something they just refuse to accept. It has to be some authoritarian cheat mode.

I don't think the Atlantic piece is suggesting that at all. The article is making the point that the delicate power balances behind the Chinese Communist Party is very complex, and that the soundbites we hear from our Western media (or any media for that matter) probably do not capture the full extent of the power dynamics, wheeling and dealing, and inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#62

Post by thaumasiotes »

Iv wrote: post #56
richsinn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

As a foreigner this feels a bit like a US' reaction about their loss of leadership. There has to be something wrong about China's rise. Imagining that it will surpass their own economic power through good management by a central government is something they just refuse to accept. It has to be some authoritarian cheat mode.

Good management is hardly necessary. China has ~5 times the population of the US; it would be shocking (is shocking, sadly...) for it to be economically weaker.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#63

Post by gbog »

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…

It's a good idea to question assumptions. And to me living in China since Hu, the main difference is that Chinese people themselves perceive Xi as much stronger than his predecessors, and probably rightly so: the crackdown on corruption is no joke, I have relatives who gave back their German cars to avoid issues. Also people of the diaspora or in Taiwan follow closely the tiger hunt at the head of the state and it seems to not be nowhere like catching butterflies. So yes Xi has earned a reputation.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#64

Post by Iv »

richsinn wrote: post #61
Iv wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a foreigner this feels a bit like a US' reaction about their loss of leadership. There has to be something wrong about China's rise. Imagining that it will surpass their own economic power through good management by a central government is something they just refuse to accept. It has to be some authoritarian cheat mode.

I don't think the Atlantic piece is suggesting that at all. The article is making the point that the delicate power balances behind the Chinese Communist Party is very complex, and that the soundbites we hear from our Western media (or any media for that matter) probably do not capture the full extent of the power dynamics, wheeling and dealing, and inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party.

Last time I checked, the power balances are not necessarily complex, they are opaque. They could rely on tea leaves readings for all we know.

Most of the "analysis" you read are pure speculations based more on wishful thinking and prejudice than on facts.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#65

Post by EvilTerran »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #16
mcny wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25. (C) Based on personal experience, the professor noted, Xi is very familiar with the West, with a sister in Canada, an ex-wife in England, a brother in Hong Kong, many friends overseas, and prior travel to the United States. As far as the professor can discern, Xi's family and friends have had a good experience in the West. The professor contrasted Xi's experience and attitudes toward the West with those of people…

> I think the best thing is to just disable pre in mobile. That sounds great, do you know how to do this? I'm on Firefox mobile so user styles might be an option

If you have uBlock Origin installed, you can tweak styles with its "My Filters". I have these in there:

  news.ycombinator.com##.comment code:style(white-space:pre-wrap)
  news.ycombinator.com##.comment pre:style(max-width:none!important)
The first line makes code blocks in HN comments word-wrap (while still preserving whitespace otherwise); the second lets them expand to the width of their containing comment.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#66

Post by JumpCrisscross »

justicezyx wrote: post #34
LiweiZ wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> "growing teenager" This is an incrediable naive and patronizing phrase to describe China's accumulation of power. As a matter of fact, China's ascending is the most peaceful and constrained among all past super powers in the world history.

> As a matter of fact, China's ascending is the most peaceful and constrained among all past super powers in the world history

The late forties granted the United States a global nuclear, and near industrial, monopoly. We didn’t exploit it.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#67

Post by alphaalpha101 »

forapurpose wrote: post #58
Iv wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a foreigner this feels a bit like a US' reaction about their loss of leadership. There has to be something wrong about China's rise. Imagining that it will surpass their own economic power through good management by a central government is something they just refuse to accept. It has to be some authoritarian cheat mode.

Hmmm ... that's pretty speculative, or really completely speculative. This movie has been made before. The USSR claimed something similar. Now of course, China's aggregate economy could match the U.S.'s when its citizens are only 25% as wealthy, but that is not a sign of great economic performance. > good management by a central government I think you mean by an undemocratic authoritarian government (I don't think ce…

>China's aggregate economy could match the U.S.'s when its citizens are only 25% as wealthy

GDP per capita is a terrible measure of citizen wealth. A country could have a much lower GDP per capita than the US and still have a MUCH more wealthier median citizen.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#68

Post by justicezyx »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #51
justicezyx wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "growing teenager" This is an incrediable naive and patronizing phrase to describe China's accumulation of power. As a matter of fact, China's ascending is the most peaceful and constrained among all past super powers in the world history.

China has 5000 years of ascending to superpower status, not all of it very peaceful. If you mean China hasn't invaded another country since 1979, well, sure, I'll give you that.

Yes, I think this post pretty much frame the discussion after the "open and reform" era.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#69

Post by justicezyx »

ShabbosGoy wrote: post #52
justicezyx wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "growing teenager" This is an incrediable naive and patronizing phrase to describe China's accumulation of power. As a matter of fact, China's ascending is the most peaceful and constrained among all past super powers in the world history.

> As a matter of fact, China's ascending is the most peaceful and constrained among all past super powers in the world history. Alternative facts, maybe. Just look up the South China Sea, Doklam, constant agitation with India and Japan to see how peaceful China's rise is.

Well, China has solid legal ground to claim that she owns those areas. Peaceful rise does not translate to blindly avoiding conflicts.

Re: The Thoughts of Chairman Xi

#70

Post by dis-sys »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #11

To me, this sounds a lot like "Make China Great Again". Temperamentally, of course, Xi is almost the exact opposite of Trump...

There is actually a group of researchers tasked to measure the progress of "make China great again", they reported back in 2012 that the goal is 62% completed.

Chinese source from People's Daily -

http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2012/0805/c1001-18670287.htm...

Trump just copied the idea from Hu and Xi.

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