Reflections on the 20th Party Congress: how Xi took complete control
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This week Xi Jinping has taken his new Politburo Standing Committee on a group trip \\u2013 to Yan\\u2019An, the base of Mao Zedong\\u2019s Communist revolution after the Long March. The symbolism is easy to see.
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\\nOn this episode of Chinese Whispers, Bill Bishop, author of the popular Sinocism newsletter, and Professor Victor Shih, author of Coalitions of the Weak, have returned to reflect on the Party Congress just past. It's been a more dramatic event than many (inside and outside the party) expected, starting with a brave, lone protestor hanging a 42-character banner off a popular bridge in Beijing, lambasting the authoritarian regime; and ending with the forcible removal of former general secretary Hu Jintao in front of the world's media.
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\\nAt the congress itself Xi overturned decades-long norms dictating the top leadership of the party \\u2013 age no longer seems to necessitate retirement, while the Politburo has not a single woman. Above all, Xi has started his third term as general secretary with a loyal cabal of men around him. Did he not want more competent people in the top jobs? 'Loyalty is merit', Bill suggests.
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\\nWhat does this mean for China, and the world? Victor makes the point that Xi is putting the pieces in place to push through unpopular decisions \\u2013 for example, an invasion of Taiwan. 'If you think about it, why would you want people whom you trust absolutely to fill every single position? Because even Chairman Mao didn\\u2019t do this'. It also means that as Xi becomes more truly dictatorial, the West needs to engage with him more, not less.\\xa0
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\\nOn this episode of Chinese Whispers, Bill Bishop, author of the popular Sinocism newsletter, and Professor Victor Shih, author of Coalitions of the Weak, have returned to reflect on the Party Congress just past. It's been a more dramatic event than many (inside and outside the party) expected, starting with a brave, lone protestor hanging a 42-character banner off a popular bridge in Beijing, lambasting the authoritarian regime; and ending with the forcible removal of former general secretary Hu Jintao in front of the world's media.
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\\nAt the congress itself Xi overturned decades-long norms dictating the top leadership of the party \\u2013 age no longer seems to necessitate retirement, while the Politburo has not a single woman. Above all, Xi has started his third term as general secretary with a loyal cabal of men around him. Did he not want more competent people in the top jobs? 'Loyalty is merit', Bill suggests.
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\\nWhat does this mean for China, and the world? Victor makes the point that Xi is putting the pieces in place to push through unpopular decisions \\u2013 for example, an invasion of Taiwan. 'If you think about it, why would you want people whom you trust absolutely to fill every single position? Because even Chairman Mao didn\\u2019t do this'. It also means that as Xi becomes more truly dictatorial, the West needs to engage with him more, not less.\\xa0
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We just don\\u2019t know the kind of information about the US, about other countries, that are landing on Xi Jinping\\u2019s desk. And this information can be incredibly distorted. So if anything, just presenting an alternative view of how the world works could be helpful. He may not believe you\\u2026 but if you\\u2019re able to look him in the eye and tell him something, at least he\\u2019ll be forced to think about it.
As for the party itself, the three of us digest the Hu Jintao incident. Regardless of what you think happened, one thing is for sure \\u2013 it was a deep and utter humiliation for Hu, especially given China's deep-set Confucian respect for elders. The idea that there is any organised CCP opposition against Xi has been put to bed.
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