“Xi Jinping: A Modern Emperor”

What part Xi's early socialization and family background played in the rise of his leadership?

The part played by Xi Jinping’s early socialization and family background in the rise of his
leadership can be analyzed by thorough examination of his distinctive leadership style and
political career. His father’s political background, family connections with civil-military elite,
hardships after the purging of his father, tainted relationship with the Communist party, his
transfer to Liangjiahe and political environment and exposure to different regime of that time
have all shaped the rise of his leadership that is mainly characterized by his dominant persona,
populism, recentralization of power and formulation of vision on the basis of his personal
experiences and ideological leaning i.e. adapting the ideas of Mao Zedong with his reformative
manner.

Xi had a different upbringing as compared to the previous Chinese leaders. This political
background of his family formed the basis of his political career. He was an elite child of Xi
Zhongxun that was a senior party leader, revolutionary veteran, vice-premier and the director of
CCP propaganda department. For Xi, CCP was a family legacy. His social group included the
children of elite from senior civil military families that today hold strong positions in
administrative structure of China. For instance, he was acquainted with Marshal Nie Rongzhen’s
daughter, and the sons of Marshals He Long, Su Yu, Liu Bocheng, and Xu Xiangqian. This early
exposure to military elite resulted in familiarity of Xi with PLA that helped him throughout his
career. After holding the office, he paid special attention to its modernization and became the
commander-in-chief that gave him full military control.

Xi seems to be an authoritative, assertive and callous leader that is considered to be linked with
purging and imprisonment of his father in 1962, prior to Cultural Revolution that resulted in
isolation and detachment from personal relations. This also developed a hero-martyr complex
with a dominant personality in Xi that is why despite all the destitution inflicted by the
government, he was not rebellious against government or CCP, and embraced it as a family
legacy and tried to join it several times before final approval. He started his political career in
1974 and worked first as a local party secretary in Hubei province, before moving on to more
senior roles in other places including party chief of Shanghai, China's second city and financial
hub. His increasing profile in the party propelled him to its top decision making body, the
Politburo Standing Committee, and in 2012 he was picked as president. He reformed internal
party structure, recentralized authority, consolidated the power and dismantled the lenient
administrative policies of his predecessors including Deng Xiaoping. (Shambaugh June 25,
2021)
Xi’s leadership has a sense of populism which he developed when he was sent to the countryside
for education after his father’s purging where he learned hard labor and the harsh lifestyle of a
peasant in a remote village. He considers himself a common man who led a common life
characterized by miseries and hardships that gave him a sense that only he can bring prosperity
for the people because he knows their destitution. This time defined his official future and his
political vision. Xi believes in Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era inspired by
Marxist-Leninist ideas but his leadership style reflects the ideology of revolutionary communist,
Mao Zedong but in a reformative way. He witnessed his era and became a traditionalist with a
vision to rejuvenate China’s past glory. For this, he became the proponent of ideology that
believes in party centric approach of government, strong military hold and strict surveillance of
masses, closed administration, repression and dismantling the liberal or open policies of his
predecessor. From the very beginning of his career, anti corruption was his signature policy and
till now his harsh attitude towards corruption is worth mentioning. Moreover, he was a spectator
of Soviet communist party and observed its downfall. He considers party’s political reforms as
the problem that led to devastation.
Even though his early socialization and background shaped his political path, a major angle of
Xi’s leadership was a surprise for many. This includes his harsh totalitarian behavior and strong-
man dictatorship. No indicator from his past pointed towards his three major hallmarks including
sweeping political and ethnic repression, the assertive foreign policy, and the substantial military
modernization. As already mentioned, the leadership style of Xi is different, focused on the
essence of past and future of the People’s Republic of China. (Shambaugh June 25, 2021)

Work Cited
1. Shambaugh, David. Xi Jinping: Modern Emperor. China's Leaders: From Mao to Now -
Barnes & Noble, June 25, 2021.

How do you see Xi's politics and his control over the Chinese to leadership?
Xi’s politics and his control over the Chinese to leadership is an amalgam of authoritative
governance, visionary reforms, strict surveillance and strong man control. He has greater plans
for the country to projects its influence over the globe but his actions reflects a sense of
insecurity that results in power consolidation, controlling politics and excessive hold over the
masses.
The politics and control of Xi over China can by analyses by comparing it to the ideology of his
predecessors. Mao Zedong was a totalitarian and a strong dictator that believed in closed and
centralized society. His death initiated an era including the reign of Deng in which reforms were
taken to decentralize authority, regularize political life, and check dictatorial power. After
decades of collective leadership, now Xi Jinping has turned the structure back to centralized and
authoritative mode of politics. He believes in strongman control over politics and masses of the
country. Xi’s mode of governance is authoritative. He grasped all lever of power including
politics, economic, military and societal sphere. The party is considered to be the sole
consolidator of power that leads everything even the financial matters. Xi changed the internal
dynamics of party to a great extent through recentralization and confiscated most of the power in
his hands. He purged most of his rivals and cleaned the party through anti-corruption campaign.
The crackdown gave Xi weapons to eliminate potential rivals, erase competing power centers,
and enforce through fear the absolute loyalty of the political elite to the CCP and to himself.
Moreover, no other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader, not even Mao Zedong, has
controlled the military to the same extent as Xi does today. (HORSLEY 2019)
The control of leadership over general masses is another matter that indicates president’s
insecurity regarding his power. CCP officially has control over intellectuals, media journalism,
even the professors and educational institutions. There is a whole structure of database and
cameras that observes the activities of common people in order to establish strict surveillance.
Courses of educational institutions are set by the government. No one is allowed to openly
criticize the president or CCP. He’s also tightened controls on free speech, spearheaded a
crackdown on ethnic minorities that fueled rising nationalism.
It is evident that president Xi Jinping changed China in significant ways and established a system
that is robust and powerful. In the recent years we have witnessed China’s rising trajectory in
multiple spheres. Xi has presented China as a leading player on the global stage. Its economy
ranks among the top three economies. Domestically, Xi’s eliminated extreme poverty, largely
contained a pandemic that’s ravaged other nations, and put the party back at the center of public
life. But, in today’s world, people of progressive societies not only demand the improved public
goods i.e. healthcare, education, environment, security, etc, but they also increasingly seek
fundamental freedoms of speech, religious practice, assembly and protest, political participation,
and other expressions of individual and collective will. Instead of giving people their freedom,
Xi is constantly repressing the masses through heavy-handed dictatorship. In my opinion, his
actions reveal not a secure leader, but a profoundly insecure one. He has taken China backwards
politically precisely at the time when it should be moving forward. This will eventually increase
tensions and might possibly result in aggressive revolt in the near future. (Shambaugh June 25,
2021)

Works Cited
1. Horsley, Jamie P. Party Leadership And Rule Of Law In The Xi Jinping Era. 2019.

2. Shambaugh, David. Xi Jinping: Modern Emperor. China's Leaders: From Mao To Now -
Barnes & Noble, June 25, 2021.

What reforms can be attributed to Xi Jinping in internal politics and foreign policy of
China?
It is evident that Xi Jinping has changed China’s outlook to a great extent in terms of the
domestic governance along with the foreign policy structure. He initiated a number of reforms in
internal politics including recentralization of power and authority, party centric politics,
economic and military reforms and complex surveillance system. For reforms in foreign policy,
he formulated proactive approaches including soft diplomacy through infrastructure and financial
investment, established foreign policy commission, and other non- traditional measures of
foreign policy. Following is a brief summary of the reforms attributed to Xi Jinping in both
aspects.
Summary of Reforms in internal governance/politics:
 Unlike its predecessors, Xi is not in favor of open society or decentralization of power.
He has centralized the authoritative power and led a party- centric approach to govern the
public. According to him loyalty to party is loyalty to state. He gave himself a number of
titles, among which some of them were only given to Mao in order to highlight his status
as a sole sovereign that should be obeyed at any cost.
 He initiated economic reforms that acknowledged market's decisive role in allocating
resources in order to drive a proper relationship between the market and government. The
focus of reform is to follow the basic law of the market economy and work on the
problems of an underdeveloped market system, excessive government intervention and
weak supervision of the market. State owned enterprises were given special attention in
his economic reforms as according to Xi, SOE’s are a crucial source of innovation and
revenue.
 Important military reforms can be attributed to Xi as he modernized and transformed the
military into a strong giant under his control through a number of training programs,
agreements and initiative. He himself became the commander in chief of the PLA. Xi
inaugurated a strict system of surveillance to compel the masses to abide by the rules and
regulations of the state. It also involves a system of point scoring which grab attention of
the civilians that they will eventually be awarded if they behave. Even though it is a
violation of privacy of citizen, still they are living under such rule. (Shambaugh June 25,
2021)
Summary of reforms in foreign policy:
 Xi’s accession to power marked the era of increased confidence and pro activeness of the
country in the global arena. The major theme of his politics is focused on rejuvenation of
China’s lost glory. He has reportedly taken a hard-line on security issues as well as
foreign affairs, projecting a more nationalistic and assertive China on the world stage.
 Xi has played a vital and forward leaning role in foreign policy and has summoned
several high-level conferences on foreign policy, national security, and diplomacy.
Moreover he has reorganized the foreign policy-making institutional process under his
direct observation that also includes the establishment of a new Commission on Foreign
Affairs. Xi Jinping's "Major Country Diplomacy" doctrine has replaced the earlier Deng
Xiaoping era slogan of "keep a low profile" and has legitimized a more active role for
China on the world stage, particularly with regards to reform of the multilateral
 diplomacy, international order, engaging in open ideological competition with the West,
and assuming a greater responsibility for global affairs in accordance with China's rising
power and status.
 Xi’s China has also created new lending institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank and a variety of regional organizations across Asia, the Middle East,
Africa, Europe, and Latin America to promote a variety of assistance programs. The most
prominent and signature achievement of Xi in this regard is the Belt and Road Initiative
and related projects with it that is enhancing the influence of china over the globe through
soft diplomacy tactics. It is a strategy that seeks to connect Asia with Africa and Europe
via land and maritime networks with the aim of improving regional integration,
increasing trade and stimulating economic growth. It will strengthen China’s connectivity
with the world. It combines new and old projects, covers an expansive geographic scope,
and includes efforts to strengthen hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure, and cultural ties.
(Bush 2021)
 Furthermore, under Xi's administration, China has made significantly more contributions
to the United Nations operating budget, international peacekeeping, overseas
development assistance, and the Millennium Development Goals. China has also
increased its involvement in a number of other fields, such as climate change, terrorism,
public health pandemics, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, energy security, and
anti-piracy operations in different regions.
Xi Jinping is a visionary leader that knows what he is doing and where he wants to see China in
the near future. His policies have both positive and negative repercussions for the country but
one thing is clear that in order to gain long term success, he needs to maintain the balance
between change and stability in all aspects which has now become a serious challenge for his
administration.

Works Cited
1. Bush, J.W. China's Soft Power in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative. 2021.

2. Shambaugh, David. Xi Jinping: Modern Emperor. China's Leaders: From Mao to Now -
Barnes & Noble, June 25, 2021.