According to party mythology, a young Xi Jinping underwent a transformation, from entitled princeling into man of the people
. At the party’s five-yearly congress, starting on October 16th, Mr Xi will almost certainly be given another term as supreme leader, possibly setting him up as ruler for life. Understanding his origins and his beliefs has never been more important.
The heart of Mr Xi’s plan is to restore the Communist Party, which had faded from the lives of many people. He came of age in the Cultural Revolution, when Mao upended society by mobilising the Red Guards to attack intellectuals and officials deemed insufficiently loyal. Mr Xi’s father was tortured. His half-sister took her own life. Mr Xi was sent to live in a cave in the countryside for seven years to learn the virtues of hard work.
China’s president has given it that in spades. His anti-corruption campaign set a new tone—and doubled as a purge of his rivals. He has since reinjected the party into all aspects of life. Party committees have been set up in private firms and reinvigorated at the neighbourhood level, where grassroots members help enforce his “zero-covid” policy. Mr Xi has created party bodies with new powers to oversee government ministries.
There is nothing odd about a big power wanting a big say in global affairs. But China’s regime sees today’s world order as a Western imposition, and wants to rewrite the rules. “The Chinese people will never allow any foreign forces to bully, oppress or enslave us,” he said last year, marking the centenary of the party’s founding. “Anyone who dares to try to do that will have their heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of Steel forged from the flesh and blood of over 1.4bn Chinese people.
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