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The Political Thought of Xi Jinping

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The Political Thought of Xi Jinping

Oxford UP,

15 min read
9 take-aways
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China’s premier is an old-school strongman, according to these China scholars.

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No political figure wields more power in China than Xi Jinping, yet he remains something of an enigma to most Westerners. So readers will find the insights offered in this study of “Xi Thought” by China scholars Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung most welcome. In the authors’ telling, Xi’s political philosophy is everything the West repudiates: He’s an authoritarian and a Marxist-Leninist who demands unblinking fealty from every one of China’s 1.4 billion residents. Tsang and Cheung are matter-of-fact in reciting the principles of Xi Thought, and they’re clear-eyed in pointing out its purpose and shortcomings.

Summary

Xi Jinping has laid out an ambitious ideology for China.

When Xi took power in 2012, he made it clear that he would not approach changes to China’s government and society like Mao Zedong’s successor, Deng Xiaoping, had. Deng was an incrementalist who likened his cautious approach to reform to “crossing the river by feeling for stones.” While Deng opted for trial-and-error experimentation and for minor changes, Xi has embraced a sweeping vision more in line with Mao Zedong’s. Like Mao, Xi wants a powerful China dominated by one political party and ruled by one ultimate leader.

In 2017, Xi unveiled “Xi Thought,” a framework designed to lead China to greatness and to achieve “the China Dream.” Phase I was to create a “moderately well-off society” by 2021. Phase II calls for China to be “a modern socialistic country that is rich, strong, democratic, cultured and harmonious” by 2049. In practice, Xi’s stated aims for the Chinese state often contradict his policies. He promotes innovation but keeps foreign technology firms out of China. Xi claims to value the rule of law, but he has cracked down on human rights activists. He professes...

About the Authors

Steve Tsang is the director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London. He is also a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an emeritus fellow of St. Antony’s College at Oxford. Olivia Cheung is a research fellow at the China Institute at SOAS University of London.

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