Tag Archives: Xi Jinping

The Trumpification of Xi Jinping  The Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) has achieved great outcomes over the last several decades, especially after the late Deng Xiaoping took effective control of the nation from Maoist holdovers.  He set a model of indirect and collective leadership in contrast with Mao Zedong who ruled nearly absolutely for nearly three decades, while building and enforcing a cult of personality dedicated to himself. Of the top...

Weekend reading. What ideology guides the star of rising Chinese power? General Secretary Xi Jinping’s answer to this question is unequivocal: “Socialism with Chinese characteristics is socialism, not any other ‘ism.’” Xi is adamant that his Party adheres to what he calls the “lofty ideals of communism.” But what exactly do those ideals mean in 21st century China? What does Marx have to do with Zhongnanhai? Of late, this question has much vexed the Communist Party of China. Over the last...

Rebuffed by the EU, NATO-member Turkey pivots away from the West toward Eurasian integration. Russia and China smile. US scowls. Iran in play.Asia TimesSultan shines in the court of the Dragon KingPepe Escobar

Backgrounder on Italy and BRI (and more). China marches (and sails) west.Asia TimesAll roads lead to Rome for Xi Pepe Escobar

Thought experiment: Substitute the US UK where you see China, substitute the ownership class for the CCP, and substitute liberal democracy where you see communism or socialism.China is criticized for taking steps to isolate bourgeois liberalism and democracy controlled by ownership, just as the US and UK take similar steps to demonize communism, isolate socialism, and cement the bourgeois liberal order that gives the ownership class control in place.It is natural for those that control a...

Warning to the US and UK (Anglo-American Empire) and their European vassals in NATO that there will not be regime change in China resulting from ongoing liberalization? China is committed to going its own way, which is unique to its history and conditions, so get used to it. “The practices of reform and opening up in the past 40 years have shown us that the Chinese Communist Party leadership is the fundamental character of socialism with Chinese characteristics … east, west, south, north,...

Is accusing China of using debt as a weapon capitalist chutzpah on the part of Pence, when it's SOP under neoliberalism — "free markets, free trade, and free capital flows" — to put less powerful countries in debt to powerful countries to the degree that they need to go to the IMF for funding to meet debt obligations, the strings attached being giving up control of their institutional arrangements, fiscal policy and national sovereignty?  I doubt Pence will fool anyone on this, but...

George Magnus, the brunt of the post, is an ideologue. This would not be worth posting if it were not also the Western consensus view that missed the mark on China all along owing to assumptions that are wide of the mark — wrong model. Fort Russ NewsNo, Xi’s China Is Not In Jeopardy! How Western Press Gets It All Wrong Dennis Etler

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro returned to Caracas Monday upon concluding a four-day visit to the People’s Republic of China, which saw the two countries sign twenty-eight bilateral agreements, including a new US $5 billion Chinese loan and joint plans for a fourth satellite, in addition to strengthening political ties.... “I have had to overcome economic sanction measures by the US and Europe, who persecute Venezuelan bank accounts, kidnap billions of dollars in international...

What the article says about Xi is also true of Putin. They both have traditional, legal, and charismatic authority.  When this is true of leaders of great powers, they become world-historical figures. Xi and Putin are already emerging as key figures in the history of the 21st century.  Andrew Batson's BlogA Weberian analysis of Xi Jinping’s power Andrew BatsonSee alsoRussia InsiderExcellent New Russian Biography Film of Chinese Leader Xi Reveals His Thinking Mark Boden