Monday 1 April 2019

The Era of Xi



François Bougnon (2018), Inside the Mind of Xi Jinping, Cntxt, pp. 181

The rise of the Chinese President Xi Jinping is also about the rise of China and what it stands for today. The era of Xi (named after the fashion of giving generational titles to Chinese political leaders such as Mao and Deng) is remarkable for its unique combination of the old and the new.  Harnessing Mao’s teaching and a thousand-year old traditional culture, Xi’s ‘neoauthoritarianism’ is a school of thought shaping contemporary China with its emphasis on a strong state, the plank of anti-corruption and relaxed confidence in the ‘Chinese dream’.

Building a Chinese Dream

Xi has been able to articulate a vision of market economy with socialistic characteristics for China. This image of economic development encompasses attaining material needs for a better life along with pride in one’s country and culture. A careful pantheon of historical ideas has been chosen to represent this ideal. For example, legalism, a belief that advocates the use of law, governance and authority to modify the behaviour of people is widely admired for its efficiency as an institutional approach. Additionally, the rising inequality in China also requires a discourse that includes all classes in the Chinese dream. This is done by controlling the domestic media through party discipline while harnessing foreign media to propagate narratives about China to a wider audience. Furthermore, the celebration of Chinese grown technology firms such as Ali Baba, Xiaomi, Baidu and Huawei stand for pride in the Chinese capacity to find alternatives suitable for its own needs and temperament.

Along with the political transformation, Xi is also leaving behind an impressive personal legacy. After Mao, he is the only leader to have his name added in the Chinese Constitution. More recently, he gave himself an unlimited Presidential term. Although he writes a great deal about his thoughts on China, he rarely gives interview to the Western media, managing a persona of enigma.

To me, this book stands out for many reasons. First, it is concise and succinct in its analysis. Bougnon, the former Le Monde correspondent in Beijing, uses his journalistic experience to provide a well-researched background story and generously archives Francophile scholarly research on China. This is a valuable addition to the recent works published by writers working predominantly in English. An engaging political read for our times!