When I was studying in Shanghai back in 2012, The Economist published an article about why you should remember the name Xi Jinping. Mr. Xi was about to become General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and, subsequently, the country’s president. Since then, Xi Jinping has definitely made a name for himself. Not only in China but globally as well. He is without doubt the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Many books have been written about his early love for the Party and rapid rise through its ranks. Despite his secretive and highly choreographed personal life, Mr. Xi enjoys strong support at home and non-stop (critical) attention abroad. For better or worse, his name will be remembered.
Continue reading “Zhou Enlai, remember the name”Author: Felix den Ottolander
Owner of China Hand (www.chinahand.blog)
Zero-Covid: China’s Pyrrhic victory
It feels somewhat strange to write about Covid-19 at the end of 2022. After all, the name of the disease reminds us it was first discovered over three years ago. In most countries, especially the developed ones, the virus has become a problem of everyday life. Yet in China, people are experiencing an unprecedented wave of cases and deaths. The zero-Covid strategy was long hailed as the only way to get a grip on the unknown and dangerous virus with a population as big as China’s. That praise is now rapidly fading, not only in the West but also amongst the Chinese themselves. A lot has been written about how China ended up in the current situation, faced with the challenge of keeping its economy afloat while its citizens safe. However, less attention is given to what the handling of the virus says about China’s political system and its potential to deal with similar problems.
Continue reading “Zero-Covid: China’s Pyrrhic victory”Democracy with Chinese characteristics
During Hong Kong’s National Day on July 1st, the visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping proclaimed the “beginning of true democracy” in Hong Kong after the mainland regained formal control over the territory exactly 25 years ago. In a venue closed for the public and journalists, after having deployed a huge security force, these words conveyed a chilling message to the world. To most Western spectators, this is a confusing, perhaps even silly statement. By referring to “true democracy”, Mr. Xi not only suggests the Communist Party of China (CPC) has implemented a democratic system in Hong Kong, but also that only China understands the real meaning of democracy. When I read about Mr. Xi’s speech, I could feel my head shaking from left to right. Surely, nobody can take this claim seriously. Or is there more to it?
Continue reading “Democracy with Chinese characteristics”Red China: The Prestige
It was hard to miss on the first of July this year: the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated its 100th birthday. A huge crowd of − staged or real, who knows? − Party enthusiasts celebrated on Tiananmen Square in Beijing while Xi Jinping, China’s president, summed up the Party’s achievements during a one-hour long speech. His message was clear: without the Party, China would not be where it is today. The centenary is a crucial milestone in the narrative that the CPC has promoted ever since it came to power in 1949. The Party’s actual story has been more mixed and, as we have seen in part one (The Pledge) and part two (The Turn), includes a number of unanticipated, dramatic twists. Our third and final act, The Prestige, captures the rise of Xi Jinping who over the course of the past decade has steered the country into an eerily familiar direction.
Continue reading “Red China: The Prestige”Red China: The Turn
Part two of this series on China’s modern political history can be characterised as The Turn, the second magician’s act in which something extraordinary happens. As explained in part one, the Pledge-Turn-Prestige structure helps to make sense of the radical, at times spectacular transformation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) since its establishment in 1921. That year at the first National Congress of the CPC, it was decided that communism would be the Party’s ideological weapon in its struggle against both domestic political rivals and foreign aggressors. During the civil war, Mao Zedong cleverly adopted a communist ideology with certain ‘Chinese characteristics’ that not only enabled the Party to win the war but also establish absolute power. The Turn will zoom in on two key figures in the years following Mao’s death in 1976 who facilitated a period of radical reform and unprecedented entrepreneurial spirit.
Continue reading “Red China: The Turn”
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