Decision to grant Xi his own eponymous school
of thought represents a momentous occasion in Chinese politics and history
By Tom
Phillips
Xi Jinping opens the 19th
National Congress of the
Communist Party of China. Photograph:
Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
|
China’s communist leader, Xi Jinping, looks
to have further strengthened his rule over the world’s second largest economy
with the apparent confirmation that a new body of political theory bearing his
name will be written into the party’s constitution.
On day two of a week-long political summit in
Beijing marking the end of Xi’s first term, state media announced the creation
of what it called Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
for a New Era.
“The Thought is … a historic contribution to
the party’s development,” Zhang Dejiang, one of the seven members of China’s
top ruling council, the politburo standing committee, told delegates at the
19th party congress, according to Beijing’s official news agency, Xinhua.
Liu Yunshan, another standing committee
member, said the elevation of Xi’s Thought into the party’s list of “guiding
principles” was of “great political, theoretical and practical significance”.
“All members of the party should study hard Xi’s ‘new era’ thought,” he was
quoted as saying.
Experts say the decision to grant Xi his own
eponymous school of thought, while arcane-sounding, represents a momentous and
highly symbolic occasion in the politics and history of the world’s most
populous nation.
Only two previous leaders – Chairman Mao and
Deng Xiaoping – have been honoured in such a way, with theories called Mao
Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory. The names of Xi’s immediate predecessors
– Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin – were not attached to the political philosophies
they bequeathed to the party.
The official inception of Xi Jinping Thought
– which now seems certain to be formally added to the party’s charter next week
– also reinforces suspicions that Xi will seek to stay in power beyond the end
of his second term, in 2022.
“It is a huge deal,” said Orville Schell, a
veteran China expert who has been studying Chinese politics since the late
1950s. “It is sort of like party skywriting. If you get your big think in the
constitution it becomes immortal and Xi is seeking a certain kind of
immortality.”
However, Schell, the head of the Asia
Society’s Center on US-China Relations, said the decision to honour Xi was not
only noteworthy “because it makes Xi Jinping look like a thought leader
comparable to Chairman Mao. It also suggests that [China’s political system]
Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is a viable counter-model to the
presumption of western liberal democracy and capitalism. In a sense, what Xi is
setting up here is not only a clash of civilisation and values, but one of
political and economic systems.”
In an unexpectedly lengthy opening address to
China’s 19th party congress on Wednesday, Xi offered a bold and assertive
vision of his nation’s future, heralding the dawn of a “new era” of Chinese
prosperity and power in which Beijing would move “closer to centre stage”. In
one section Xi described China’s authoritarian one-party system as “a new
option for other countries and nations who want to speed up their development
while preserving their independence”.
Jeff Wasserstrom, a professor of modern
Chinese history at the University of California, Irvine, said the move to
honour China’s leader underlined the “radical shift” that had taken place in
Chinese politics since a relatively unknown Xi took power in November 2012.
In the five years since, Xi has overseen a
severe political chill and built a reputation as one of the country’s most
dominant leaders since Mao.
Wasserstrom said western historians tended to
refer to two major periods in China’s post-revolution history. “If I’m writing
something, I’ll say: the Mao era (1949-1976). And then: the Reform era
(1979-onwards). The question now is: does this mean we have reached another
inflection point where we need to start thinking of this as the Xi Jinping
era?”
Wasserstrom said he sensed that the answer
was yes. China’s last two administrations were referred to by the names of both
their top two leaders: Hu-Wen, in the case of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, and
Jiang-Zhu in the case of Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji. Now it was “just Xi … Xi,
Xi, Xi, Xi, Xi.”
Schell said the birth of Xi Jinping Thought
was “a sign of enormous consolidation, of impressive amounts power in his
hands”. “But it is also a curious recognition of weakness,” he added. “To need
such power you have to assume they foresee some pretty daunting obstacles and
impediments to China’s future progress.”
Xi’s way of thinking is not universally
admired. In an audacious open letter, Yu Wensheng, an outspoken human rights
lawyer, demanded his immediate dismissal.
“The Communist party of China claims to
support freedom of speech, democracy, equality and the rule of law. But China
has no such freedom, no democracy, no equality, no rule of law, only bigwigs
and rampant corruption.” Xi’s China was “marching backwards … he is unfit for
office,” Yu wrote.
On Thursday morning, security agents tasked
with quelling dissent that might upset Xi’s congress appeared to have
successfully silenced the attorney. “It’s not convenient to give any
interviews,” Yu said in a brief text message.
Additional reporting by Wang Zhen