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The Meaning of ‘Xi Jinping Thought’: edit in The Wall St Journal, Sept 29, 2017

The 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, set to open in Beijing on Oct. 18, is worth watching for two reasons. General Secretary Xi Jinping is bidding to become China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, and he may stake his legitimacy on the country’s growing influence abroad. Both suggest an expansion of China’s political oppression at home and assertiveness abroad.

Mr. Xi may defy Party tradition at this Congress, which falls halfway through his 10-year term in office, and seek to extend his tenure beyond 2022. The last two leaders, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, allowed a successor from a rival political faction to join the Politburo Standing Committee at this stage to prepare a smooth succession. If this Congress fails to put forward a younger cadre or elevates an inexperienced candidate loyal to Mr. Xi, it will confirm that he has rejected the consensus leadership the Party established after the death of Mao.

Mr. Xi may also signal his pre-eminence by rewriting the Party charter. In recent weeks key publications have promoted the importance of “Xi Jinping Thought.” Adding that phrase to the charter would put Mr. Xi on the level of Mao, whose thought is second only to Marxist ideology in the Party’s guiding principles.

The Congress is also expected to emphasize Mr. Xi’s efforts to restore China as a global power as part of his “China Dream” strategy. A new propaganda campaign is praising “Xi Jinping Diplomatic Thought.” State television aired a six-part documentary called “Great Power Diplomacy” that showed Mr. Xi being given red carpet treatment in London and Mar-a-Lago, receiving foreign leaders in Beijing, and being praised by foreign intellectuals for his deep thoughts. Foreign Minister Wang Yi says Mr. Xi’s thought “transcends centuries of Western international relations theory.”

Mr. Xi has consolidated his control over the armed forces in the past year, purging senior generals for corruption and promoting others. At this summer’s Army Day parade, he reviewed the troops alone instead of with other senior leaders, as was the norm. At that event a general introduced him as lingxiu, a term for a supreme leader that has not been used since the Mao era. Last year he acquired a newly created title of commander-in-chief of the Joint Battle Command Center.

This consolidation of power means that China’s immediate future will increasingly depend on the choices of one leader. This suggests that the Party’s crackdown on political dissent, which has become ever harsher, is unlikely to ease. Hong Kong can also expect more aggressive control from Beijing.

The question for the world is what consolidated one-man authoritarian rule would mean for China’s actions abroad. The Communist Party established norms of succession and the principle of consensus leadership to prevent a repeat of Mao’s disastrous rule, which included attempts to undermine neighboring governments. That has paid off in rising prosperity as China focused on economic development and trade with the world.

Mr. Xi is changing that policy to assert Chinese dominance in the Asia-Pacific, and authoritarian rulers tend to stoke nationalism to create political legitimacy. The growing cult of Xi could shake the world order.https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-meaning-of-xi-jinping-thought-1506638437

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