How Xi Jinping plans to secure his legacy in China's Communist Party (2024)

Xi Jinping may be taking his country into uncharted territory when he emerges this month as China's paramount leader for another five years.

The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 20th National Congress begins on October 16. The conclusion of the weeklong event is expected to pave the way for him to become the longest-ruling party boss since Mao Zedong.

From the outside, Xi's decision to remain in power may seem unprecedented. But for him, it's perhaps the natural next step on his way to cementing a lasting legacy in China's ruling party.

Xi was elected as CCP general secretary in late 2012, when he also became chairman of the Central Military Commission, before taking the title of president the following March.

The certitude that forms the basis of the widespread belief in his continuation as leader comes from the way he consolidated power over the decade and dismantled the party's previous move toward institutionalizing collective leadership—to ensure no one man could ever come to wield too much authority.

It began gradually by involving himself in the minutiae of policymaking and continued with a yearslong anti-graft campaign that purged countless officials for disloyalty and corruption, including those in senior positions. He installed sympathetic cadres in important posts to carry out his vision of a more centralized form of decision-making.

Top-level design also was found in the People's Liberation Army, the party's military arm, which Xi began reforming in 2015.

In 2017, Xi oversaw an amendment to the party's constitution to include his ideas, known collectively as Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, exerting a level of ideological control only enjoyed previously by Deng Xiaoping, a reformist leader, and Mao, the party's founder.

A year later, Xi amended China's constitution to remove term limits for the presidency, the post that gives him the mandate represent the country internationally as head of state.

The centralized nature of his authority has made it hard for foreign counterparts to get their points across. Kurt Campbell, President Joe Biden's top Asia policy adviser, said in 2021 that the senior Chinese diplomats present at high-level meetings were "nowhere near, within a hundred miles" of Xi's inner circle.

How Xi Jinping plans to secure his legacy in China's Communist Party (1)

But how the former governor of Fujian province rose through the party ranks to gain supreme authority tells only half of the story.

China's president has built a cult of personality around him not seen since the days of Mao's Cultural Revolution. The party may now view that decade as a mistake, but Xi drew lessons from it about the potent potential of crafting an idol image.

Favorable strategic narratives are set by the party leadership, of which the propaganda office instructs state media on how to properly frame them and the Chinese public on how to correctly interpret them.

In 2016, he demanded from the Chinese press a sense of absolute loyalty to the official line, and therefore to him as the "core" of the party. He told state media workers: "Party and state media represent the party and government's propaganda position; they must bear the party's surname."

Xi is rarely absent from discussions about domestic achievements or the party's capacity to govern, and he is often described as elevating China's status on the world stage or presenting solutions to external challenges.

According to Shu-ting Liu, a policy analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, Taiwan's top military think tank, the construction of Xi's image by Chinese state media was "a long-term and progressive process that is becoming more and more thorough."

It does this through Xi's policy of "media convergence," the integration of traditional and new media resources with technological tools to change, manufacture and enhance positive public perceptions of the CCP, Liu told Newsweek.

"The CCP faces multiple internal and external challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine war, COVID and U.S.-China strategic competition. In all of these cases, the CCP crafts Xi Jinping's image with convergence media," she said. "On the one hand, it emphasizes links to the 'party;' on the other, it focuses on the 'state' to gain public support."

On October 8, Chinese broadcaster CCTV aired a new series called Navigator (领航), detailing Xi's achievements in the past decade, including his managing of the trade war with the United States, quelling unrest in Hong Kong and fighting the pandemic.

"This method of treating 'crises' as 'political achievements' will come under constant scrutiny, as is the case with China's difficult economic and social issues," said Liu. "And, of course, it is Xi Jinping and only Xi Jinping who will have to take responsibility."

CCP propaganda material also describes Xi as the party's "helmsman," a nod the "Great Helmsman" honorific held by Mao. As such, the Chinese president steers both domestic and foreign policy with a firm grip and deep ideological control.

In the last few years, Xi has bound the country's pandemic response to the CCP's political legitimacy and his own personal legacy, making it increasingly difficult to justify a policy shift.

How Xi Jinping plans to secure his legacy in China's Communist Party (2)

Kevin Rudd, Australia's former prime minister, once described Xi as eyeing a Mao-like status. But Steve Tsang, director of the School of Oriental and African Studies' (SOAS) China Institute in London, argued Xi wants more than that.

"Xi is not seeking to gain a status comparable to that of Mao, he is seeking to surpass that of Mao," Tsang told Newsweek.

"To Xi, Mao delivered a critical element of this, by founding the [People's Republic of China], but has fallen short of restoring China to its heydays," the professor explained.

"The issue of personality cult reflects how Xi sees himself, the party and China, as well as the reality that he is a man on a mission, a mission to make China great again."

"To Xi, the only way to make China great again is by the party leading everything under his leadership, which means that he sees them in three concentric circles, with him at the core, the party in the middle and China forming the outer circle," Tsang said.

"Hence, by building up a personality cult, he sees himself as making China great, as the greatness of the core radiates outwards. This also implies that Xi may not bother to justify his third term. Instead, he will probably ensure that he will stay on as leader of the party and therefore of China by acclimation," he said.

Read more

  • From COVID to Taiwan: how China stands ahead of 20th party congress
  • Xi Jinping ties China's fate to Vladimir Putin's Russia for good
  • No end in sight for China's lockdown strategy to beat COVID

Xi's view of "national rejuvenation," his "Chinese Dream," includes many indices, including the takeover of Taiwan and the building of a world-class military. Ultimately, it's the perception of a Chinese nation that has finally overcome Western and especially American hegemony to once again take center stage.

Xi's impression of a universally popular leader is hard to shake. It's what made Thursday's anti-government protest in Beijing so rare.

Social media images showed a man, dressed in a tradesman's clothing and a hard hat, starting a small fire while standing atop Sitong Bridge in Haidian district.

A banner hung over the guard rail read: "Food, not COVID tests. Reform, not Cultural Revolution. Freedom, not lockdown. Votes, not a leader. Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves."

Another urged schools and workplaces to go on strike and to "overthrow the dictator and traitor Xi Jinping."

Weibo, China's main social media service, moved to censor the phrases "Haidian," "Beijing," "Sitong" as well as "warrior" (勇士)—after users used it to describe the man who was later whisked away by police.

Local authorities didn't comment on the event.

How Xi Jinping plans to secure his legacy in China's Communist Party (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Frankie Dare

Last Updated:

Views: 6273

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (73 voted)

Reviews: 88% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Frankie Dare

Birthday: 2000-01-27

Address: Suite 313 45115 Caridad Freeway, Port Barabaraville, MS 66713

Phone: +3769542039359

Job: Sales Manager

Hobby: Baton twirling, Stand-up comedy, Leather crafting, Rugby, tabletop games, Jigsaw puzzles, Air sports

Introduction: My name is Frankie Dare, I am a funny, beautiful, proud, fair, pleasant, cheerful, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.