Understanding Xi Jinping’s ideology isn’t easy, but a new book attempts to do just that: Globe and Mail
Since becoming paramount leader of China, Xi Jinping has consolidated power like no Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, reaffirmed the party’s leadership over all aspects of life and asserted an increasingly aggressive nationalism. But few people have personal insight into his decision-making, with more and more policy set within a black box that has only grown increasingly opaque.
Yet, Mr. Xi is an incredibly prolific writer and speaker. He has authored dozens of books, while the party’s premier ideological journal, Seeking Truth, is almost entirely filled with analyzing and explaining Xi Jinping Thought, the Chinese leader’s signature ideology.
Much of this output is impenetrable to those not well-versed in Chinese Communist theory, and often mind-numbing even to those who are. This can make it tempting to dismiss.
But to ignore the importance of ideology in Mr. Xi’s China is to disregard a huge tool for understanding the country and its leaders’ decisions, argues Kevin Rudd, the former prime minister of Australia (and current ambassador to the U.S.) and author of the new book On Xi Jinping: How Xi’s Marxist Nationalism is Shaping China and the World.