Rise of Xi Jinping in China

Yuba Nath Lamsal
It has been an avowed practice in China to effect change in the top political leadership once in a decade. China’s leadership change takes place after a long and meticulous homework, which is the prime factor for a smooth transfer of power and greater political stability. This practice has been in place after the rise of Deng Xiaoping to political limelight after Mao’s demise in 1996. Deng’s rise marked a new beginning in the modern history of China. As a continuity to this tradition, leadership change in the highest political level has taken place in China recently.

The week-long 18^th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), in which more than 2000 delegates took part, was successfully convened in Beijing’s Great Hall of the Peoples, a symbol of victory of Chinese Revolution in 1949. The 18^th National Congress elected a 250 member central committee under XI Jinping as party’s new general secretary and the chairman of the Central Military Commission. The National Congress also elected a seven member powerful standing committee comprising senior leaders including Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Wang Qishan, Zhang Gaoli, Yu Zhengsheng, Zhang Dejiang, and Liu Yunshan. With Xi’s elevation to the top position of the CPC, fifth generation has assumed the leadership of China.

Xi, son of a revolutionary guard who had fought along with Mao Zedong and other first generation leaders during the revolution that established People’s Republic of China in 1949, will also be elected as new president in March 2013 by the People’s Congress, China’s parliament. With this, China’s leadership transition will be over for at least for a decade. Accordingly, Le Keqiang will take over premiership of China replacing Wen Jiabao.

In China, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and some other leaders that led the 1949 revolution are said to be the first generation leaders. Deng Xiaoping and his team are addressed as the second generation leaders, while former Presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao represent the third and fourth generation of China’s leadership respectively. With Xi in the helms of affairs, China’s leadership has been transferred to the hands of fifth generation, which is more enthusiastic, energetic and more reform-minded and outward-looking.
Every generation of Chinese leadership has played its own role and made contribution which has been hailed in China and elsewhere with high esteem. Mao led the Chinese revolution and emancipated China from imperialist occupation and feudal exploitation establishing People’s Republic of China, which made the people master of their own destiny. The Chinese revolution is one of the world’s greatest political events of the 20^th century, which inspired national intendance movements across the globe especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Mao became a political icon and a role model for proletariats and revolutionaries in the world, who were and are fighting revolutionary war with the objective of establishing Chinese model of communist system in their respective countries.

Vladimir E Lenin applied and developed Marxism into Marxism-Leninism in Russia during the October Revolution and later while it was further developed into Marxism-Leninism and Maoism/Mao Thought in China after the success of Chinese Revolution. Mao’s role is important not only in China but in the world as he contributed ideological input and impetus to world’s revolutionaries. 

While Mao heralded an important and historic era of emancipating China from feudal exploitation, Deng’s contribution is equally important. Deng reemergence in politics marks a new era of China’s history. It is Deng who introduced economic reforms and modernization that totally transformed China. Once a poor and backward country, China has now emerged as economic superpower. Former President Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao followed and strictly pursued Deng’s policy with more innovation. As a result, China has achieved stunning progress just in the period of three decades, which would be virtually impossible for any other country to achieve that level of development in such a short span of time.

Now Xi has taken over the leadership of China. His responsibility is huge. There are numerous opportunities as well as challenges before the new Chinese leadership. He has opportunity to write down his name in the history of China as a great and successful political icon along with his predecessors like Mao, Zhou, Deng, Jiang and Hu. At the same time he has tremendous challenges to live up to the expectations of the Chinese people as well as the world because people at home and abroad have much expectation on Xi and his team. As a global power, China definitely has more international obligation which the new leadership will have to address to the greater satisfaction of the people both at home and abroad.

Xi has the challenge not only to maintain the present tempo of economic development but also give additional drive in order to make his presence felt in China as well as in the international arena. The economic growth rate seems to be slowing down recently which may cause decline in its overall economic performance in the years to come. This would be certainly a matter of worry for the new leadership. Xi will, therefore, require additional energy to keep the pace of economic development going. But this is not an easy task. Given his track record as he has already served as the vice president under Hu Jintao, Xi, perhaps, knows where the problem lies and where to focus. He is, therefore, expected to overcome all challenges and problems and give Chinese economic an added momentum.

The new Chinese leadership appears to have visualized the problems and accordingly accorded appropriate priorities.  Xi has hinted that he would give continuity to the policies initiated and pursued by his predecessors with a little more focus on political stability. Uplifting the life of the working class people would be Xi Jinping’s domestic priority, which he has made public in his first-ever speech after he was elected CPC general secretary. As a vanguard of the party, he has vowed to work sincerely as per the party’s trust and people’s expectations, which according to him, are the source of tremendous inspiration for the CPC leadership.

Sincerity, hard work and people’s trust are what the new Chinese leader considers as the cardinal principle. He has pledged to ensure dignified life of the people and said that ‘prosperity for all’ will be his motto. Xi way back in 2001 had said, “Knives are sharpened on the stone and people are refined through hardship", urging the ranks and file of the communist party to work hard for better result and for winning trust of the people. This speaks of how he values the labor and hard work and it tells what his priorities would be in the domestic front.

In the foreign policy front, we cannot expect drastic change because he has already hinted that he would give continuity to the policies of his predecessors. China is a country that does not make frequent shift both in domestic as well as foreign policy fronts. Moreover, Chinese foreign policy is always guided by its set principles. But one thing is sure that China, unlike in the past, will not a mere inward looking country. With its increased international strength, clouts and obligation, China under Xi Jinping is expected to be more outward-looking with more firmly asserting its role in the international arena. China’s increased and assertive role is necessary not only for Beijing itself but for the entire Third World given the present international balance of power. China still considers itself as a member of the developing world and its international diplomacy is often targeted to build more Third Worldism.

With the end of the Cold War, bi-polar world turned into the uni-polar one with the United States remaining as the only super power. The uni-polar world had both advantages and disadvantages. Given the developments in the international arena after the end of the Cold War, bi-polarism has become a boon for the big powers and bane for the poor, backward and weak countries in the Third World. In the absence of balance of power, most developing countries suffered have suffered on various ways and forms. The period of Cold War saw more conflicts and wars in the world killing more people than those killed during the two world wars. The much desired peace dividend became elusive for the Third World countries. In such a situation, other international power pole was necessary to fill the power vacuum. With the rise of China and some other international powers, the state of unipolar world is likely to be over, which would give rise to a different world with newer balance of power.

Against this backdrop, new leadership has taken over the political helms of China. Xi Jinping is seen to be well aware of the domestic as well as international challenges and the role it has to play. Xi is expected to consolidate stability in the domestic front and perfectly cooperative and friendly relationship with the neighbors. More focus of China’s policy may be to build good rapport with the neighboring countries including Nepal. Indications are that South Asia is likely to be the area of greater focus and priority of China in the tenure of Xi Jinping, which will be in the mutual benefit of both South Asia and China.