China's
head of state and party leader Xi Jinping is one of the most powerful
politicians in the world. In a review of 2014, DW columnist Frank Sieren says
Xi's tenure marks the start of a new era in China.
Deutsche Welle, 4 Jan 2015
I have
never experienced anything like it in the twenty years I have lived in China.
Xi Jinping is cracking down harder than almost anyone before him. President for
almost two years, and party leader for more than two, Xi is doing all he can to
transform China as we know it. The list of his achievements thus far is
impressive, even more so considering how briefly he has been in office - while
his top priority remains his anti-corruption campaign. Until recently, only two
percent of Germans knew who Xi was, but since the beginning of December his
recognition has been on the rise, and not only in Germany.
Harsh
crackdown on party officials
Zhou
Yongkang has been sitting in prison since then. One of the most powerful men in
China until 2012, he was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and a
former security chief. There haven't been proceedings against such a high-ranking
party member in decades. With them, Xi is proving again that he won't blink
when it comes to his fight against corruption, and that he will go after top
officials, so-called "tigers," with demonstrative force. At the same
time, daily news of the arrests of corrupt party officials show how powerful Xi
has become.
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| Obama's appearance at the APEC summit was seen as a sign of China's new power |
In the last
few weeks Xi has been displaying this power, not only to his fellow countrymen,
but above all to the West. In October, dozens of world and business leaders
from the Asia-Pacific region met in Beijing for the APEC summit, and to sign
lucrative agreements with China. Even Barack Obama hurried to Beijing for
climate negotiations, a gesture that shows that China is now just a few steps
behind the US in the current world order.
Expanding
economic might
To
undertake such an impressive abundance of initiatives and trials so shortly
after assuming power, in the way Xi has done, would have been utterly unusual
in the past. Until now, the late leader Deng Xiaoping's motto of waiting until
the time is ripe before drawing attention to oneself had been the prevailing
mode. Since entering office, Xi has also made numerous official trips to Asia,
Europe, and Africa, expanding China's economic power.
And when he
returned home from several days of traveling in Australia, New Zealand, and the
Fiji Islands at the end of November, he handed out many presents. The fact that
for the first time ever, constitutional rule of law was a topic at the fourth
plenary session of the CPC's 18th National Congress is another one of his
achievements. It would have been nice if the Communist Party's anti-corruption
campaigns had been used as an opportunity to finally begin conducting
transparent legal proceedings that the general population could understand. For
me, that would be a great leap forward on the path to constitutionality. Yet it
is becoming apparent that more than anyone, party leaders close to Xi don't see
things that way. Good intentions get lost when no one can understand who is
being sentenced for what. That goes for the "flies," or the little
people, as well as the "tigers" like Zhou Yongkang.
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| Xi's wife Peng Liyuan has helped his popularity |
More
pressure on regime opponents
Xi's
harshness is also directed at the freedom of expression of those who think
differently, and the rights of minorities. Decidedly more people belonging to
those groups have been arrested since Xi took power. That is the dark side of
his self-assertiveness. There is no transparency in these cases either. Lack of
transparency and arbitrary rulings spread fear through the country, a fear that
is paralyzing it and could eventually lead to ever more resistance to Xi's
otherwise sensible anti-corruption campaign. And even Xi can't win against the
country, against the majority of its people. The question: is it good for a
country when a politician wields that much power?
One thing
is clear: Xi is also using the campaign to get rid of political adversaries. No
one ever knows for sure whether those arrested were really corrupt, or just
belonged to the wrong clique. All this leads me to the conclusion that Xi
Jinping is China's most influential politician since Deng - one could also say
its most assertive. He has gotten more done in just shy of two years than many
of his predecessors did during their entire tenure - for better or for worse.
That could also be because the party has realized that their course is not just
going to decide China's future - increasingly, economic and political
developments in China impact the fate of countries in the West. With Xi, a new
era has opened, one in which China will reposition itself on the world stage.
How this era will be received in the West is still to be determined.
Down-to-earth
image
 |
| Frank Sieren lives in China |
I've asked
myself, why of all people is Xi so successful? Part of it could be the staff of
PR managers the 61-year-old employs to polish his public image. Xi presents a
down-to-earth image - we see him eating dumplings in crowds instead of at
expensive state dinners, and he prefers to be driven to public appearances by
minibus rather than state limousine.
Born into a
political family, he joined the Communist Party at 21 and began a rapid ascent
up the career ladder. As governor of the province of Fujian, he drove the
economy by luring investors from Taiwan with subsidies. He owes another portion
of his popularity to his wife, a famous singer in China who adds to his
popularity. One might not quite believe it, but the people like to call him
"Uncle Xi."
Biggest
upheavals since Deng's reforms
Xi
Jinping's crackdown is thus the biggest social upheaval in China since the
reformer Deng Xiaoping opened it to foreign investors. Five years ago, if
someone had asked me if such an anti-corruption campaign were possible in
China, I would have thought it very unlikely. And I wouldn't have been alone.
Only in that context can one understand the psychological effect of the campaign.
Our
columnist Frank Sieren is one of Germany's leading experts on China. He
has been living in Beijing for 20 years.
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