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China's future leader "redder than reds": WikiLeaks

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  • China's future leader "redder than reds": WikiLeaks

    China's future leader "redder than reds": WikiLeaks
    Press Trust Of India
    Berlin, December 19, 2010
    First Published: 23:30 IST(19/12/2010)
    Last Updated: 23:32 IST(19/12/2010)

    China's presumed future president Xi Jinping is an "extremely ambitious" person who is incorruptible and has chosen to survive by becoming "redder than reds", a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks said. According to the cable published by German magazine 'Der Spiegel', a source close to Xi
    has provided US diplomats with a detailed portrait of the up-and-coming functionary and says he is neither corrupt nor a fan of democracy.

    He isn't corrupt, and money seems unimportant to him. He apparently has enough. He likes the United States, and was at one time fascinated by the mysteries of Buddhism and Asian martial arts.

    Xi is "extremely ambitious," and a good man, according to the US source. He also comes from a good home.

    On Oct 18, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party appointed 57-year-old Xi Jinping vice-president of the powerful Central Military Commission. This makes it all but certain that he will succeed Hu Jintao as Communist Party leader and Chinese president in 2012, Der Spiegel said.

    Xi is the son of former guerilla fighter and later Deputy Prime Minister Xi Zhongxun -- a "princeling," one of an influential class of sons and daughters of loyal functionaries that steadily rise up the Communist Party hierarchy under their parents' protective umbrella.

    But, the Chinese people are more familiar with Xi's wife who is a famous folk singer.

    Xi grew up in the sheltered environment of the nomenklatura. He spent his childhood in the Beijing district reserved for high-ranking officials.

    In 1966, during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution to remove opponents from the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party. Xi's father landed in prison, and he was sent into the countryside to work in the fields.

    In the early 1970s Xi and many princelings were permitted to return to Beijing. But while many of his young contemporaries set about enjoying their newfound freedom, Xi chose a different path. "He chose to survive by becoming redder than red," the US embassy's source says.

    He realized he could only become a career politician if he temporarily removed himself from Beijing's power clique and gathered experience in rural areas.

    He slowly worked his way up the ladder in Heibei, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. Because Fujian faces the breakaway island of Taiwan, US dispatches say, Xi has had an understanding for the plight of the Taiwanese people ever since.

    In 2007 the leadership made him the Party leader in Shanghai. At the time, the Communist Party was embroiled in a corruption scandal and desperately needed a clean pair of hands that could polish up its reputation. He was seen as incorruptible and as having sufficient authority to clean up the Party's ranks.

    Xi spent just seven months in China's financial center before the leadership brought him to Beijing and anointed him vice-president. Xi's career strategy had paid off. "Xi had promotion to the Center in mind from day one," the US Embassy dispatch says.

    He is said to be a realist and a pragmatist, one who keeps his cards close to his chest before coldly playing his ace when the time is right.

    He appears uninterested in leisure pursuits preferred by many high-ranking officials. Women consider him boring, a trait he shares with his stern superior, Hu Jintao.

  • #2
    Originally posted by xizhimen View Post
    Women consider him boring, a trait he shares with his stern superior, Hu Jintao.
    I bet those women don't have the voice (or ass) Xi's wife has if you know what I am talking about.

    Comment


    • #3
      The orginal Der Spiegel article, here

      Is Xi Jingping 'redder than red' because....

      He abhors the pursuit of money, much as he does China's nouveau-riche. His greatest fear is that the new, free-market era will rob people of their dignity and respect.
      or

      In 1974, despite the fact that his father was still in prison, Xi joined the Communist Party, a decision which lost him the trust of fellow princelings, who felt betrayed by the move. Whereas his friends gorged themselves on Western literature, Xi read the works of Karl Marx and even joined a "workers', farmers' and soldiers' revolutionary committee."

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      • #4
        w.t.f to Xi Jingping, as long as he stays quiet and focuses more on PRs, all is well. Running the economy is the job of the PM and that is the position I am more interested in. Just don't expect any major political reform under Xi.
        “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

        Comment


        • #5
          Le Keqiang ?

          Any reason(s) to expect different from him than Wen.

          Comment


          • #6
            that I am not sure, after all Wen is NO "the boss" Zhu Rongji. Now, that was one mean SOB and proud of it
            “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

            Comment


            • #7
              From what I take away from this article and correct me if I'm wrong. Xi is more of an old-school and conventional member of the Chinese Communist Party both in thinking and practice, but nonetheless has a favorable view of the United States and wants to have good relations with the US?

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Kevin Brown View Post
                From what I take away from this article and correct me if I'm wrong. Xi is more of an old-school and conventional member of the Chinese Communist Party both in thinking and practice, but nonetheless has a favorable view of the United States and wants to have good relations with the US?
                Who doesn't want to have good relations with the US? Some hilly billies in Shanxi? Hu was also considered more conservative than Jiang, big deal.

                The momentum of China is too big for anyone to slow it down. Not Xi, not Li, everybody is getting rewards and then some in the game. Look at where China was 20 years ago, and where it is now. Project the progress (or regress) to another 20 years.

                Comment


                • #9
                  The convoluted leadership structure of China's political system is enough to throw somebody into a tizzy! Who is the most powerful person in China in terms of legal function or political function? In practice, who is the most powerful person in China, i.e., in terms of influence and decision making?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Blademaster View Post
                    The convoluted leadership structure of China's political system is enough to throw somebody into a tizzy! Who is the most powerful person in China in terms of legal function or political function? In practice, who is the most powerful person in China, i.e., in terms of influence and decision making?
                    The easiest way to tell is to see whose name comes first in the nine member Politburo Standing Committee.

                    Usually when someone holds the three titles of President of the PRC, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, Chairman of the Central Military Committee (of the Communist Party), this person is the supreme leader. When these three aren't held by one person, then the weight of these titles are arranged like this: Chairman of CMC > Chairman of CPC > President. Currently Hu Jintao holds all three titles.

                    Premier (or Prime Minister, as some versions of translation go) is the head of the government and commands the economy. The premier is more involved with citizens' economic life (income, employment, consumption etc.). So if some economic policy is controversial, he or she is the one that gets most of the blame.
                    夫唯不爭,故天下莫能與之爭。

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                    • #11
                      So what does the President do? What can he do and cannot do as compared to US President or UK Prime Minister?

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                      • #12
                        I think snowhole has said in China, President is also Chairman of CPC. Because of his power over Political Bureau, I guess he is far more powerful than President of USA. It does not matter if the People's Congress wants to pass something or not, he should be the one who has decided it in background.

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                        • #13
                          That is so not true. The president and the chairman of the CPC could be different people. And indeed, before Jiang, it was always that way. Second, heard of the Premier minister? That man does a lot of stuff, too.

                          Overall, the current system favors group leadership. The head of the People's Congress has a lot power too. Especially when Li Peng was in that position. It's still a work in progress. You need to constantly pay attetion.

                          Originally posted by hanswu25 View Post
                          I think snowhole has said in China, President is also Chairman of CPC. Because of his power over Political Bureau, I guess he is far more powerful than President of USA. It does not matter if the People's Congress wants to pass something or not, he should be the one who has decided it in background.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Blademaster View Post
                            So what does the President do? What can he do and cannot do as compared to US President or UK Prime Minister?
                            The US President is both head of state and head of government. He or she is symbolic and functional at the same time.

                            The UK PM is only head of government. And he or she is functional. The head of state of the UK is the monarch, who is now Queen Elizabeth II, and she's symbolic. Similar things with all constitutional monarchies (Japan, Spain, Sweden etc.). Also similar are some parliamentary republics where the President is far less important than the Prime Minister/Premier/Chancellor, like Germany and Italy.

                            I'm not particularly familiar with France, but I know France is unique, that although the head of government is the PM and not the President, the President still carries more weight than the PM. A bit like China I guess.

                            As for China, the President of PRC is head of state only, and this title/office is symbolic. With this title you can honour citizens, order amnesty, as well as go on state visits, like a monarch. But unlike the US President, the President of PRC does not lead the government. The Premier (or PM) is head of government, and is functional. When he or she is visiting a foreign country it is a working visit. But sometimes the Chinese President is also the Chairman of Party as well as the supreme commander of the armed forces, and it is a bit confusing. So when you say Hu Jintao is the most powerful man in China, it is not that the President of PRC title matters, rather the other two (Chairman of Party and Chairman of Central Military Committee).
                            Last edited by snowhole; 22 Dec 10,, 23:37.
                            夫唯不爭,故天下莫能與之爭。

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by cdude View Post
                              Who doesn't want to have good relations with the US? Some hilly billies in Shanxi? Hu was also considered more conservative than Jiang, big deal.

                              The momentum of China is too big for anyone to slow it down. Not Xi, not Li, everybody is getting rewards and then some in the game. Look at where China was 20 years ago, and where it is now. Project the progress (or regress) to another 20 years.
                              So not muh will change under Xi then? From what I've been reading is to be expected.

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