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Xi Jinping's cult of personality

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Portrait of Xi in Beijing, September 2015
Grateful to General Secretary, Endeavoring to a New Era Slogan in Chun'an
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A cult of personality has been developing around Xi Jinping since he became General Secretary and paramount leader of China in 2012.[1][2][3][4][5]

Background

After Deng Xiaoping started the Chinese economic reforms and introduced the concept of collective leadership in the late 1970s, there was no longer a cult of personality around Chinese leaders.[6] When Xi came to power in 2012, he started centralizing power and paved the way for a cult of personality.[7]

The Communist Party of China has denied that there was any cult of personality. Xie Chuntao, director of the Central Party School’s academic department, said the “respect and love” ordinary Chinese felt for Xi was “natural” and “heartfelt” and bore no similarities to a cult of personality.[6][8]

Characteristics

Since Xi assumed power in 2012, books, cartoons, pop songs and dance routines have honoured his rule.[9] In 2017, the local government of the Jiangxi province told Christians to replace their pictures of Jesus with Xi Jinping.[10][11][12]

The political ideology bearing his name, Xi Jinping Thought, was enshrined into the Communist Party's constitution in the 19th National Congress in October 2017[13] and into the state constitution in 2018.[14] CCTV also showed members of the National People's Congress "crying in happiness" because of Xi Jinping's re-election as President in 2018.[15] The party's Politburo named Xi Jinping lingxiu (领袖), a reverent term for "leader" and a title previously only given to Mao Zedong and his immediate successor Hua Guofeng.[16][17][18] He is also sometimes called the "Great Helmsman" (大舵手),[15] and in July 2018 Li Zhanshu, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, referred to Xi as the "eternal core" of the party.[19]

Since October 2017, many universities across China have placed “Xi Jinping Thought” at the core of their curricula, the first time since Mao Zedong that a Chinese leader has been accorded similar academic stature.[20]

Former inmates in the Xinjiang re-education camps claimed that they were forced to give thanks to the leader by chanting "Long live Xi Jinping."[21]

In October 2018, Hunan TV started airing a game show about Xi Jinping and his ideology.[22] In January 2019, Alibaba released a mobile app for studying Xi Jinping Thought named Xuexi Qiangguo. Within two months of its release, it was downloaded 73 million times.[23][better source needed]

File:中国街头出售的面孔可以变换的毛泽东和习近平像.png
Portraits of Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping

There are souvenirs containing Xi Jinping's images throughout shops in China.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The rise of the personality cult of Xi Jinping- La Croix International". international.la-croix.com. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  2. ^ Zhu, Jiayang Fan, Taisu Zhang, Ying. "Behind the Personality Cult of Xi Jinping". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2019-07-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Xi Jinping Personality Cult". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  4. ^ "The worrying buildup of a personality cult around Xi: The Yomiuri Shimbun". The Straits Times. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2019-07-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "The power of Xi Jinping". The Economist. 2014-09-18. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  6. ^ a b "China 'won't allow' a Mao-style cult of personality around Xi". South China Morning Post. 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  7. ^ Zhu, Jiayang Fan, Taisu Zhang, Ying. "Behind the Personality Cult of Xi Jinping". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2019-08-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "No cult of personality around Xi, says top China party academic". Reuters. 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  9. ^ Phillips, Tom (2015-09-19). "Xi Jinping: Does China truly love 'Big Daddy Xi' – or fear him?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  10. ^ "Replace pictures of Jesus with Xi to escape poverty, Chinese villagers urged". South China Morning Post. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  11. ^ Denyer, Simon (14 November 2017). "Jesus won't save you - President Xi Jinping will, Chinese Christians told". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Haas, Benjamin (2018-09-28). "'We are scared, but we have Jesus': China and its war on Christianity". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  13. ^ "Xi Jinping's political thought to be added to party charter". South China Morning Post. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  14. ^ "China to enshrine Xi's thought into state constitution amid..." Reuters. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  15. ^ a b "An oath, and tears of joy in the Great Hall of the People | Top News". SupChina. 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  16. ^ "Why China is reviving Mao's grandiose title for Xi Jinping". South China Morning Post. 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  17. ^ "Xi Jinping is no longer any old leader". The Economist. 2018-02-17. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  18. ^ "With tears and song, China welcomes Xi as great, wise leader". Reuters. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  19. ^ Lam, Willy Wo-lap (1 August 2018). "Xi's Grip Loosens Amid Trade War Policy Paralysis". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  20. ^ "In China, universities seek to plant 'Xi Thought' in minds of students". Reuters. 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  21. ^ Goldfarb, Kara (2018-05-18). "China Has Been Forcing Muslims To Drink Alcohol And Eat Pork In "Reeducation Camps"". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  22. ^ bureau, Beijing (2018-10-04). "China has made a game show about its president". Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  23. ^ Li, Audrey Jiajia (2019-04-04). "Opinion | Uber but for Xi Jinping". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
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