Mao Tse-tung created communist China and opened it up to the world. Deng Xiaoping put in place the conditions for his citizens to become rich. Xi Jinping now vows to complete the service of his illustrious predecessors, making it the most powerful — and feared — nation on the planet.
In a society that reveres its icons, few would bet that a modern leader could rival the status figures of Mao and Deng, but Xi seems to have definitively placed himself as a member of China’s select group of founding fathers.
“To date, Xi has proven himself to be a faithful follower of his predecessors, focused on realizing a strong and powerful China,” says Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies at King’s College, London, and author of the recently released “Xi: A Study in Power” (Icon Books), still without a Portuguese version.
For him, the three leaders have, or had, a similar nationalist vision. “It is a strong belief in a rich and powerful China, which would never again be humiliated by stronger and more advanced countries, as has often been the case in modern history.”
If, as everything indicates, Xi’s reappointment as general secretary for another five years (which could easily become ten) is confirmed at the Communist Party Congress that begins this Sunday (16), he will consolidate himself as a transformative leader like few others. in ancient Chinese history.
It would be a mistake, however, to see the current commander as a mere updated version of his predecessors.
“Xi is not a new Mao or Deng, for the simple reason that China today is almost entirely different from the countries they ruled. It is immeasurably stronger economically and in terms of geopolitical status,” says Brown.
An example cited by the expert: in 1966, Mao’s China had an embassy in just one country, while Xi’s is today the main trading partner of 120 nations.
Founded in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party alternated moments with mediocre, average and transformative leaders, amid periods marked by political autophagy or the deepest chaos.
In common, the threesome of Mao, Deng and Xi have the fact that they have concentrated power so intensely that it is easy to forget the fact that, at least in theory, the Chinese communist dictatorship is a party, not a personal one.
But there are nuances in the way these leaders steered the Asian giant. China’s military and then political leader for 27 years, Mao was so confused with the state that he made his vision of socialism the official ideology of the regime.
With a status unparalleled in Chinese history, he remains revered by the Communist Party, even if the party later criticized excesses under his responsibility, such as the Cultural Revolution.
Part of this devotion is due to the historical context that Mao navigated, placing China on the stage of the Cold War. Territorial and population giant, the country had an economic and geopolitical weight incomparably less than its position on the world map.
Adept, the leader kept his distance from the two poles of the Cold War, while solidifying his internal political base. Such a stance would lead to the historic visit of American President Richard Nixon to the country in 1972.
Economically, Mao pursued the forced industrialization of the country with centralized strategic plans, which would eventually serve as examples of what not to do during the subsequent period.
Deng, who took control in the vacuum of the death of Communist China’s founder, never held the reverence that Mao aroused, nor did he accumulate as many functions as he did. The main posts he held were chairman of the Central Military Commission and the Central Advisory Commission of the party.
This did not prevent him, however, from becoming, in practice, the most influential leader in the country between the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1990s.
Politically skilled, he instilled in the Communist Party the idea that enrichment was a matter of political survival, in what was then the most populous country in the world.
By establishing the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, a kind of laboratory for the entire country, he bet that it would be possible to combine the Chinese closed political system with the characteristics of the capitalist market model.
The idea nearly led to the regime’s fall in 1989, after students understood that economic opening should lead to political opening. But in the decades that followed, Deng’s gamble paid off in such a way that it is not uncommon today to consider him the most important leader in modern China, ahead of even Mao.
In a rare feat in a party that at the time was experiencing fierce internal struggles, Deng also signed his nominee, Jiang Zemin, as secretary-general and China’s dominant figure in the last years of the 20th century.
Xi, for his part, came to power in 2012, giving the impression that he would follow the tradition of his immediate predecessor, Hu Jintao, a leader formed in the party bureaucracy who did not have great ambitions of strategic and ideological repositioning of the country in the decade that ruled him.
The son of a leader who marched alongside Mao, Xi did not take long to show a profile greater than that of a simple manager of the party machine. He began by consolidating his power in an anti-corruption crusade, a popular theme in the country, which had the bonus of sidelining potential domestic rivals.
Gradually, Xi reinforced the cult of personality, inscribing its texts into official party doctrine, something only Mao had done. Under his management, China became a more repressive and intolerant state with dissidence, both political and minority, in the case of the Uighurs. As with Mao and Deng, the context of the period helped to drive the leader’s centralizing turn.
After becoming an economic superpower, over the last decade China has prioritized doing the same in the military area, with heavy investments in defense. It also seeks to spread its power across the planet, through investments in infrastructure in poor and emerging countries.
Among Xi’s new challenges are the prospect of a model based on lower growth, with all the implications this can bring, and the need to reduce inequality between the countryside and large urban centers.
This broth, says Professor Brown, will feed internal forces that want an even more nationalistic China.
“China is apparently entering an era in which significant challenges are emerging, from a weakening housing market to increased pressure on consumers. A prolonged recession in China is something the world has not seen in many decades,” he says.
While the scenario consolidates Xi as the undisputed leader of the country, it presents risks for him in the long term, says the expert. “Chinese leaders have never hidden the vast array of economic, social and environmental challenges they face. The question is whether they can handle them,” he says.
100 years of Chinese communist leaders
Chen Duxiu (1921-27) Considered the “founding father” of the party, he had an intellectual profile and advocated a revolution along Soviet lines. He was expelled after a disagreement with Mao and for being considered a Trotskyist.
Xiang Zhongfa (1928-31) He was arrested by Kuomintang nationalists and, even revealing Communist Party secrets, was executed.
Bo Gu (1931-35) He commanded the party at the beginning of the Long March, during the civil war against the nationalists
Zhang Wentian (1935-43) He led the communists in the resistance to the Japanese invasion during World War II.
Mao Tse-tung (1943-76) Greatest leader of the party, responsible for bringing the communists to power. Also under his supervision the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were implemented. An estimated 40 million people died as a result of the economic collapse and purges.
Zhou En-lai (1949-76) Prime Minister and Mao’s right-hand man, he was primarily responsible for the rapprochement with the US, which resulted in the historic visit of President Richard Nixon in 1972.
Hua Guofeng (1976-81) He took over the leadership of the party after Mao’s death and promoted criticism of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. His management was overshadowed by the performance of Deng Xiaoping, who introduced the first market reforms
Deng Xiaoping (1978-89) He held several positions, although never that of maximum leader of the party. Even so, he controlled the legend in practice and was responsible for the market reforms that revolutionized China.
Hu Yaobang (1981-87) From the reformist wing and linked to Deng, which, however, did not protect him from wear and tear with the more conservative wings of the party, leading to his downfall. His death in 1989 sparked protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Zhao Ziyang (1987-89) Leader of the shortest-lived party, he was replaced after the 1989 student massacre.
Jiang Zemin (1989-2002) He took over with the mission of repressing the demonstrations and reaffirming the party’s authority. During his period, China joined the World Trade Organization
Hu Jintao (2002-12) Under his command, China recorded annual economic growth rates of over 10% and completed major works, such as the Three Gorges Dam. The country also hosted the 2008 Olympics
Xi Jinping (since 2012) He centralized power like no leader since Mao and made fighting corruption a priority; increased trade and political clashes with the US, in addition to dealing with the coronavirus crisis
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
