READING THE XI LEAVES
What runs through the mind of Xi Jinping, the most powerful man in China? That’s the question Francois Bougon, a French journalist who spent five years in Beijing as Agence France-Presse correspondent, attempts to answer in this new book. Unfortunately, the only person who can answer that question with any sense of authority is Xi himself. And through his long political career, Xi has managed to reveal very little—so much so that at the time he took office in November 2012, no one had an inkling of how he would govern. Leading journalists and Sinologists speculated he might be a closet Gorbachev, a liberal who would usher in political reforms. Even the Dalai Lama, recalling his good relations with Xi’s “friendly and openminded” father, who presented him a watch, suggested the apple wouldn’t fall far from the tree and would perhaps usher in a more liberal leadership.
Like many Chinese leaders, Xi, as he rose through the system, left a long paper trail, demonstrating, as China’s Communist leaders like to do, their mastery over Marxist theory and contribution to the theoretical evolution of the CPC (Communist Party of China). Bougon deserves great credit for going about the painstaking task of making sense of the Xi leaves. The most interesting chapter takes us back to Xi’s difficult childhood and his time as a “sent down youth” in the tough, dusty loess-mountains of his native Shaanxi. Xi’s father was humiliated by Mao during the Cultural Revolution, enduring public struggle sessions. Xi had to apply eight times before he succeeded in joining the Communist Youth League, and 10 times before joining the CPC. Xi lamented the opacity of the process, asking, “Where is the verdict against my father? What have I done?” A question, ironically, that thousands of family members of officials purged by Xi are, no doubt, asking today.
Xi, Bougon says, isn’t the typical Maoist. He sees value in the very same traditional ideas that Mao went to war against, evinced in how the state today is once again popularising Confucian thought. Xi appears to be deeply knowledgeable about the history of China’s philosophical thought, and Bougon notes revealingly that he is especially influenced by the Warring States period philosopher Han Fei’s sense of legalism, where the rule of law is intended not to curb power, but to serve it.
One glaring—and puzzling— omission from the book is a rigorous evaluation of Xi’s governance during his first term, from his politics to his economic policy. That would have perhaps revealed far more about what Xi really thinks, rather than articles penned years ago. It is only in the last 10 pages that Bougon dives into Xi’s new governing philosophy, called Xi Jinping Thought. Yet there is little careful analysis of what it entails, or of the lengthy Party Congress report from 2017 that spells out Xi’s ruling philosophy.
As Bougon correctly acknowledges, there is no coherent Xi philosophy, and he “is neither entirely on the right which defends constitutional evolution nor entirely on the left” of hardline Maoism. “Like all politicians, he manoeuvres, tinkers and seeks his balance”, which, of course, is natural. But because of its reliance on Xi’s writings, this lack of coherence afflicts the book as well. Leaving aside the rather grandiose (and alas, impossible to fulfil) objective promised by the book’s title, what Bougon does achieve is a very useful literary review of Xi’s many writings and speeches. This may spare readers the onerous task of seeking out Xi’s published works (which are, under his government, now widely available). Yet how much light these writings shed on what Xi really believes is an altogether different question. As is the case with any politician in any country, carefully choreographed articles, arranged interviews with state media and, dare I say, weekly radio broadcasts, perhaps reveal less about what a politician really thinks and more about the public image they wish to cultivate.
The writer is a visiting fellow at Brookings India and was earlier China correspondent for india today