Xi Jinping wants to rewrite history to consolidate his power – Pierre Haski

At the time of the Soviet Union there was a not quite exact science called “Kremlinology”. The term indicated the analysis of the slightest signals coming from the opaque world of the Kremlin to understand the evolution of the regime and its impact on the world.

Today the same thing happens in Beijing, where the summit of power is equally opaque. Instead of the Kremlin we have Zhongnanhai, the seat of Chinese power located a few steps from the Forbidden City.

Today all the “Pekingologists” have their eyes on the Sixth Plenary Assembly of the Communist Party of China, which for four days will bring together about 400 leading cadres under the direction of number one Xi Jinping. This ritual of the life of the party makes it possible to send important messages at a time marked by the increasingly intense conflict with the United States, by the increase in tensions over Taiwan, by internal political tightening and by an economy that raises several questions.

Everything suggests that Xi will have the party approve a “resolution on history”. It might seem trivial, but in reality it would be only the third time in a hundred years that the party has adopted such a motion.

The first time happened under the direction of Mao Zedong, in 1945, in the midst of the civil war that would bring the Communists to power four years later, while the second was in 1981, under the direction of Deng Xiaoping, father of the reforms of the after Mao. The third would be that of Xi, who in this way places himself on the same level as the two giants in the history of Chinese communism and imposes himself as the center of power without any opposition.

This is more relevant than it seems, which goes far beyond the symbolism and vanity of an executive. By claiming his place in history, Xi proves that he retains absolute authority over the party, a very significant aspect in these stormy times.

One year after the twentieth congress of the party, which should confirm Xi for a third five-year term despite the two-term limit imposed to avoid the drift of personal power, the plenary assembly is destined to show that there are no obstacles in the way of the number one .

George Orwell wrote that “whoever controls the past also controls the future”. The Communist Party of China understands this perfectly well, as evidenced by the fact that it takes the trouble to continually write and rewrite Chinese history to strengthen its legitimacy and mythology by deleting all questionable elements.

Xi is particularly attentive to this aspect, because he knows that placing himself on the same level as Mao and Deng, he claims carte blanche to shape the future. In possession of all the powers, Xi uses them to prepare the army and the economy for the new historical phase, in which he promises that China will become the first world power.
The Beijing assembly is therefore a crucial moment in a much more ambitious and risky game being played on a global scale, where not everyone obeys President Xi so blindly.

(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)