Macroscope | To succeed under Xi Jinping’s brand of socialism, the onus is on performance for the people

Less than 100 years ago, my grandfather was an ardent socialist in the valleys of South Wales. My father was recruited at the age of four. He would be hoisted up to the stage at a large gathering and told to shout “Socialism is the salvation of the working masses.”

The masses, usually male Welsh miners, roared their approval.

The old joke comes to mind that “if you are not a socialist under 20 you have no heart, if you are a socialist over 20 you have no head”. My father became a professor of politics; neutral, or maybe with a little residual Left bias – at least to me.

It is pretty hard to grow up in Hong Kong and not become a raging capitalist, but I still know a socialist when I see one.

China’s President Xi Jinping is a socialist to his fingertips. He understands “the people”. His closing speech at the National People’s Congress (NPC) showed that he clearly believes that the power in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party comes from the people.

The party’s right is to govern, and serve. To gain credibility, the people’s interests - as he sees it - must come first.