Xi Jinping isn’t just reforming China, he’s creating an alternative to the West
Shiu Sin Por writes that the sheer scope of the Chinese president’s plans suggest he will be around for awhile, and that he means to create a new paradigm that is distinctly Communist China’s
Xi has wasted no time in the last five years to push forward his programme, strategy and tactics for the next phase of China’s development. The two centennial goals Xi introduced, achieving a middle-income society by the year 2021, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party, and the “Great Revival of the Chinese People” in the year 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, set forth a clear political programme for the country for the next 30 years or so.
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Xi’s second goal, rising above the American dream of 40 acres and a mule, makes the Chinese dream a collective goal, calling for the “Great Revival of the Chinese People” by 2049. It is important to note that the goal did not specify the revival of the Chinese state but its “people”. China is already one of the top two economies in world. This goal is obviously not limited to state power, or economic and military strength. Most importantly, it calls for the revival of Chinese culture and civilisation, a significant change since the Communists took over China. Since 1949, they have had a hard time fusing a Western ideology and Marxism with the indigenous culture. The eruption of the Cultural Revolution was a reflection of this struggle.
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Now Xi calls for an integration of the two. Though he has reaffirmed Chinese culture, Xi seeks also to discard the bad parts while retaining the good ones. The “core values campaign”, which mixes traditional values and modern ones, is a telling illustration of this move. To the West, the Chinese offer of an alternative value system – collectivism instead of individualism, harmony instead of confrontational competition, coexistence instead of domination – poses an even bigger challenge than China’s economic and military might. The heated debate over the “China model” reflects this sensitivity.
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Xi, in his first five years, has laid out his programme, strategy and tactics for the deployment of China and its relations with the world. The upcoming party congress will give him the team to implement his master plan. The congress is not only a significant event for China, it might also be a landmark in world politics.
Shiu Sin Por is a former head of the Hong Kong government’s Central Policy Unit and is currently a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference