China Briefing | For China, a fine line between ‘Great Leader Xi’ and ‘Xi, the great leader’
The Chinese government is showing signs of a pushback to prevent a reckless cult of personality from building around the president as official media rush to eulogise ‘Great Leader Xi’
Should Xi Jinping be called a “Great Leader”?
Judging by the latest political developments in China, the seemingly straightforward question has yet to produce a conclusive answer.
Moreover, it has turned into a source of intense political speculation about how far China will go to build up Xi’s personality cult, and for many elderly Chinese, particularly the intellectuals, merely raising the question has stirred up painful memories of a bygone era.
It all started more than two weeks ago when a local party newspaper in the impoverished southwestern region of Guizhou province printed a series of articles eulogising President Xi and his new era, following instructions just like every other Chinese media outfit.
One banner headline described the president as “Great Leader Xi Jinping…”. Other reports carried photo spreads in which people from different backgrounds were seen studying Xi’s speeches with clear views of official portraits of Xi on the walls.