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Who Is Xi Jinping?
- President Xi Jinping is the central figure in global assessments of nuclear war risk over Taiwan, yet his personal motivations and instincts remain opaque due to tight state media control, lack of social media presence, and a curated public image contrasting sharply with his elite upbringing.
- Xi was born into the "princelings," a generation of Communist Party royalty; his father was a revolutionary pioneer who secured Xi's admission to an elite boarding school with privileges (e.g., swimming pools, high-quality food) unavailable to the impoverished masses at the time.
- At age nine, Xi and his contemporaries suffered the political purges of Mao Zedong, witnessing their fathers jailed in makeshift "bullpens" and observing brutal social chaos, including cannibalism, which instilled a lifelong aversion to instability.
- The trauma of his childhood led Xi to prioritize absolute discipline and national security above all else, viewing chaos as an ever-present threat that requires constant vigilance to prevent.
- During the Cultural Revolution, Xi was sent to the countryside at age 15 for manual labor; while he publicly frames this as character-building, he admitted to initially fleeing after three months, facing punishment by a hard labor gang laying sewer pipes.
- Despite the hardships of his youth, Xi's experience reinforced his devotion to the Party, concluding that only those at the very top of the hierarchy are safe from political volatility.
- Xi rose through the local official ranks in Fujian province by maintaining a low profile, surviving the massive Lai Changxing smuggling scandal (a multi-billion dollar operation involving cars and oil) unscathed while hundreds of other officials were purged.
- In 2007, Xi secured the top leadership position, marked publicly by his precedence over rival Li Keqiang in the walking order, a level of secrecy reminiscent of Stalinist protocols that persists in 2022.
- Since assuming office, Xi has eliminated opposition through a broad anti-corruption crackdown, centralized power into a single "Xi Jinping faction," and increased surveillance to unprecedented levels, with over half the world's CCTV cameras located in China.
- Online censorship infrastructure has expanded dramatically; while 120 sensors monitored content in 2012, tens of thousands of editors now operate in near real-time, utilizing AI to enforce a police state capable of total population knowledge.
- In 2018, constitutional term limits for the presidency were scrapped, enabling Xi to rule for life under the argument that a single "helmsman" is required to guide China through epochal challenges.
- Under Xi, China's diplomatic tone has shifted toward aggression, evidenced by sharp rhetoric from diplomats and shows of force in Hong Kong, driven by directives from the leadership.
- Xi views the reunification of Taiwan as a historical imperative; successfully invading the island would position him as the final victor of the Chinese Civil War (1949) and surpass Mao Zedong in historical legacy.
- A strategic tension exists between Xi's ambition to complete the civil war legacy and the risk of provoking a nuclear superpower through a war that could undermine China's economic prosperity and stability.
- Future global stability will be significantly shaped by Xi's decisions regarding Taiwan and his long-term consolidation of power.