China Politics Weekly No. 108- September 26, 2016

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Xi’s march

Xi and most of the Politburo visited a new exhibition on the Long March in Beijing, where he said: “Times have changed, the situation has changed, but the ideals and causes that we communists have been fighting for have not changed.” This was Xi’s second time to pay homage to the march in as many months. In late July, he visited the spot in Ningxia where the march ended in October 1936, laying wreaths at a memorial hall there.

Most interpret Xi’s visits to these and other revolutionary sites (he has also visited Yan’an, Zunyi and Jinggangshan among others since becoming General Secretary) as calculated political moves to prove his red bona fides. These analyses tend to overlook the fact that many of China’s elites, including Xi, are genuine patriots who believe in the historic mission of the Communist Party to restore China to greatness. Political debates in China are about how the Party should go about achieving this goal, but not about whether or not the Party is the most appropriate vehicle for doing so.

This is why Xi has spent so much of his time on Party-building and ideological work. When he came into office he believed that the most pressing issue was renewing the Party’s sense of purpose after a couple of decades in which most officials focused primarily on lining their own pockets.

Whether or not Xi can succeed in reinvigorating the Party is an open question. It is a difficult battle in a place as hardened with cynicism as China. And Xi’s tactics and strategy are also open for debate. But, for all of us watching Chinese politics, I think it’s important to remember that it’s not all just about “power”, but also what one can do with that power.