WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.279 Welcome to the Deep Dive, the show dedicated 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.740 to making you instantly fluent in the most critical 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.719 topics shaping our world. Today, we are focusing 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:11.699 on one man who has, well, to put it mildly, fundamentally 00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:14.119 reshaped the trajectory of nearly a fifth of 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:17.679 the world's population, Xi Jinping. Indeed. And 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:19.640 you have to remember, when Xi Jinping took the 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.679 reins as general secretary back in 2012, China 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.480 was operating under a very different system. 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:28.239 A carefully balanced system. Right. The collective 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:30.730 leadership model. Exactly. That was Ding Xiaoping's 00:00:30.730 --> 00:00:32.409 legacy. And it was designed very specifically 00:00:32.409 --> 00:00:35.289 to prevent the, you know, the catastrophic cult 00:00:35.289 --> 00:00:38.130 of personality we saw under Mao Zedong a decade 00:00:38.130 --> 00:00:40.189 later. Oh, yeah. But that system has been completely 00:00:40.189 --> 00:00:42.369 swept aside. Absolutely. The speed of it, the 00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:45.189 scale. Yeah. It's just breathtaking. She has 00:00:45.189 --> 00:00:47.509 centralized authority to a degree we haven't 00:00:47.509 --> 00:00:50.049 witnessed since the mid 20th century. Culminating, 00:00:50.049 --> 00:00:51.810 of course, in him securing that unprecedented 00:00:51.810 --> 00:00:55.490 third term in 2022. And that is the core of our 00:00:55.490 --> 00:00:58.409 mission today. We are diving deep into a comprehensive 00:00:58.409 --> 00:01:00.829 stack of sources covering his entire career, 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:04.650 his guiding ideology, what we now know as Xi 00:01:04.650 --> 00:01:07.390 Jinping thought, and of course, his key policies 00:01:07.390 --> 00:01:10.930 and the profound systemic changes he's enacted. 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:14.629 Our deep dive today is really a forensic examination 00:01:14.629 --> 00:01:18.269 of that journey. How did a man who was once an 00:01:18.269 --> 00:01:21.170 exiled pariah, someone who was personally persecuted 00:01:21.170 --> 00:01:24.390 during the Cultural Revolution, how did he manage 00:01:24.390 --> 00:01:27.030 to ascend to become the ultimate paramount leader 00:01:27.030 --> 00:01:29.659 of China's fifth generation of leadership? And 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:31.739 crucially, what does his signature political 00:01:31.739 --> 00:01:34.980 project, the Chinese Dream, truly signify? Not 00:01:34.980 --> 00:01:36.819 just for China's domestic political landscape, 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.939 but for the entire global order. I think to understand 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:41.739 any of that, we have to start at the beginning. 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:43.980 We have to understand the crucible that forged 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:46.400 this specific type of leader. OK, let's unpack 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:48.099 this journey. And that means starting with his 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:51.019 roots. Xi Jinping was born in 1953, which puts 00:01:51.019 --> 00:01:52.959 him squarely within the princeling cohort. The 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.700 children of the revolutionary elite. Exactly. 00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:57.920 His father, Xi Zongsun, was a highly decorated 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:08.740 communist party. But that guarantee just evaporated. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:10.639 And it happened very early on, which I think 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:12.819 is key. It demonstrates the inherent volatility 00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:15.819 of CCP politics. So he's just 10 years old. Barely 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:19.400 10. It's 1963. And his father is abruptly purged 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.520 from the party. He's removed from all his posts, 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.879 sent to work in a factory in Henan. And this 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.289 wasn't just a political demotion. This was the 00:02:27.289 --> 00:02:30.409 start of a decade of intense personal trauma 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:33.009 for the entire family. That is the pivotal moment, 00:02:33.090 --> 00:02:35.330 isn't it? Our sources describe this absolute 00:02:35.330 --> 00:02:38.289 chaos that just engulfs the She family as the 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:40.550 Cultural Revolution gathers pace. I mean, you 00:02:40.550 --> 00:02:42.669 have student militants ransacking their home. 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:45.469 The political persecution was so intense that 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:47.770 it led to an unimaginable tragedy. The suicide 00:02:47.770 --> 00:02:50.449 of his half -sister. At her military academy, 00:02:50.689 --> 00:02:53.090 yes. And she himself was only 15 when his father 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:56.919 was later imprisoned in 1968. That period. It 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:58.620 wasn't just political education. For him, it 00:02:58.620 --> 00:03:00.659 was survival training. You can see how that would 00:03:00.659 --> 00:03:02.719 hammer home a lesson that defines his entire 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.699 career. Absolutely. That political control is 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:08.319 fragile. That political loyalty is everything. 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:10.800 And that the party, if it's not disciplined, 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:14.400 can just devour its own children. So in 1969, 00:03:14.659 --> 00:03:18.520 at age 15, she himself gets swept up in the down 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:20.939 -to -the -countryside movement. And he's exiled. 00:03:21.449 --> 00:03:24.509 sent to the remote, impoverished Lingjihe village 00:03:24.509 --> 00:03:27.650 in Shaanxi province. And he wasn't just visiting. 00:03:27.710 --> 00:03:30.009 He lived there for seven full years. We often 00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:31.930 hear this anecdote that he lived in a yaodong, 00:03:32.090 --> 00:03:34.150 a traditional cave house. Right, but you have 00:03:34.150 --> 00:03:36.469 to understand, this isn't some abstract hardship. 00:03:36.569 --> 00:03:39.349 This is grinding physical poverty. It was brutal. 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:42.270 So brutal, in fact, that the sources reveal he 00:03:42.270 --> 00:03:44.939 actually tried to desert at one point. He fled 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:47.460 back to Beijing. But he was caught. He was arrested 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:50.000 during a crackdown on deserters and sent to a 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.280 work camp to dig ditches before being forced 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:55.560 to go back to the village. The fact that he was 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:58.439 willing to risk arrest just to escape, I mean, 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:00.580 that speaks volumes about the sheer desperation 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:03.219 and the physical toll of those seven years. Which 00:04:03.219 --> 00:04:05.639 makes his next move all the more remarkable. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.819 He tries to join the very party that had persecuted 00:04:08.819 --> 00:04:11.900 his family and exiled him. It's incredible. And 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:13.719 because of his father's continuing political 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:18.240 stain, he submitted, what was it, 10 unsuccessful 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:21.730 applications to the CCP. Ten. That's not a casual 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:24.470 rejection. No, it's reputed institutional denial. 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:27.870 It wasn't until 1974 that his application was 00:04:27.870 --> 00:04:30.250 finally approved, and only because the local 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:32.850 village secretaries, who'd seen his capabilities 00:04:32.850 --> 00:04:35.490 and determination firsthand, vouched for him. 00:04:35.589 --> 00:04:38.089 They took a huge political risk to do that. It 00:04:38.089 --> 00:04:40.230 just shows an unparalleled level of political 00:04:40.230 --> 00:04:42.689 persistence. It really does. So he finally gets 00:04:42.689 --> 00:04:46.329 in, and soon after, education follows. From 1975 00:04:46.329 --> 00:04:49.529 to 1979, he studies chemical engineering at Tsinghua 00:04:49.529 --> 00:04:52.050 University. But under that worker -peasant -soldier 00:04:52.050 --> 00:04:54.310 -student system. Right. So he earned his spot 00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:56.990 through political diligence and manual labor, 00:04:57.110 --> 00:04:59.509 not just academic merit. His career then shifts 00:04:59.509 --> 00:05:01.350 from the rural periphery back toward the political 00:05:01.350 --> 00:05:03.810 center for a little while anyway. Yes, very briefly. 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:07.310 He served Zhen Biao, a Politburo member and minister 00:05:07.310 --> 00:05:10.509 of defense in Beijing. But he soon made a really 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:13.069 strategic move to local government. And this 00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:15.610 shift, starting his ascent through the local 00:05:15.610 --> 00:05:17.769 ranks and moving along China's fast -developed 00:05:17.769 --> 00:05:21.269 coast, was absolutely critical. It gave him deep 00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:24.269 administrative and economic experience, far from 00:05:24.269 --> 00:05:26.350 the factional infighting that was still plaguing 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:28.310 the capital. Let's look at those early posts. 00:05:29.670 --> 00:05:32.629 Specifically, Zhengding County from 82 to 85. 00:05:33.089 --> 00:05:35.649 There's a great anecdote here that really foreshadows 00:05:35.649 --> 00:05:38.050 his future approach to governance. It's very 00:05:38.050 --> 00:05:40.970 hands on. Right. The story of the excessive requisitions. 00:05:40.990 --> 00:05:43.189 The central government was taking too much grain 00:05:43.189 --> 00:05:45.509 and it was crushing the local farmers. And she 00:05:45.509 --> 00:05:47.370 and another official, they didn't just complain 00:05:47.370 --> 00:05:49.910 locally. No, they wrote a letter directly to 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:51.389 the central government and that intervention 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:54.329 worked. It convinced Beijing to reduce the annual 00:05:54.329 --> 00:05:57.910 requisition amount by a massive 14 million kilograms 00:05:57.910 --> 00:06:00.910 of grain. That's huge. The impact must have been 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:04.310 immediate. It was. Farmers' average intums in 00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:07.670 that county shot up from 148 yuan to over 400 00:06:07.670 --> 00:06:11.589 yuan in just one year. It shows you he prioritized 00:06:11.589 --> 00:06:15.709 tangible results for the masses over just towing 00:06:15.709 --> 00:06:17.639 the presidential line. And he wasn't just focused 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:20.579 on agriculture. He showed an early focus on tourism, 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:23.439 on using local resources. That's right. He was 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:25.139 instrumental in building the Ronguo Mansion, 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:28.339 which secured the filming base for the highly 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:30.899 influential television series Dream of the Red 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:33.000 Mansions. Which was a massive show at the time. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.639 A cultural phenomenon. And that single project 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:38.699 generated over 17 million yuan in revenue that 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:41.040 year. So he learned early that cultural projects, 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:43.180 if you manage them properly, could be powerful 00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:45.930 economic engines. Okay, so moving along the coast, 00:06:46.050 --> 00:06:48.949 his next major stop is Fujian. He spends nearly 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:52.389 two decades there, from 1985 to 2002, eventually 00:06:52.389 --> 00:06:54.370 becoming governor. And this was his deep dive 00:06:54.370 --> 00:06:57.290 into modernization and market opening. Fujian 00:06:57.290 --> 00:06:59.569 was geographically crucial, right across the 00:06:59.569 --> 00:07:02.069 Taiwan Strait. So his key objective was attracting 00:07:02.069 --> 00:07:04.490 investment. Taiwanese and foreign investment, 00:07:04.629 --> 00:07:07.129 yes. Establishing major manufacturing firms. 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.660 But he also spearheaded these ambitious local 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:13.839 initiatives like the Digital Fujian Program to 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.680 modernize the region's IT infrastructure and 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:20.240 the Fuzhou 3820 Project Master Plan. A long -term 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.860 strategy. A very forward -looking strategy that 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:25.240 mapped out Fuzio's development goals over three, 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:28.220 eight, and 20 -year horizons. So he was consistently 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:30.939 focused on long -term strategic development and 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.139 often stepping in to stabilize areas that were 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:35.339 rocked by corruption scandals. Which brings us 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:39.290 to Zhejiang from 2002 to 2007. This is the tenure 00:07:39.290 --> 00:07:41.189 that really put him on the map nationally, where 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:43.589 he rose to provincial party secretary. And he 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:45.750 didn't just oversee immense economic growth. 00:07:45.850 --> 00:07:47.589 I think he was averaging 14 percent per year. 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:49.709 He was also developing his management philosophy. 00:07:49.889 --> 00:07:51.910 The double eight strategy. Exactly. And this 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.050 wasn't just jargon. It was a comprehensive playbook. 00:07:54.209 --> 00:07:57.209 It identified eight comparative advantages Zijian 00:07:57.209 --> 00:07:59.670 had, like its location or its human resources, 00:07:59.930 --> 00:08:02.149 and paired them with eight corresponding actions 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:04.769 the government had to take. Like further marketizing, 00:08:04.810 --> 00:08:07.540 improving infrastructure. Protecting the environment, 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.620 all of it. It was this holistic, structured and 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:12.939 strategic approach that was exactly what the 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:14.720 central leadership in Beijing wanted to see. 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:17.019 And his simultaneous commitment to cleaning house 00:08:17.019 --> 00:08:19.600 really cemented his reputation. He took a famously 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:22.019 tough and straightforward stance against corrupt 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:24.959 officials. Yes. So this reputation for capability, 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:27.899 discipline and uncompromising anti -corruption 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:31.319 while delivering massive growth, it set the stage. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.899 In 2007, he was rapidly transferred to Shanghai. 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:37.620 filling the vacuum left by the colossal corruption 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:40.320 dismissal of Chen Lianju. It was a very short 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:42.919 tenure, though. Only seven months. It was primarily 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.220 designed to prove he was a safe, dependable pair 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:47.679 of hands ready for the highest level. And sources 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:50.059 point to the small but memorable detail from 00:08:50.059 --> 00:08:52.159 that Shanghai stint that just speaks volumes 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.500 about his rigid adherence to protocol. He famously 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:58.460 refused to use a special train reserved for national 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:00.980 leaders that the Shanghai administrators had 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:03.100 arranged for him. He said it party regulation. 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:05.820 So he finished that. coastal trajectory, having 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:08.240 established a reputation as controversy -free, 00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:11.559 disciplined, and very capable of managing complex 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.519 market -driven economies. So having proved himself 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:17.159 in the provinces, the next logical step was Beijing 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:20.720 and the center of power. At the 17th Party Congress 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.720 in October 2007, he joins the Politburo Standing 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:25.980 Committee, the ultimate decision -making body. 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:28.360 And the signal that came with his appointment 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.389 was fascinating. The signal was unmistakable. 00:09:31.490 --> 00:09:33.450 He was ranked above Li Keqiang, who was also 00:09:33.450 --> 00:09:36.250 entering the PSC, and that positioning explicitly 00:09:36.250 --> 00:09:38.950 designated Xi as Hu Jintao's presumed successor. 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:42.009 Deng Xiaoping's model of orderly succession was 00:09:42.009 --> 00:09:44.210 being followed, ensuring stability at the top. 00:09:44.370 --> 00:09:47.690 So between 2008 and 2013, he quickly accumulates 00:09:47.690 --> 00:09:49.970 this crucial experience, holding significant 00:09:49.970 --> 00:09:53.019 national portfolios. Vice President, Vice Chairman 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:55.360 of the Central Military Commission, the CMC, 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.120 which gave him a crucial foothold in the military. 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:00.580 And he was leading these massive organizational 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:03.179 efforts, including the preparations for the 2008 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:05.720 Beijing Olympics. He was also tasked with chairing 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.139 that high -level committee known as the 6521 00:10:08.139 --> 00:10:11.379 Project. Yes, which was established to ensure 00:10:11.379 --> 00:10:14.019 stability during some very politically sensitive 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:17.759 anniversaries in 2009. These roles, they exposed 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:21.159 him to every aspect of national security. foreign 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:23.919 policy, and internal governance required of a 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.440 future leader. Now, despite this clear signaling, 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:29.519 his path wasn't entirely uncontested. We have 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.580 to talk about Bo Xilai, the dynamic party secretary 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:35.379 of Chongqing who was seen by many as a powerful 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:38.639 rival, a potential alternative. Bo Xilai was 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.169 a legitimate threat. He had both the princeling 00:10:41.169 --> 00:10:43.269 pedigree and this charismatic political appeal. 00:10:43.529 --> 00:10:46.370 He was running a very populist model in Chongqing 00:10:46.370 --> 00:10:48.370 that resonated with some of the party's left 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:51.190 leaning fashions. And she even initially praised 00:10:51.190 --> 00:10:54.090 his policy. He did during a 2010 visit, which 00:10:54.090 --> 00:10:55.929 really shows you the political sensitivity of 00:10:55.929 --> 00:10:58.309 the time. But the internal dynamics shifted and 00:10:58.309 --> 00:11:01.409 shifted dramatically. They certainly did. Bo's 00:11:01.409 --> 00:11:04.019 downfall. Triggered by the Wang Lijun incident, 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.419 where his police chief tried to defect to the 00:11:06.419 --> 00:11:09.159 U .S. consulate, revealing a murder cover -up 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:12.519 involving Bo's wife, it was high drama. Absolutely. 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:15.360 And that event, coupled with the corruption charges 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:17.700 that followed, essentially cleared the field 00:11:17.700 --> 00:11:21.759 for Xi. His accession became virtually undisputed, 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:23.840 and it demonstrated to everyone that even the 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:25.759 most powerful local figures could be brought 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.549 down by the center. As vice president, Xi traveled 00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:30.789 a lot, establishing his international profile. 00:11:31.129 --> 00:11:33.870 He visited North Korea, the Middle East, Latin 00:11:33.870 --> 00:11:36.789 America, Europe. His 2012 visit to the U .S. 00:11:36.809 --> 00:11:39.289 was particularly notable. Right, with that sentimental 00:11:39.289 --> 00:11:41.909 stop in Iowa to meet the family who hosted him 00:11:41.909 --> 00:11:45.389 way back in 1985. Those moments offered a brief 00:11:45.389 --> 00:11:47.830 glimpse of a softer side, but a more telling 00:11:47.830 --> 00:11:50.309 indicator of his future style came earlier in 00:11:50.309 --> 00:11:53.470 2009 during a visit to Mexico. He made a very 00:11:53.470 --> 00:11:55.759 pointed statement about China's critics. The 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.840 bored foreigners comment. Yes, saying there are 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.179 some bored foreigners with full stomachs who 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:02.899 have nothing better to do than point fingers 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:05.720 at us. That's a strong phrase. It is. And he 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:07.860 added that China doesn't export revolution or 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:10.799 hunger or poverty or headaches. That comment, 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:12.759 delivered while he was still vice president, 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.480 was an early uncensored indicator of the assertive 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:19.480 nationalism and the don't meddle in our affairs 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:21.559 attitude that would come to define his time in 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:25.019 power. And that strong, unapologetic voice became 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:27.019 the foundation of his first major initiative 00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:29.379 after officially being elected general secretary 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:32.559 in November 2012, the anti -corruption campaign. 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:34.659 He immediately stressed that fighting corruption 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:37.759 was absolutely critical for the CCP's very survival. 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:40.159 This wasn't just rhetoric for him, was it? No, 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:43.500 it was existential. His own history, seeing his 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:46.320 family destroyed by political instability, made 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:48.840 him viscerally afraid of the decay of the party. 00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:51.289 He argued corruption was the toughest challenge 00:12:51.289 --> 00:12:53.610 the party faced. And within weeks, in December 00:12:53.610 --> 00:12:56.070 2012, he outlined the eight -point regulation. 00:12:56.409 --> 00:12:59.149 Which were strict, practical rules. Very practical. 00:12:59.330 --> 00:13:02.090 Curbing things like lavish banquets, excessive 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:04.730 motorcades, waste in official party business. 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:07.330 And the campaign became famously known for rooting 00:13:07.330 --> 00:13:10.830 out tigers and flies. It's such an effective, 00:13:11.009 --> 00:13:13.350 memorable metaphor. It's brilliant political 00:13:13.350 --> 00:13:16.860 branding. Tigers were the high -ranking incumbent 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:20.100 and retired officials, the untouchables. Figures 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:23.500 like Zhu Yongkang, Zhu Kaihu. Exactly. Former 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:26.059 Pollitt Borough Standing Committee members, former 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:30.159 CMC vice chairman. And the flies were the ordinary 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:33.120 party functionaries. It ensured no level of government 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.019 was safe. The scale is just staggering, far beyond 00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:38.259 any previous anti -corruption drive. I mean, 00:13:38.259 --> 00:13:40.860 consider the numbers. Over 200 ,000 officials 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:43.980 received warnings, fines or demotions within 00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:47.480 the first two years alone. By 2023, approximately 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:50.399 2 .3 million government officials had been formally 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.019 prosecuted or disciplined. This wasn't merely 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:55.879 a cleanup. This was a political purge wrapped 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.419 in a campaign of moral renewal. That does raise 00:13:58.419 --> 00:14:01.080 an important question. We know the campaign neutralized 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.399 rivals like Zhu Yang came, but was it actually 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:05.860 good for governance? Did it improve things, or 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:07.899 did the paralysis and fear of action end up being 00:14:07.899 --> 00:14:10.120 a worse outcome in the long run? That is the 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.700 essential analytical tension, isn't it? The sources 00:14:12.700 --> 00:14:14.840 suggest that while public opinion, at least initially, 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:16.960 was strongly supportive, they loved the crackdown 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:19.340 on conspicuous consumption, the long -term effect 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:23.100 was twofold. Okay. On one hand, yes, genuine 00:14:23.100 --> 00:14:25.940 graft was reduced in some areas. But on the other, 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.600 the pervasive fear of being targeted led to widespread 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.860 bureaucratic paralysis. So officials were afraid 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:36.059 to make any decisions. Exactly. Cadres became 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:38.340 reluctant to make bold moves, preferring to do 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:41.019 nothing rather than risk crossing some unwritten 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:44.909 line and being investigated by the CCDI. It prioritized 00:14:44.909 --> 00:14:47.490 political loyalty and inaction over innovation 00:14:47.490 --> 00:14:50.509 and bold governance. And this campaign became 00:14:50.509 --> 00:14:52.970 the tool for institutionalizing his control. 00:14:53.230 --> 00:14:56.750 Precisely. She used the campaign to reform and 00:14:56.750 --> 00:14:59.110 dramatically empower the Central Commission for 00:14:59.110 --> 00:15:02.509 Discipline Inspection, CCDI, making it this powerful, 00:15:02.649 --> 00:15:04.870 independent control body that reported directly 00:15:04.870 --> 00:15:07.850 to him. And then in 2018, that net was expanded. 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:10.090 Right. With the creation of the National Supervision 00:15:10.090 --> 00:15:12.990 Commission. This effectively granted the CCDI 00:15:12.990 --> 00:15:15.470 oversight not just over party members, but over 00:15:15.470 --> 00:15:18.169 all state officials and public servants. It formalized 00:15:18.169 --> 00:15:20.009 political control over the entire bureaucracy. 00:15:20.350 --> 00:15:22.730 And this reach extended deep into the military, 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:25.110 which is absolutely critical for consolidating 00:15:25.110 --> 00:15:27.470 ultimate power. Without absolute control of the 00:15:27.470 --> 00:15:30.610 gun, the leader is vulnerable. Specific anti 00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:32.830 -corruption efforts targeted high -ranking military 00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:35.289 officials, including former Defense Ministers 00:15:35.289 --> 00:15:38.590 Li Shengfu and Wei Fenghe. Sources suggest that 00:15:38.590 --> 00:15:41.929 by 2025, at least 14 generals appointed under 00:15:41.929 --> 00:15:44.649 Xi's direct leadership have been officially ousted. 00:15:45.450 --> 00:15:47.570 This anti -corruption campaign was the essential 00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:50.470 mechanism for ensuring absolute, unquestioning 00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:53.830 loyalty across the entire political, bureaucratic, 00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:56.830 and military apparatus. So the anti -corruption 00:15:56.830 --> 00:15:58.950 drive wasn't really the goal in itself. It was 00:15:58.950 --> 00:16:01.750 the means to the goal. The ultimate centralization 00:16:01.750 --> 00:16:04.870 of power. Exactly. Political observers are unanimous 00:16:04.870 --> 00:16:07.210 on this. Xi Jinping is the most powerful Chinese 00:16:07.210 --> 00:16:10.070 leader since Mao Zedong. And this is where the 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:12.629 structural changes to the party itself really 00:16:12.629 --> 00:16:14.970 take center stage. It's a definitive... break 00:16:14.970 --> 00:16:17.549 from the Deng Xiaoping era. Deng's model insisted 00:16:17.549 --> 00:16:20.250 on collective leadership to prevent another Maoist 00:16:20.250 --> 00:16:23.289 disaster. Xi has systematically dismantled that. 00:16:23.409 --> 00:16:26.190 He centralized institutional power and at the 00:16:26.190 --> 00:16:28.610 same time he targeted rival factions. Which included 00:16:28.610 --> 00:16:30.929 systematically eroding the power of the Tuan 00:16:30.929 --> 00:16:33.870 Pai, the Communist Youth League faction. Exactly. 00:16:34.409 --> 00:16:37.330 The Tuan Pai historically acted as a feeder system 00:16:37.330 --> 00:16:40.769 for future leaders. But Xi famously criticized 00:16:40.769 --> 00:16:43.690 their cadres. He said they were too bureaucratic, 00:16:43.769 --> 00:16:46.529 too predictable, too stereotypical in their talk. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.179 He was suggesting they lacked the real world 00:16:49.179 --> 00:16:51.419 grit he developed during his youth. Pretty much. 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.259 He essentially shut down that alternative path 00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:56.779 to leadership, ensuring that the only way up 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:59.259 was through loyalty to the center. And the ultimate 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:01.860 expression of this centralization, the structural 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:04.059 change that sent shockwaves around the world, 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:07.799 came in 2018. The constitutional shift. The National 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.859 People's Congress passed constitutional amendments 00:17:10.859 --> 00:17:13.799 that formally removed term limits for the president 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:15.740 and vice president. This wasn't just symbolic. 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.960 Not at all. It was the institutional removal 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.339 of the guardrails that Ding had put in place. 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:23.740 It legally paved the way for Xi to secure his 00:17:23.740 --> 00:17:27.299 third term in March 2023. And conceptually, it 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:29.519 removed any formal restriction on him remaining 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.880 in power indefinitely. And alongside this legal 00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:34.299 change came the accumulation of all these titles, 00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:36.660 this reverent language designed to elevate him 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:39.640 above his peers. This is classical cult of personality 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:42.819 engineering. You're building a political scaffolding 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:46.359 around the man. In 2016, he officially received 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:49.859 the title of leadership core from the CCP. A 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:52.160 term used by Deng Xiaoping, but it's relatively 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:54.779 bureaucratic. It is. What's fascinating is the 00:17:54.779 --> 00:17:57.099 political upgrade that followed. The introduction 00:17:57.099 --> 00:18:00.000 of the term links you. Yes, links you. It's a 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.059 reverent term for a leader that carries immense 00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:04.880 historical weight. It was previously reserved 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:07.720 only for Mao Zedong and briefly for his immediate 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:11.160 successor, Hua Guofeng. By introducing this term 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.339 and later naming him the people's leader in 2019, 00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:16.240 he was deliberately signaling a status beyond 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:19.339 just first among equals. He's now viewed as the 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:21.700 pilot at the helm, placing him outside the normal 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:24.480 bureaucratic competition. And this entire ideological 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.319 project culminated in 2021 with the adoption 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:29.839 of the third major historical resolution in party 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:33.680 history. Only Mao in 1945 and Deng in 1981 had 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.119 adopted previous ones. So this was a huge deal. 00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:39.039 What did it do? The historical resolution. adopted 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:42.039 at the Sixth Plenum, fundamentally secured Xi's 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:44.779 place in the pantheon of Chinese history. It 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:47.180 elevated his status to be similar to Mao and 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:50.039 Deng, and it justified the end of the collective 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:53.059 leadership era. It promoted the crucial slogans 00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:55.359 of the two establishes and the two upholds. The 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:57.519 two establishes being establishing Xi's core 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.019 status and his thought as the guiding principle. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.680 Right. And the two upholds being upholding Xi's 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:04.779 core status and the party central's authority. 00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:08.039 These terms mandated that the entire party must 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:10.599 now unite around and protect his central position. 00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:13.859 It made dissent ideologically, not just politically, 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:16.259 unacceptable. OK, let's talk about the philosophical 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:19.240 engine behind all this. Xi Jinping thought it's 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.500 everywhere now, incorporated into both the party 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:24.599 and state constitutions. What is the deep meaning 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:27.839 of this dense doctrine beyond the very long official 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.019 title? The official title is Xi Jinping Thought 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:32.279 on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:35.150 a New Era. strategically is positioned as the 00:19:35.150 --> 00:19:38.430 21st century evolution of Marxism. Party academics 00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:41.150 actually describe it as 21st century Marxism. 00:19:41.150 --> 00:19:43.589 So it's the ideological capstone that connects 00:19:43.589 --> 00:19:46.750 the original dogma of Marx and Lenin to the current 00:19:46.750 --> 00:19:50.650 realities of modern China. Exactly. And it surpasses 00:19:50.650 --> 00:19:54.299 Deng's focus on just economic pragmatism. And 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:56.059 the political purpose isn't just theoretical. 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:58.380 It's about internal discipline. Oh, absolutely. 00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:01.980 Xi uses these chemical analogies to explain its 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:04.880 operational function. He has famously stated 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.500 that communism is the calcium in a party member's 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:10.200 spine. Right. And he argues that without this 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.799 ideological strength, members would suffer the 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.579 osteoporosis of political decay, the very kind 00:20:15.579 --> 00:20:17.799 of decay he saw internally that led to the chaos 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:20.180 of his youth and the ultimate collapse of the 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:22.099 Soviet Union. Which brings us to the practical 00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:24.009 implementation. This is... force compliance, 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:27.289 often through technology. Yes. The Wuxi Qianguo 00:20:27.289 --> 00:20:29.569 app, which translates to study to make China 00:20:29.569 --> 00:20:32.329 strong, is promoted and in many cases mandatory 00:20:32.329 --> 00:20:34.730 for cadres to immerse themselves in the doctrine 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:37.130 daily. And it tracks them. It uses gamification, 00:20:37.509 --> 00:20:40.710 quizzes and tracking to ensure ideological conformity 00:20:40.710 --> 00:20:43.710 permeates the entire bureaucracy. Loyalty is 00:20:43.710 --> 00:20:46.150 now a measurable KPI for your career progression. 00:20:46.450 --> 00:20:49.309 His signature political slogan, the Chinese dream, 00:20:49.529 --> 00:20:52.490 is perhaps the most marketable piece of his ideology. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.900 If we are deep diving here, what's the complex 00:20:55.900 --> 00:20:58.579 definition of that slogan? The Chinese dream 00:20:58.579 --> 00:21:02.599 is deliberately broad and highly potent. It's 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:04.839 fundamentally linked to the great rejuvenation 00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:07.700 of the Chinese nation. It's not about the individual 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:10.140 pursuit of happiness like in the American context. 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:13.400 It's a collective national aspiration. So what's 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:15.960 it about? The sources define it as being about 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:19.140 Chinese prosperity, collective effort, socialism, 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.740 and most importantly... achieving national glory, 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.380 a China that is once again recognized as the 00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:28.099 dominant great power on the global stage. It 00:21:28.099 --> 00:21:30.220 is about returning China to its rightful historical 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:32.799 status. And in terms of governance, what defines 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.900 his personal style? It sounds like a blend of 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.160 extreme secrecy and relentless control. That 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:39.680 tension is key. He maintains a preference for 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.519 secrecy. He rarely gives press conferences. And 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:44.420 his major speeches are often released months 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:46.640 or even years after he delivers them. Which allows 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.519 the party to control the narrative completely. 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:52.289 But you contrast that. with his approach to management, 00:21:52.430 --> 00:21:55.890 which is micromanagement. Sources report he personally 00:21:55.890 --> 00:21:59.130 reviews every single draft of major policy documents 00:21:59.130 --> 00:22:01.910 and often returns all submitted reports with 00:22:01.910 --> 00:22:04.349 his instructions the very next morning. This 00:22:04.349 --> 00:22:07.269 is intense personal control over the entire policy 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:10.210 apparatus. It prevents any local improvisation 00:22:10.210 --> 00:22:13.319 or delay. And that personal intense control extends 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:16.339 to an unprecedented level of censorship and surveillance 00:22:16.339 --> 00:22:18.640 across civil life. Correct. Since he came to 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.079 power, censorship has become stricter across 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:24.680 the board. Xi's message to the media is uncompromising. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:27.519 Media must hold the family name of the party. 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:30.180 Meaning it must embody the party's will and safeguard 00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:32.619 its authority, not operate as some independent 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:35.259 entity seeking truth. Exactly. Digitally, this 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:37.200 is formalized in the concept of Internet sovereignty. 00:22:37.539 --> 00:22:39.519 Which is the state's absolute right to control 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:41.849 Internet usage. within its borders. Which has 00:22:41.849 --> 00:22:44.309 led to the continued blocking of major foreign 00:22:44.309 --> 00:22:47.470 platforms like Google, Facebook, Wikipedia. His 00:22:47.470 --> 00:22:50.130 administration has enforced a strict Internet 00:22:50.130 --> 00:22:53.430 real name system and deployed these massive cleanup 00:22:53.430 --> 00:22:55.549 campaigns like cleaning the Web and Operation 00:22:55.549 --> 00:22:58.910 King Lang, constantly purging anything deemed 00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:01.450 politically questionable or disruptive to social 00:23:01.450 --> 00:23:04.029 harmony. And how is this control applied at the 00:23:04.029 --> 00:23:06.509 most granular level of Chinese society? It's 00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:08.930 supported by a significant expansion of the national 00:23:08.930 --> 00:23:11.750 security legal framework, the counterespionage 00:23:11.750 --> 00:23:14.549 law, the cybersecurity law, the data security 00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:17.109 law, and the dramatic growth of the mass surveillance 00:23:17.109 --> 00:23:20.529 network. Crucially, we see the rise and prominence 00:23:20.529 --> 00:23:22.250 of the grid -style social management system. 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:24.839 What's that? It involves subdividing China's 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:27.400 counties and cities into small, manageable zones 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.279 grids, with personnel in each zone regularly 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:32.819 reporting all activity and identifying risks 00:23:32.819 --> 00:23:35.380 to the local government. It's an institutionalized 00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:37.740 system of ubiquitous neighborhood -level security 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:40.619 and control. This centralization wasn't just 00:23:40.619 --> 00:23:43.059 ideological. It demanded a complete structural 00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:45.900 overhaul of the state itself to ensure the party 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:48.220 was truly in command of every single lever of 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:51.430 power. Right. Xi's tenure has seen these massive 00:23:51.430 --> 00:23:54.210 institutional reforms, particularly in 2018 and 00:23:54.210 --> 00:23:57.710 2023, all aimed at integrating the CCP and state 00:23:57.710 --> 00:24:00.190 bodies more closely than ever before. This is 00:24:00.190 --> 00:24:03.230 vital, isn't it? The strategic move was to assert 00:24:03.230 --> 00:24:05.970 ultimate party control by bypassing existing 00:24:05.970 --> 00:24:09.289 institutions. Yes. Traditionally, the state council, 00:24:09.410 --> 00:24:11.410 led by the premier, handled much of the day -to 00:24:11.410 --> 00:24:14.380 -day governance and economic policy. She achieved 00:24:14.380 --> 00:24:17.640 this by creating these powerful super ministerial 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:19.940 steering committees, initially called central 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:22.880 leading groups. Like the leading group for cybersecurity 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.319 and informatization. And the one for financial 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:27.779 economic affairs. And because she chaired these 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:29.660 leading groups, he was essentially making policy 00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:32.160 above and outside the traditional government 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.059 mechanism. So they were upgraded to powerful 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:36.059 commissions in 2018. Right, which reinforced 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:39.339 the CCP's direct policy making control and simultaneously 00:24:39.339 --> 00:24:41.619 diminished the traditional power base of the 00:24:41.619 --> 00:24:44.119 premier. who was now seen as merely executing 00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:46.700 the central party's decisions. It fundamentally 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:48.859 shifted the power dynamic away from the state 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:51.200 council and toward the general secretary's office. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.579 And the most recent reforms in 2023 just doubled 00:24:54.579 --> 00:24:57.480 down on this consolidation, targeting key strategic 00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:00.220 sectors like finance and technology. The 2023 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:02.859 reforms were all about total control over money 00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:06.369 and data. They established two CCP bodies for 00:25:06.369 --> 00:25:08.970 finance, the Central Financial Commission, CFC, 00:25:09.170 --> 00:25:11.890 which oversees all financial regulation, and 00:25:11.890 --> 00:25:13.829 the revival of the Central Financial Work Commission, 00:25:14.029 --> 00:25:16.269 which handles party discipline within this sector. 00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:18.609 They also created the Central Science and Technology 00:25:18.609 --> 00:25:21.170 Commission to broadly oversee and coordinate 00:25:21.170 --> 00:25:23.329 the technology sector, making sure that industrial 00:25:23.329 --> 00:25:26.250 policy directly serves party goals. They even 00:25:26.250 --> 00:25:28.549 went so far as to amend the foundational legal 00:25:28.549 --> 00:25:31.430 structure of the government. They did. In 2024, 00:25:32.089 --> 00:25:34.470 The organic law of the state council was amended 00:25:34.470 --> 00:25:37.390 to add a clause explicitly requiring the cabinet 00:25:37.390 --> 00:25:40.650 to follow CCP ideology and policies. This isn't 00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:42.789 just a political directive. It's a legal subordination 00:25:42.789 --> 00:25:44.789 of the state government to the party's will. 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:48.029 Let's turn to the military, the People's Liberation 00:25:48.029 --> 00:25:51.430 Army, the PLA. Control of the PLA is clearly 00:25:51.430 --> 00:25:53.829 paramount to Xi, and he's constantly referencing 00:25:53.829 --> 00:25:56.390 the fate of the Soviet Union. That analogy is 00:25:56.390 --> 00:25:58.849 his constant motivation. He argues the Soviet 00:25:58.849 --> 00:26:01.329 collapse happened because its military was separated 00:26:01.329 --> 00:26:03.730 from the party and disarmed. And when the crisis 00:26:03.730 --> 00:26:06.569 came, nobody was man enough to stand up and resist. 00:26:06.910 --> 00:26:10.710 That fear of internal political decay and disloyalty 00:26:10.710 --> 00:26:13.269 is foundational to his military restructuring. 00:26:13.369 --> 00:26:16.259 Absolutely. In 2014, he held the new Gushing 00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:18.980 Conference to reemphasize Mao's principle of 00:26:18.980 --> 00:26:21.480 the party has absolute control over the army. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.720 And that political reassertion was immediately 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.339 followed by the most extensive structural reforms 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:29.740 in decades. What was the mechanism of these reforms? 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:32.599 The overarching goal was to shift the PLA from 00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:34.400 a geographically based structure, which could 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:37.559 foster local military fiefdoms, to a joint operational 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:40.359 structure reporting directly to the CMC, which, 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:42.869 of course, she chairs. So he abolished the four 00:26:42.869 --> 00:26:45.190 autonomous general departments. General staff, 00:26:45.509 --> 00:26:47.630 general political, general logistics, and general 00:26:47.630 --> 00:26:50.670 armaments. All gone. Replaced them with 15 smaller 00:26:50.670 --> 00:26:53.710 agencies reporting directly to the CMC. He also 00:26:53.710 --> 00:26:55.490 reduced the number of large regional theater 00:26:55.490 --> 00:26:58.589 commands from seven down to five. So this streamlined 00:26:58.589 --> 00:27:01.430 command chain meant less power for regional military 00:27:01.430 --> 00:27:04.049 leaders and more direct authority for him as 00:27:04.049 --> 00:27:07.230 chairman of the CMC. Precisely. And concurrently, 00:27:07.230 --> 00:27:10.650 he dramatically modernized the PLA to focus on 00:27:10.650 --> 00:27:12.980 modern warfighting. He established the Joint 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:15.500 Logistics Support Force and upgraded the old 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:17.900 2nd Artillery Corps, which handled nuclear and 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:20.460 conventional missiles, to the PLA Rocket Force. 00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:23.079 And the modernization didn't stop there. The 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:26.400 2024 reforms added more branches focused on cutting 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:28.940 -edge warfare. The 2024 overhaul established 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:32.160 three critical new forces. the Aerospace Force, 00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:35.299 the Cyberspace Force, and the Information Support 00:27:35.299 --> 00:27:37.779 Force. The dissolution of the previous Strategic 00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:40.380 Support Force and the creation of these new entities 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:42.779 signals a clear prioritization of integrating 00:27:42.779 --> 00:27:45.440 space, cyber, and information warfare capabilities 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:47.940 directly under centralized party control. And 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:50.539 all this modernization is underpinned by a massive 00:27:50.539 --> 00:27:52.680 expansion of the military budget. The official 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:54.700 military budget has more than doubled under Xi. 00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:58.259 It's projected to reach $246 billion in 2025. 00:27:58.779 --> 00:28:00.759 This has driven rapid expansion. and particularly 00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:03.680 for power projection. It's been growing faster 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.099 than any major global naval power. They're commissioning 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:09.380 new aircraft carriers like the Shandong and the 00:28:09.380 --> 00:28:12.440 Fujian. And this maritime reach culminated in 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.359 2017 with the establishment of China's first 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:18.059 overseas naval base in Djibouti, giving them 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:20.259 a critical logistical foothold in the Horn of 00:28:20.259 --> 00:28:22.640 Africa. Before we move on, let's quickly touch 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:25.259 on his simultaneous drive for legal reform, which 00:28:25.259 --> 00:28:28.460 he calls Chinese socialistic rule of law. This 00:28:28.460 --> 00:28:30.559 is another one of those deliberate paradoxes. 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.759 The stated aim was genuinely positive, reforming 00:28:34.759 --> 00:28:37.019 a judicial system that was plagued by corruption 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:39.839 and local government interference. He wanted 00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:41.660 to improve fairness and commercial certainty. 00:28:41.819 --> 00:28:43.980 He championed a greater role for the Constitution 00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:46.619 and called for judicial integrity. But there's 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:50.119 a huge caveat. The caveat is crucial. This legal 00:28:50.119 --> 00:28:53.140 system must absolutely uphold the absolute leadership 00:28:53.140 --> 00:28:56.640 of the party. It is rule by law, not rule of 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:59.339 law. So the law is a tool to serve the party's 00:28:59.339 --> 00:29:02.059 stability. And its policy goals. It's not an 00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:04.460 independent check on party power. The most telling 00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:07.569 metric is in the legislation itself. The share 00:29:07.569 --> 00:29:10.210 of laws passed that explicitly affirm the leadership 00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:13.190 of the CCP has skyrocketed. They did establish 00:29:13.190 --> 00:29:15.670 some useful specialized courts, like the Hangzhou 00:29:15.670 --> 00:29:17.829 Internet Court, but the system's foundational 00:29:17.829 --> 00:29:20.609 principle is political submission. Okay, moving 00:29:20.609 --> 00:29:23.509 to the economy. Xi's approach signals a profound 00:29:23.509 --> 00:29:27.549 ideological redirection. For decades, China operated 00:29:27.549 --> 00:29:30.930 on this GDP heroism model growth at all costs. 00:29:31.130 --> 00:29:33.819 Xi abandoned that. He abandoned it in favor of 00:29:33.819 --> 00:29:36.140 high -quality development. And this is a major 00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:38.240 structural shift. So what does that mean in practice? 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:40.859 It means prioritizing the correction of longstanding 00:29:40.859 --> 00:29:43.400 structural imbalances, tackling social issues 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:45.839 like inequality, emphasizing environmental protection, 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:48.380 and focusing on sustainable high -tech growth 00:29:48.380 --> 00:29:51.480 over just sheer volume. It's a necessary move, 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:53.819 really. The old model was leading to ecological 00:29:53.819 --> 00:29:56.880 disaster and massive public resentment over wealth 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:00.359 caps. A major, very visible achievement of this 00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:02.779 redirection was the massive push against poverty. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.380 The battle against poverty, which he launched 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:08.700 in 2015, was arguably one of the greatest feats 00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:11.019 of centralized state coordination in modern history. 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:15.279 By 2021, declared a complete victory over extreme 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:18.019 poverty, citing that nearly 100 million people 00:30:18.019 --> 00:30:20.099 had been lifted out of it during his tenure. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:22.259 Though it's worth noting that was using China's 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:24.799 own lower poverty threshold. That's right, not 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.660 the World Bank standard. But still, the mobilization 00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:30.640 of state resources to achieve that goal was undeniable 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:33.059 and highly successful in boosting the party's 00:30:33.059 --> 00:30:35.740 domestic legitimacy. The most dramatic state 00:30:35.740 --> 00:30:37.900 intervention, though, was in the property sector, 00:30:38.140 --> 00:30:40.880 the longtime engine of China's economy. This 00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:43.539 is where Xi's ideology clashed directly with 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:46.259 unchecked market forces. He coined the defining 00:30:46.259 --> 00:30:49.140 phrase, houses are for living, not for speculation. 00:30:50.089 --> 00:30:52.509 His administration sought to reduce the economy's 00:30:52.509 --> 00:30:54.930 reliance on the massive debt -fueled real estate 00:30:54.930 --> 00:30:57.410 sector, which represented almost a quarter of 00:30:57.410 --> 00:30:59.869 all economic activity. And this was operationalized 00:30:59.869 --> 00:31:02.690 through the Three Red Lines policy. How did that 00:31:02.690 --> 00:31:05.150 mechanism work and what was the impact? The Three 00:31:05.150 --> 00:31:08.450 Red Lines policy was introduced in 2020 and placed 00:31:08.450 --> 00:31:10.990 strict caps on property developers' ability to 00:31:10.990 --> 00:31:13.829 borrow based on three financial metrics. Their 00:31:13.829 --> 00:31:16.529 debt -to -asset ratio, their net debt -to -equity 00:31:16.529 --> 00:31:19.430 ratio, and their cash -to -short -term debt ratio. 00:31:19.799 --> 00:31:22.180 So if a developer failed one line, they were 00:31:22.180 --> 00:31:24.700 penalized. And if they failed all three, they 00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:26.559 were essentially cut off from new borrowing. 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:28.599 On the surface, that sounds like responsible 00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:30.960 financial policy, but it triggered a crisis. 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:33.700 It did because the entire property sector was 00:31:33.700 --> 00:31:36.849 so deeply leveraged. The sudden enforcement of 00:31:36.849 --> 00:31:39.069 these rules was just too much for highly indebted 00:31:39.069 --> 00:31:41.829 players like Evergrande and Country Garden. The 00:31:41.829 --> 00:31:44.269 policy successfully reduced financial risk exposure 00:31:44.269 --> 00:31:46.829 for state banks, but it starved developers of 00:31:46.829 --> 00:31:49.990 cash, leading directly to mass defaults, stalled 00:31:49.990 --> 00:31:52.630 construction, and the current massive property 00:31:52.630 --> 00:31:55.130 crisis. It really highlights the party's willingness 00:31:55.130 --> 00:31:57.470 to tolerate severe short -term economic pain 00:31:57.470 --> 00:32:00.950 for long -term ideological goals. It does. And 00:32:00.950 --> 00:32:03.150 parallel to this deleveraging, we see an intense 00:32:03.150 --> 00:32:05.509 focus on technology and self -reliance. especially 00:32:05.509 --> 00:32:08.589 after the trade war with the U .S., put China's 00:32:08.589 --> 00:32:10.890 dependence on foreign semiconductors into such 00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:13.410 sharp relief. The mandate now is existential, 00:32:13.650 --> 00:32:15.869 isn't it? Reduce reliance on foreign technology 00:32:15.869 --> 00:32:18.589 and achieve technological supremacy. Exactly. 00:32:18.789 --> 00:32:22.309 And this is being driven by massive state -directed 00:32:22.309 --> 00:32:25.069 industrial policy, most notably the Made in China 00:32:25.069 --> 00:32:28.450 2025 plan. This plan aims for self -reliance 00:32:28.450 --> 00:32:31.869 in 10 key strategic technologies, from robotics 00:32:31.869 --> 00:32:34.910 to new energy vehicles. Consequently, R &D spending 00:32:34.910 --> 00:32:38.150 in China has just soared. It now surpasses the 00:32:38.150 --> 00:32:40.509 entire European Union combined. And the ultimate 00:32:40.509 --> 00:32:42.470 message to the private sector was sent pretty 00:32:42.470 --> 00:32:45.150 dramatically in 2020. That was the high -profile 00:32:45.150 --> 00:32:48.730 halt of Ant Group's highly anticipated IPO. After 00:32:48.730 --> 00:32:51.329 the founder, Jack Ma, publicly criticized government 00:32:51.329 --> 00:32:54.190 finance regulation, she personally intervened 00:32:54.190 --> 00:32:55.950 to halt what would have been the world's largest 00:32:55.950 --> 00:32:58.789 IPO. That served as a clear warning to all private 00:32:58.789 --> 00:33:01.720 entrepreneurs. The warning was. There is a ceiling 00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:04.299 on your economic power, and the party, not the 00:33:04.299 --> 00:33:06.400 market, holds ultimate regulatory authority. 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:08.740 That brings us to the defining economic slogan 00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:12.819 of the post -2021 era, common prosperity. Common 00:33:12.819 --> 00:33:15.880 prosperity is defined as affluence for all, described 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:20.039 as an essential requirement of socialism. Ideologically, 00:33:20.279 --> 00:33:22.799 this is Xi's direct break from Deng's philosophy 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:26.599 of let some get rich first. It's the ideological 00:33:26.599 --> 00:33:29.240 justification for large -scale state intervention 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:31.559 and redistribution. And it was used to justify 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:34.940 wide -ranging crackdowns. Precisely. It justified 00:33:34.940 --> 00:33:38.259 massive fines on tech giants accused of monopolistic 00:33:38.259 --> 00:33:41.440 practices, the elimination of the entire private 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:43.680 tutoring industry through the double reduction 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:46.160 policy. Which was to reduce educational inequality 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:48.960 and cost burden. Right. And widespread restrictions 00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:51.460 on wealth flaunting, including pressure on high 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:53.480 salaries and bonuses in the financial sector. 00:33:53.930 --> 00:33:56.170 The goal is affluence, but without the perceived 00:33:56.170 --> 00:33:59.029 decay, inequality and social instability of Western 00:33:59.029 --> 00:34:01.269 capitalism. Shifting to foreign policy, we move 00:34:01.269 --> 00:34:03.890 from economic self -reliance to global assertiveness, 00:34:04.150 --> 00:34:06.750 something Xi champions as major country diplomacy. 00:34:07.109 --> 00:34:10.289 Xi explicitly broke away from Deng's famous advice 00:34:10.289 --> 00:34:13.929 to hide your strength and bide your time. He 00:34:13.929 --> 00:34:16.070 advocates for China to take its rightful place 00:34:16.070 --> 00:34:19.579 as a big power. He champions baseline thinking, 00:34:19.780 --> 00:34:22.199 these explicit red lines that other nations must 00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:25.280 not cross, to ensure China's resolve is never 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.340 misjudged. And this shift gave rise to the style 00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:32.059 of Chinese diplomacy known globally as wolf warrior 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:35.510 diplomacy. That is the aggressive, hawkish posture 00:34:35.510 --> 00:34:38.789 adopted by Chinese diplomats, asserting nationalistic 00:34:38.789 --> 00:34:41.369 interests often through combative and confrontational 00:34:41.369 --> 00:34:44.849 language, particularly on social media. Ideologically, 00:34:44.969 --> 00:34:47.469 this is underpinned by Xi's belief that the East 00:34:47.469 --> 00:34:49.869 is rising and the West is declining, which was 00:34:49.869 --> 00:34:52.349 fueled by perceived Western dysfunction, especially 00:34:52.349 --> 00:34:54.650 during the global pandemic response. The most 00:34:54.650 --> 00:34:57.090 visible example of this global reach has to be 00:34:57.090 --> 00:35:00.610 the Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI is enormous, 00:35:00.869 --> 00:35:02.829 a massive global infrastructure and economic 00:35:02.829 --> 00:35:05.469 development project spanning Africa, Asia and 00:35:05.469 --> 00:35:07.849 Eurasia. It's often cited as the largest infrastructure 00:35:07.849 --> 00:35:10.210 investment by a single great power since the 00:35:10.210 --> 00:35:12.829 U .S. Marshall Plan. But the BRI is just the 00:35:12.829 --> 00:35:15.610 economic foundation. She has also unveiled a 00:35:15.610 --> 00:35:18.050 suite of new initiatives designed to shape global 00:35:18.050 --> 00:35:20.630 governance. Right. We need to differentiate these. 00:35:20.690 --> 00:35:23.730 We have the GDI. The GSI and the GCI. Okay, break 00:35:23.730 --> 00:35:25.690 them down. The Global Development Initiative, 00:35:26.010 --> 00:35:29.969 GDI, focuses on accelerating the UN 2030 agenda, 00:35:30.269 --> 00:35:32.949 prioritizing infrastructure and poverty reduction. 00:35:33.409 --> 00:35:36.510 The Global Security Initiative, GSI, is more 00:35:36.510 --> 00:35:39.599 provocative. It promotes a new path to security 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:42.440 that is often seen as a direct challenge to the 00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:44.920 Western -led NATO and alliance security architecture. 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:49.639 The Global Civilization Initiative focuses on 00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:52.360 promoting common values of mankind, which are 00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:54.320 often interpreted as a pushback against Western 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:56.760 concepts of universal human rights and democracy. 00:35:57.449 --> 00:35:59.710 They are all designed to increase China's global 00:35:59.710 --> 00:36:02.389 influence and offer alternatives to the U .S.-led 00:36:02.389 --> 00:36:04.690 order. On specific relationships, the relationship 00:36:04.690 --> 00:36:06.849 with the U .S. changed dramatically under Xi. 00:36:06.969 --> 00:36:09.150 Xi initially called for a new type of great power 00:36:09.150 --> 00:36:11.489 relations, hoping for a formalized recognition 00:36:11.489 --> 00:36:14.730 of China's new status. But the ties soured dramatically 00:36:14.730 --> 00:36:17.710 after 2017. Driven by the escalating trade war 00:36:17.710 --> 00:36:20.920 under President Trump. That. followed by geopolitical 00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:23.820 tension over technology and human rights, and 00:36:23.820 --> 00:36:26.219 it further deteriorated during the mutual blame 00:36:26.219 --> 00:36:29.179 surrounding the COVID -19 pandemic. The relationship 00:36:29.179 --> 00:36:31.599 is now characterized by fierce competition across 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:34.880 all domains. What about Russia? She has actively 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.019 cultivated this relationship, especially after 00:36:37.019 --> 00:36:39.780 the 2014 Ukraine crisis. They share a common 00:36:39.780 --> 00:36:42.500 ideological antipathy towards Western liberalism. 00:36:42.730 --> 00:36:46.190 During the ongoing Russo -Ukrainian war, Xi provided 00:36:46.190 --> 00:36:48.989 diplomatic cover, expressing opposition to sanctions 00:36:48.989 --> 00:36:51.570 against Russia and asserting support for Russia 00:36:51.570 --> 00:36:53.949 on security issues, while officially maintaining 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:56.369 China's stance of respecting territorial integrity. 00:36:56.869 --> 00:36:59.730 They're increasingly presenting a united, powerful 00:36:59.730 --> 00:37:02.170 front for the Global South to blunt the effect 00:37:02.170 --> 00:37:04.250 of international pressure. And in China's own 00:37:04.250 --> 00:37:06.869 backyard, in Asia, the assertiveness is perhaps 00:37:06.869 --> 00:37:10.199 most destabilizing. Regionally, the PLA Navy's 00:37:10.199 --> 00:37:12.219 rapid building and militarization of artificial 00:37:12.219 --> 00:37:14.639 islands in the South China Sea, creating forward 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:17.260 operating bases, is perhaps the clearest signal 00:37:17.260 --> 00:37:19.840 of territorial ambition. And relations with India 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.139 have seriously deteriorated due to recurring, 00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:25.380 sometimes deadly, border standoffs. In places 00:37:25.380 --> 00:37:28.300 like Depsang, Doklam, and that lethal clash in 00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:31.559 2020. Exactly. The overarching theme across Asia 00:37:31.559 --> 00:37:34.739 is assertive regional dominance backed by overwhelming 00:37:34.739 --> 00:37:37.760 military power. This intense national security 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:41.039 focus and the resulting baseline thinking leads 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:43.840 us directly into the massive internal challenges 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:46.340 and the highly scrutinized human rights record 00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:49.480 that defines this era. particularly in Xinjiang. 00:37:49.760 --> 00:37:52.920 Following terrorist attacks in 2013 and 2014, 00:37:53.320 --> 00:37:55.800 one happening just after Xi's visit to the region, 00:37:56.019 --> 00:37:58.260 he launched the Strike Hard campaign against 00:37:58.260 --> 00:38:00.880 violent terrorism. And this campaign unleashed 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:04.260 systematic mass repression. The mechanism involved 00:38:04.260 --> 00:38:06.260 the mass detention and surveillance of ethnic 00:38:06.260 --> 00:38:09.179 minorities, leading to reports of up to 1 .8 00:38:09.179 --> 00:38:11.340 million people, predominantly Uyghurs and other 00:38:11.340 --> 00:38:13.800 ethnic and religious minorities, being held in 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:16.400 internment camps by 2020. And this was coupled 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:20.199 with severe Yes, campaigns targeting the Uyghur 00:38:20.199 --> 00:38:22.420 population aimed at changing the demographic 00:38:22.420 --> 00:38:24.679 composition of the region. And crucially, we 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:26.900 have internal documentation that speaks to Xi's 00:38:26.900 --> 00:38:29.719 personal philosophy driving this crackdown. Yes. 00:38:30.059 --> 00:38:32.860 Leaked documents reveal that Xi personally ordered 00:38:32.860 --> 00:38:35.760 officials to show absolutely no mercy and to 00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:38.760 utilize all the weapons of the people's democratic 00:38:38.760 --> 00:38:41.880 dictatorship against those deemed infected with 00:38:41.880 --> 00:38:44.119 the virus of extremism. He used some shilling 00:38:44.119 --> 00:38:46.760 language. He likened extremism to a drug that 00:38:46.760 --> 00:38:50.320 required painful interventionary treatment. However, 00:38:50.539 --> 00:38:53.840 in a complex display of pragmatism, he also reportedly 00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:55.920 warned against outright ethnic discrimination 00:38:55.920 --> 00:38:59.139 and rejected proposals to eliminate Islam completely. 00:38:59.559 --> 00:39:02.019 Suggesting a policy of forced assimilation rather 00:39:02.019 --> 00:39:05.219 than total eradication. That distinction assimilation 00:39:05.219 --> 00:39:07.880 over eradication is key to understanding his 00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:10.340 broader policy toward ethnic minorities. So his 00:39:10.340 --> 00:39:12.860 administration has systematically scrapped guarantees 00:39:12.860 --> 00:39:15.460 for native language education. And heavily emphasized 00:39:15.460 --> 00:39:17.340 the teaching of the national language, Mandarin. 00:39:17.780 --> 00:39:20.639 The goal is to promote a singular sense of identity 00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:23.519 for the Chinese nation. He further emphasized 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:25.920 this by appointing Han Chinese officials to lead 00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:28.340 the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, signaling 00:39:28.340 --> 00:39:31.659 a deep institutional commitment to cultural homogenization 00:39:31.659 --> 00:39:34.219 and integration. We see a similar tightening 00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:36.800 of control in Hong Kong, starting with the goal 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:38.659 of greater political and economic integration, 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:41.519 like the Greater Bay Area Project. But Beijing 00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:45.019 signaled its true intentions back in 2014. That's 00:39:45.019 --> 00:39:46.960 when the State Council published a white paper 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:49.460 asserting Beijing's comprehensive jurisdiction 00:39:49.460 --> 00:39:53.099 over Hong Kong. It effectively declared the previously 00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:56.099 respected Sino -British Joint Declaration legally 00:39:56.099 --> 00:39:58.679 subordinate to China's sovereign rule. The restrictions 00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:00.840 mounted quickly after that. Yes, including the 00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:02.400 National People's Congress Standing Committee 00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:05.420 restricting voting reforms in 2014, which led 00:40:05.420 --> 00:40:07.719 directly to massive pro -democracy protests. 00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:10.280 And the final nail in the coffin for the one 00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:13.139 country, two systems model came after the massive 00:40:13.139 --> 00:40:16.000 protests of 2019. Following those widespread 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.960 and disruptive protests, Xi presided over the 00:40:18.960 --> 00:40:21.320 passage of the 2020 National... Security Law, 00:40:21.500 --> 00:40:25.219 NSL. This law dramatically clamped down on political 00:40:25.219 --> 00:40:27.900 opposition, freedom of assembly, and freedom 00:40:27.900 --> 00:40:30.480 of the press in the city. It established the 00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:32.900 Office for Safeguarding National Security outside 00:40:32.900 --> 00:40:35.659 Hong Kong's jurisdiction, allowing mainland agents 00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:38.519 to operate there. This was the rapid and decisive 00:40:38.519 --> 00:40:41.579 culmination of Xi's long -term project to ensure 00:40:41.579 --> 00:40:44.119 Hong Kong's full political alignment with the 00:40:44.119 --> 00:40:47.019 mainland, prioritizing security over promised 00:40:47.019 --> 00:40:49.389 autonomy. Moving across the strait to Taiwan, 00:40:49.630 --> 00:40:52.150 she initially used softer rhetoric aimed at economic 00:40:52.150 --> 00:40:54.969 integration. He coined that unifying slogan in 00:40:54.969 --> 00:40:57.909 2013. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one 00:40:57.909 --> 00:41:00.469 family. This culminated in the historic 2015 00:41:00.469 --> 00:41:02.690 meeting with then Taiwanese President Ma Ying 00:41:02.690 --> 00:41:04.849 -jeou, the first such meeting between the leaders 00:41:04.849 --> 00:41:07.829 since 1949. The message was clear. Reunification 00:41:07.829 --> 00:41:10.210 through peaceful economic means was preferred. 00:41:10.409 --> 00:41:12.030 But once the independence -leaning Democratic 00:41:12.030 --> 00:41:15.050 Progressive Party, the DPP, won the presidency 00:41:15.050 --> 00:41:18.090 under Tsai Ing -wen in 2016, relations quickly 00:41:18.090 --> 00:41:20.690 deteriorated. The rhetoric hardened significantly. 00:41:21.269 --> 00:41:24.690 Xi adopted a much more coercive stance. In a 00:41:24.690 --> 00:41:28.010 pivotal 2019 speech, he reiterated the goal of 00:41:28.010 --> 00:41:30.250 unification under the one country, two systems 00:41:30.250 --> 00:41:33.550 formula, but issued a clear public threat. Though 00:41:33.550 --> 00:41:35.869 we make no promise to renounce the use of force 00:41:35.869 --> 00:41:38.619 line. Exactly. He said, we make no promise to 00:41:38.619 --> 00:41:40.639 renounce the use of force and reserve the option 00:41:40.639 --> 00:41:43.699 of taking all necessary means. And he emphasized 00:41:43.699 --> 00:41:46.219 this force would be used against external interference 00:41:46.219 --> 00:41:50.320 or separatist activities. Since 2018, the PLA 00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:52.559 has used increasingly frequent and complex military 00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:55.719 drills around Taiwan as a constant form of political 00:41:55.719 --> 00:41:58.340 and military pressure. Finally, we have to discuss 00:41:58.340 --> 00:42:00.320 his most controversial domestic policy of the 00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:03.550 last few years. The COVID -19 response. He initially 00:42:03.550 --> 00:42:06.849 presided over a dynamic zero COVID policy. Launched 00:42:06.849 --> 00:42:09.909 in January 2020, this policy was an extreme example 00:42:09.909 --> 00:42:12.090 of the party's ability to mobilize and control 00:42:12.090 --> 00:42:14.420 the population. It involved stringent prolonged 00:42:14.420 --> 00:42:17.360 lockdowns, mass testing campaigns and mandatory 00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:19.739 centralized quarantine for anyone testing positive. 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:22.820 And Xi personally defended it as necessary to 00:42:22.820 --> 00:42:24.900 protect life safety and to demonstrate to the 00:42:24.900 --> 00:42:27.380 superiority of the Chinese system. But the cost 00:42:27.380 --> 00:42:30.300 of this policy, particularly the brutal 2022 00:42:30.300 --> 00:42:33.820 Shanghai lockdown, was immense. It caused massive 00:42:33.820 --> 00:42:36.300 economic disruption and social frustration. The 00:42:36.300 --> 00:42:39.519 policy faced mounting internal criticism. I mean, 00:42:39.539 --> 00:42:41.920 when you have a megacity like Shanghai, the engine 00:42:41.920 --> 00:42:44.519 of the Chinese. economy paralyzed for two months. 00:42:44.679 --> 00:42:47.619 The economic and social toll becomes unbearable. 00:42:47.719 --> 00:42:50.800 And this discontent tragically spilled over dramatically 00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:53.960 in November 2022. Widespread protests broke out 00:42:53.960 --> 00:42:56.260 across major cities. Triggered by a fatal apartment 00:42:56.260 --> 00:42:59.159 fire in Urumqi, where lockdown rules were blamed 00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:01.300 for hindering rescue efforts. Does the speed 00:43:01.300 --> 00:43:03.679 and scale of that reversal show political weakness 00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:06.000 when faced with popular revolt? Or does it show 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:07.960 political agility in the face of an impossible 00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:10.800 policy? That is the ultimate question about Xi's 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:13.289 governance, isn't it? The government responded 00:43:13.289 --> 00:43:16.090 with a swift and dramatic reversal. By December 00:43:16.090 --> 00:43:19.170 2022, they had effectively ended the zero -COVID 00:43:19.170 --> 00:43:21.710 policy, allowing home quarantine for mild cases 00:43:21.710 --> 00:43:24.530 and reducing mass testing. It demonstrated that 00:43:24.530 --> 00:43:27.130 even a highly personalized policy, once it breaches 00:43:27.130 --> 00:43:29.230 the tolerance level of the populace and threatens 00:43:29.230 --> 00:43:31.929 economic stability, can be abandoned with astonishing 00:43:31.929 --> 00:43:35.670 speed. The priority is party survival, even over 00:43:35.670 --> 00:43:38.230 the signature policy itself. Hashtag no in outro. 00:43:38.670 --> 00:43:41.230 What a profound and rapid transformation China 00:43:41.230 --> 00:43:43.289 has undergone in the last decade. I mean, looking 00:43:43.289 --> 00:43:45.670 back across our deep dive, the scope of change 00:43:45.670 --> 00:43:47.570 during Xi Jinping's tenure is just monumental. 00:43:47.670 --> 00:43:49.849 It's a definitive shift from cautious collective 00:43:49.849 --> 00:43:52.369 leadership to hyper centralized personal power, 00:43:52.489 --> 00:43:54.730 all driven by this ideological imperative for 00:43:54.730 --> 00:43:57.389 absolute control. We've witnessed the institutionalization 00:43:57.389 --> 00:43:59.250 of his guiding philosophy, Xi Jinping thought, 00:43:59.409 --> 00:44:02.650 which requires absolute ideological conformity 00:44:02.650 --> 00:44:05.369 enforced by technology and by legal mandate. 00:44:05.849 --> 00:44:07.969 And this consolidation has enabled a profound 00:44:07.969 --> 00:44:10.829 redirection of the state, fundamental military 00:44:10.829 --> 00:44:14.750 reform to ensure absolute loyalty, a sharp pivot 00:44:14.750 --> 00:44:17.570 toward economic self -reliance and common prosperity, 00:44:17.869 --> 00:44:20.550 and an unwavering tightening of security and 00:44:20.550 --> 00:44:22.809 surveillance over every single aspect of Chinese 00:44:22.809 --> 00:44:26.929 society, from finance to farming. He has truly 00:44:26.929 --> 00:44:28.769 and fundamentally altered the nation's political 00:44:28.769 --> 00:44:31.730 landscape, ensuring that the CCP leads government, 00:44:31.929 --> 00:44:34.670 the military, society and schools, north, south, 00:44:34.710 --> 00:44:36.909 east and west. The core takeaway, I think, is 00:44:36.909 --> 00:44:38.809 that Xi Jinping's political identity was forged 00:44:38.809 --> 00:44:41.610 by the chaos and persecution he experienced firsthand 00:44:41.610 --> 00:44:44.250 during the Cultural Revolution. He saw the party 00:44:44.250 --> 00:44:46.670 almost lose control, and he compares China's 00:44:46.670 --> 00:44:49.369 resilience today against the fall of the depoliticized 00:44:49.369 --> 00:44:51.880 Soviet military. Having successfully centralized 00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:54.599 power and eliminated his rivals, he views his 00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:56.739 primary mandate as absolute control to guarantee 00:44:56.739 --> 00:44:59.550 the survival of the CCP. So this leaves us with 00:44:59.550 --> 00:45:02.170 our final provocative thought for you. Given 00:45:02.170 --> 00:45:04.369 Xi's traumatic youth and the resulting commitment 00:45:04.369 --> 00:45:07.570 to maximum centralized control, is this relentless 00:45:07.570 --> 00:45:10.010 focus on absolute party loyalty the greatest 00:45:10.010 --> 00:45:12.250 source of China's future strength, providing 00:45:12.250 --> 00:45:14.449 the necessary stability and coordination to face 00:45:14.449 --> 00:45:17.610 Western competition, or is it, ironically, its 00:45:17.610 --> 00:45:19.869 greatest constraint, stifling the dynamism, the 00:45:19.869 --> 00:45:21.789 flexibility, and the innovative voices required 00:45:21.789 --> 00:45:24.269 for long -term growth and global stability? Something 00:45:24.269 --> 00:45:26.010 to mull over until our next deep dive.