The View, from China

**sabang** · 12-10-2022, 11:16 AM

despite Chinese whishes to the contrary.

If you look at the trade figures-

As of 2021, Taiwan's exports to the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong) totaled about US$270 billion per year, which is equivalent to more than 40% of Taiwan's total GDP.^[86]

Economy of Taiwan - Wikipedia

I think it's clear they want to keep them in the fold. Peaceful reunification is the aim.

**bsnub** · 12-10-2022, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

Really? snubchild outed himself, right on this forum- to Helge actually. Quite amusing. So now you know what shitposting is, I assume.

As usual, you have no idea what you are talking about, and only a Putin apologist bozo like yourself would take issue with NAFO. A group of patriots that are shitting on Russian trolls and propagandists like yourself and that drunk Scandi troll.

**sabang** · 12-10-2022, 11:33 AM

Yeh right- by Shitposting. FAIL.

**David48atTD** · 12-10-2022, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by bsnub

and that drunk Scandi troll.

I kinda like 'that drunk Scandi troll'.

He'd be fun to Skoll some beer with.

Sure, we disagree, but that's half the fun.

**David48atTD** · 12-10-2022, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by sabang

Peaceful reunification is the aim.

The 'aim' of whom?

Certainly not the Taiwanese, they are happy just being, well ... Taiwan

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 07:01 AM

CapEx and R&D implode in hard-pressed Western semicon industry while China pours massive funds into chip independence

By DAVID P. GOLDMANOCTOBER 13, 2022

NEW YORK – The Biden administration’s unprecedented package of bans on chip and chip equipment sales to China announced on October 7 could not have come at a worse moment for the global semiconductor industry.

The damage to capital investment and R&D in the Western semiconductor industry will exceed Washington’s modest subsidies for the chip industry by a factor of five or more.

The US measures won’t affect China’s sensors, satellite surveillance, military guidance and other strategic systems because the vast majority of military applications use older chips that China can produce at home. But it may postpone autonomous driving, cloud computing and other efforts to digitize China’s economy.

It will also elicit an all-out Chinese effort to replace American chip-making and design technology. CapEx and R&D will shrink drastically in the US semiconductor industry while China allocates a massive budget to the sector.

On a five- or ten-year horizon, America’s technological edge in semiconductor design and fabrication is likely to vanish. As capital budgets collapse in the Western semiconductor industry, the damage to the US and other Western economies is likely to be greater than the harm inflicted on China.

The Biden administration meanwhile proposed a 14% budget cut for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is a much larger cut after inflation. Starving US high-tech industry of public as well as private funds is a strange way to conduct a strategic rivalry with China.

The incipient global recession turned the chip shortage of 2021 into a glut, reflected in a collapse of the Philadelphia index of semiconductor stocks (PHLX) by nearly half during 2022. NVIDIA, the leading US chip designer, has lost 68% of its market capitalization so far this year.

The industry had already cut capital investment plans from about US$200 billion to $160 billion for 2022. US restrictions on exports of semiconductor equipment, design tools and high-end chips to China will shrink revenues further, putting an air pocket into R&D and capital expansion. The world’s dominant chip fabricator, Taiwan’s TSMC, planned $44 billion in CapEx just six months ago but on Wednesday announced a cut to $36 billion.

The Biden administration’s $50 billion, five-year subsidy for onshore chip fabrication will help firms that use older technology to supply the US defense industry, which mainly buys chips five to seven generations behind the cutting-edge semiconductors targeted by the new round of US sanctions.

Smaller American fabricators like GlobalFoundries and SkyWater Technology, who make chips for the US military several generations behind the present state of the art, will benefit from the Biden subsidies. But companies with the most advanced technology have the most to lose, including American manufacturers of chipmaking equipment.

It’s still unclear what loopholes will be left in Washington’s chip bans, or how damaging they will ultimately be. Reuters headlined an October 12 report,
“US scrambles to prevent export curbs on China chips from disrupting supply chain,” noting that the leading South Korean fabricators, Samsung and SK hynix obtained a 12-month reprieve for investment in their mainland chip plants, while TSMC obtained a one-year license to ship US chipmaking equipment to its expanding plants in China.

FULL- China chip ban a US exercise in extreme self-harm – Asia Times

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 07:39 AM

More chinky whinging.

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 07:41 AM

The author is an American Jew, and an economist.

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

The author is an American Jew, and an economist.

Is he a friend of Kissinger?

*Yawn*

**Hugh Cow** · 15-10-2022, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

CapEx and R&D implode in hard-pressed Western semicon industry while China pours massive funds into chip independence

By DAVID P. GOLDMANOCTOBER 13, 2022

NEW YORK – The Biden administration’s unprecedented package of bans on chip and chip equipment sales to China announced on October 7 could not have come at a worse moment for the global semiconductor industry.

The damage to capital investment and R&D in the Western semiconductor industry will exceed Washington’s modest subsidies for the chip industry by a factor of five or more.

The US measures won’t affect China’s sensors, satellite surveillance, military guidance and other strategic systems because the vast majority of military applications use older chips that China can produce at home. But it may postpone autonomous driving, cloud computing and other efforts to digitize China’s economy.

It will also elicit an all-out Chinese effort to replace American chip-making and design technology. CapEx and R&D will shrink drastically in the US semiconductor industry while China allocates a massive budget to the sector.

On a five- or ten-year horizon, America’s technological edge in semiconductor design and fabrication is likely to vanish. As capital budgets collapse in the Western semiconductor industry, the damage to the US and other Western economies is likely to be greater than the harm inflicted on China.

The Biden administration meanwhile proposed a 14% budget cut for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is a much larger cut after inflation. Starving US high-tech industry of public as well as private funds is a strange way to conduct a strategic rivalry with China.

The incipient global recession turned the chip shortage of 2021 into a glut, reflected in a collapse of the Philadelphia index of semiconductor stocks (PHLX) by nearly half during 2022. NVIDIA, the leading US chip designer, has lost 68% of its market capitalization so far this year.

The industry had already cut capital investment plans from about US$200 billion to $160 billion for 2022. US restrictions on exports of semiconductor equipment, design tools and high-end chips to China will shrink revenues further, putting an air pocket into R&D and capital expansion. The world’s dominant chip fabricator, Taiwan’s TSMC, planned $44 billion in CapEx just six months ago but on Wednesday announced a cut to $36 billion.

The Biden administration’s $50 billion, five-year subsidy for onshore chip fabrication will help firms that use older technology to supply the US defense industry, which mainly buys chips five to seven generations behind the cutting-edge semiconductors targeted by the new round of US sanctions.

Smaller American fabricators like GlobalFoundries and SkyWater Technology, who make chips for the US military several generations behind the present state of the art, will benefit from the Biden subsidies. But companies with the most advanced technology have the most to lose, including American manufacturers of chipmaking equipment.

It’s still unclear what loopholes will be left in Washington’s chip bans, or how damaging they will ultimately be. Reuters headlined an October 12 report,
“US scrambles to prevent export curbs on China chips from disrupting supply chain,” noting that the leading South Korean fabricators, Samsung and SK hynix obtained a 12-month reprieve for investment in their mainland chip plants, while TSMC obtained a one-year license to ship US chipmaking equipment to its expanding plants in China.

FULL- China chip ban a US exercise in extreme self-harm – Asia Times

I'm sure you will be shocked to know that Asia times opinion pieces are recognised as having a strong anti american bias.
How unusual of you to post an anti american peace from a Chinese based newspaper. Still it is a change from your astonishingly accurate prognostications on the "Special military operation" in Ukraine.

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 08:00 AM

Well it's not difficult to see why the witless wanketeers like him.

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 08:17 AM

I'm sure David Goldman's credentials pale in comparison to you erudite gentlemen, but anyway-

Goldman was global head of credit strategy at Credit Suisse 1999-2002, Global Head of Fixed Income Research for Bank of America 2002-2005, and Global Head of Fixed Income Research at Cantor Fitzgerald 2005-2008.

David P. Goldman - Wikipedia

Anyway, intelligent readers can scrutinize and decide for themselves. In my observation, sanctions rarely work- and when you combine the reduction in R&D expenditure with US chip companies, and the splurge in this happening in China (with government sponsorship, and at least partially in response to the sanctions) I think Goldman is right.

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 08:29 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

I think Goldman is right.

Yes, you made a dopey prediction about Russia invading Ukraine as well. You two have a lot in common. You both spout shit propaganda.

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 08:35 AM

We, and a whole lot of other people considerably more prominent than both of us. Now, we all have to deal with the resultant mess the world is in. The war could, and should have been averted.

Hey, you can make the same excuse about your confident prediction that the Assad regime would fall within three weeks (over five years ago)- you read it in MSM.

Do the math: The chip industry was expected to spend $190 bn on Capex in 2022. By mid-year the estimate was $160 bn, now maybe $120 billion. The Biden CHIPS act is $50 billion over five years, maybe, minus the usual handouts to universities etc. This is a Monty Python sketch.

https://twitter.com/davidpgoldman/st...20567767224320

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

The war could, and should have been averted.

Yes, we know Putin could have chosen not to invade Ukraine, you dumb fuck.

your confident prediction that the Assad regime would fall within three weeks

And for the umpteenth time it would have without Putin committing war crimes there as well.

Why are you so serially stupid?

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 09:52 AM

Shitposter. The misguided sanctions will hurt the US semiconductor industry far more than the Chinese, in the medium term. In fact, they will likely hand China dominance.

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

Shitposter. The misguided sanctions will hurt the US semiconductor industry far more than the Chinese, in the medium term. In fact, they will likely hand China dominance.

You start drinking early, don't you?

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 10:02 AM

Dunno, why don't you send David Goldman a fax? Anything to say on the topic?

**sabang** · 15-10-2022, 11:33 AM

Shitposter, got anything to say on the topic?

**harrybarracuda** · 15-10-2022, 02:57 PM

Sabang appears to be mired in the bowels of alcoholic depression, hunting for his latest cliche to slap on every post.

**OhOh** · 19-10-2022, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by Switch

That’s just Chomsky’s opinion.

The view from China is easily available. Here is a link to their current activities:

20th CPC National Congress

Here are one commentator's opinions:

China: Xi Gets Ready for the Final Countdown

Pepe Escobar

October 18, 2022

What drives China and Russia is that sooner rather than later they will be ruling the Heartland.

"President Xi Jinping’s 1h45min speech at the opening of the 20^th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing was an absorbing exercise of recent past informing near future. All of Asia and all of the Global South should carefully examine it.

The Great Hall was lavishly adorned with bright red banners. A giant slogan hanging in the back of the hall read, “Long Live our great, glorious and correct party”.
Another one, below, functioned like a summary of the whole report:

“Hold high the great flag of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, carry forward the great founding spirit of the party, and unite and struggle to fully build a modern socialist country and to fully promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

True to tradition, the report outlined the CPC’s achievements over the past 5 years and China’s strategy for the next 5 – and beyond. Xi foresees “fierce storms” ahead, domestic and foreign. The report was equally significant for what was not spelled out, or left subtly implied.

Every member of the CPC’s Central Committee had already been briefed about the report – and approved it. They will spend this week in Beijing studying the fine print and will vote to adopt it on Saturday. Then a new CPC Central Committee will be announced, and a new Politburo Standing Committee – the 7 that really rule – will be formally endorsed.

This new leadership line-up will clarify the new generation faces that will be working very close to Xi, as well as who will succeed Li Keqiang as the new Prime Minister: he has finished his two terms and, according to the constitution, must step down.

There are also 2,296 delegates present at the Great Hall representing the CPC’s over 96 million members. They are not mere spectators: at the plenary session that ended last week, they analyzed in-depth every major issue, and prepared for the National Congress. They do vote on party resolutions – even as those resolutions are decided by the top leadership, and behind closed doors.

The key takeaways

Xi contends that in these past 5 years the CPC strategically advanced China while “correctly” (Party terminology) responding to all foreign challenges. Particularly key achievements include poverty alleviation, the normalization of Hong Kong, and progress in diplomacy and national defense.

It’s quite telling that Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was sitting in the second row, behind the current Standing Committee members, never took his eyes off Xi, while others were reading a copy of the report on their desk.

Compared to the achievements, success of the Xi-ordered Zero-Covid policy remains highly debatable. Xi stressed that it has protected people’s lives. What he could not possibly say is that the premise of his policy is to treat Covid and its variants as a U.S. bioweapon directed against China. That is, a serious matter of national security that trumps any other consideration, even the Chinese economy.

Zero-Covid hit production and the job market extremely hard, and virtually isolated China from the outside world. Just a glaring example: Shanghai’s district governments are still planning for zero-Covid on a timescale of two years. Zero-Covid will not go away anytime soon.

A serious consequence is that the Chinese economy will most certainly grow this year by less than 3% – well below the official target of “around 5,5%”.

Now let’s look at some of the Xi report’s highlights.

Taiwan: Beijing has started “a great struggle against separatism and foreign interference” on Taiwan.
Hong Kong: It is now “administered by patriots, making it a better place.” In Hong Kong there was “a major transition from chaos to order.” Correct: the 2019 color revolution nearly destroyed a major global trade/finance center.

Poverty alleviation: Xi hailed it as one of three “major events” of the past decade along with the CPC’s centenary and socialism with Chinese characteristics entering a “new era”. Poverty alleviation is the core of one of the CPC’s “two centenary goals.”

Opening up: China has become “a major trading partner and a major destination for foreign investment.” That’s Xi refuting the notion that China has grown more autarchic. China will not engage in any kind of “expansionism” while opening up to the outside world. The basic state policy remains: economic globalization. But – he didn’t say it – “with Chinese characteristics”.

“Self-revolution”: Xi introduced a new concept. “Self-revolution” will allow China to escape a historical cycle leading to a downturn. And “this ensures the party will never change.” So it’s the CPC or bust.
Marxism: definitely remains as one of the fundamental guiding principles. Xi stressed, “We owe the success of our party and socialism with Chinese characteristics to Marxism and how China has managed to adapt it.”

Risks: that was the speech’s recurrent theme. Risks will keep interfering with those crucial “two centenary goals”. Number one goal was reached last year, at the CPC’s 100^th anniversary, when China reached the status of a “moderately prosperous society” in all respects (xiaokang, in Chinese). Number two goal should be reached at the centenary of the People’s Republic of China in 2049: to “build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious.”

Development: the focus will be on “high-quality development”, including resilience of supply chains and the “dual circulation” economic strategy: expansion of domestic demand in parallel to foreign investment (mostly centered on BRI projects). That will be China’s top priority. So in theory any reforms will privilege a combination of “socialist market economy” and high-level opening, mixing the creation of more domestic demand with supply-side structural reform. Translation: “Dual-circulation” on steroids.

“Whole-process democracy”: that was the other new concept introduced by Xi. Translates as “democracy that works”, as in rejuvenating the Chinese nation under – what else – the CPC’s absolute leadership: “We need to ensure that people can exercise their powers through the People’s Congress system.”

Socialist culture: Xi said it’s absolutely essential “to influence young people”. The CPC must exercise ideological control and make sure the media fosters a generation of young people “who are influenced by traditional culture, patriotism and socialism”, thus benefitting “social stability”. The “China story” must go everywhere, presenting a China that is “credible and respectable”. That certainly applies to Chinese diplomacy, even the “Wolf Warriors”.

“Sinicise religion”: Beijing will continue its drive to “Sinicise religion”, as in “proactively” adapting “religion and the socialist society”. This campaign was introduced in 2015, meaning for instance that Islam and Christianity must be under CPC control and in line with Chinese culture.

The Taiwan pledge

Now we reach the themes that completely obsess the decaying Hegemon: the connection between China’s national interests and how they affect the civilization-state’s role in international relations.

National security: “National security is the foundation of national rejuvenation, and social stability is a prerequisite of national strength.”

The military: the PLA’s equipment, technology and strategic capability will be strengthened. It goes without saying that means total CPC control over the military.
“One country, two systems”: It has proven to be “the best institutional mechanism for Hong Kong and Macau and must be adhered to in the long term”. Both “enjoy high autonomy” and are “administered by patriots.” Xi promised to better integrate both into national strategies.

Taiwan reunification: Xi made a pledge to complete the reunification of China. Translation: return Taiwan to the motherland. That was met with a torrent of applause, leading to the key message, addressed simultaneously to the Chinese nation and “foreign interference” forces: “We will not renounce the use of force and will take all necessary measures to stop all separatist movements.” The bottom line: “The resolution of the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves, to be decided by the Chinese people.”

It’s also quite telling that Xi did not even mention Xinjiang by name: only by implication, when he stressed that China must strengthen the unity of all ethnic groups. Xinjiang for Xi and the leadership mean industrialization of the Far West and a crucial node in BRI: not the object of an imperial demonization campaign. They know that the CIA destabilization tactics used in Tibet for decades did not work in Xinjiang.

Shelter from the storm

Now let’s unpack some of the variables affecting the very tough years ahead for the CPC.

When Xi mentioned “fierce storms ahead”, that’s what he thinks about 24/7: Xi is convinced the USSR collapsed because the Hegemon did everything to undermine it. He won’t allow a similar process to derail China.

In the short term, the “storm” may refer to the latest round of the no holds barred American war on Chinese technology – not to mention free trade: cutting China off from buying or manufacturing chips and components for supercomputers.

It’s fair to consider Beijing keeps the focus long-term, betting that most of the world, especially the Global South, will move away from the U.S. high tech supply chain and prefer the Chinese market. As the Chinese increasingly become self sufficient, U.S. tech firms will end up losing world markets, economies of scale, and competitiveness.

Xi also did not mention the U.S. by name. Everyone in the leadership – especially the new Politburo – is aware of how Washington wants to

“decouple” from China in every possible way and will continue to provocatively deploy every possible strand of hybrid war.

Xi did not enter into details during his speech, but it’s clear the driving force going forward will be technological innovation linked to a global vision. That’s where BRI comes in, again – as the privileged field of application for these tech breakthroughs.

Only this way we can understand how Zhu Guangyao, a former vice minister of finance, may be sure that per capita GDP in China in 2035 would at least double the numbers in 2019 and reach $20,000.

The challenge for Xi and the new Politburo right away is to fix China’s structural economic imbalance. And pumping up debt-financed “investment” all over again won’t work.

So bets can be made that Xi’s third term – to be confirmed later this week – will have to concentrate on rigorous planning and monitoring of implementation, much more than during his previous bold, ambitious, abrasive but sometimes disconnected years. The Politburo will have to pay way more attention to technical considerations. Xi will have to delegate more serious policymaking autonomy to a bunch of competent technocrats.

Otherwise, we will be back to that startling observation by then Premier Wen Jiabao in 2007: China’s economy is “unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable”. That’s exactly where the Hegemon wants it to be.

As it stands, things are far from gloomy. The National Development and Reform Commission states that compared to the rest of the world, China’s consumer inflation is only “marginal”; the job market is steady; and international payments are stable.

Xi’s work report and pledges may also be seen as turning the usual Anglo-American geopolitical suspects – Mackinder, Mahan, Spykman, Brzezinski – upside down.

The China-Russia strategic partnership has no time to lose with global hegemonic games; what drives them is that sooner rather than later they will be ruling the Heartland – the world island – and beyond, with allies from the Rimland, and from Africa to Latin America, all participating in a new form of globalization.

Certainly with Chinese characteristics; but most of all, pan-Eurasian characteristics. The final countdown is already on."

https://strategic-culture.org/news/2...nal-countdown/

**helge** · 19-10-2022, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Marxism

Yeah, Baby

Way forward

**harrybarracuda** · 19-10-2022, 11:28 PM

A fascinating article that explains how Mr. Shithole parlayed a bit of nepotism into his dictator role.

How Xi Jinping made himself unchallengeable

Few foresaw that Xi Jinping would become the most assertive Chinese leader in decades - he is now all but set to secure a historic third term in power.

A decade ago little was known about Mr Xi - apart from the fact that he was a "princeling" because his father was one of the country's revolutionary leaders.

His lineage helped him win the support of party elders, which was crucial to ascending power within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as these leaders often wielded political influence even after retirement.

"Before his elevation, Xi Jinping was regarded as someone who could compromise with everyone," said Joseph Fewsmith, an expert in Chinese elite politics at Boston University.

But 10 years on, Mr Xi's authority appears to be unquestionable, and his power unrivalled. How did that happen?

Mao Zedong, the founding father of Communist China, once famously said: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mao ensured it was the party, not the state, which controlled the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Since then, the CCP leader has also been Central Military Commission (CMC) chairman.

Mr Xi was luckier than his predecessor Hu Jintao because he became the CMC chairman instantly - and wasted no time in weeding out opposition within the armed forces.

The most shocking episode came in 2014 and 2015, when former CMC Vice Chairman Xu Caihou and former PLA General Guo Boxiong were accused of corruption.

"They were already retired when the axe fell, but Xi's ability to target them reduced the former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin's lingering influence in the PLA," said Joel Wuthnow, a senior fellow at the Pentagon-funded National Defense University.

"It also sent a powerful signal to current serving military officers that no one who resists Xi's control is immune from harm," he added.

In 2015, Mr Xi also overhauled the structure of the military. He abolished the four military headquarters - staff, politics, logistics and armaments - and replaced them with 15 smaller agencies.

The new structure allows the CMC to issue orders directly to the various branches of the military - extending as far as even financial auditors, who now have to report directly to the CMC, adds Mr Wuthnow.

Above all this is the insistence upon absolute loyalty to Mr Xi - something that is still being reiterated.

Last month the People's Liberation Army Daily, the country's official military newspaper, published an article emphasising that the CMC is in overall command.

"The message helps counteract any tendency that might develop in the military to build loyalty towards senior PLA leaders who might someday oppose Xi," said Timothy Heath, a senior international defence researcher at US think tank RAND corporation.

"Loyalty to the party means the PLA is expected to carry out any and all orders to keep the party, and Xi in particular, in power."

After securing the gun barrel, it is essential to bring the knife - the internal security apparatus - under total control.

Two years after Mr Xi came to power, authorities confirmed the arrest of a "tiger", former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, for corruption. He was closely linked with Bo Xilai, another "princeling" who was a rival of Mr Xi's.

The investigation sent political shockwaves as it shattered the unspoken rule that members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful decision-making body, would not be subject to criminal punishment.

"Xi Jinping turned out to be a ruthlessly brilliant politician who patiently rose through the system before seizing his moment to rule," said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst of Eurasia Group.

"The communist party elders who supported Xi's rise were likely surprised by the speed and scale of his power grab."

Observers say Mr Xi's signature anti-corruption campaign is also used to remove his political rivals and other factions within the party.

In the past decade, more than 4.7 million people have been investigated by anti-corruption authorities.

"In the last two years, Xi further purged career security officials who supported his rise to power in the first place," said Victor Shih, a political scientist at University of California, San Diego.

"Now the security agencies are run almost exclusively by officials who shared a past history with Xi and who are presumably trusted by him."

Mr Xi has also stacked his loyalists at important regional posts, such as the party secretaries of key cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing.

These positions are are important because they are responsible for "interpreting and implementing central directives in localities with millions of people", said Mr Thomas.

At least 24 of the 31 provincial-level party secretaries are political associates of Xi, having previously known his family, studied with him, worked under him, or worked for one of his close allies, Mr Thomas says.

Meanwhile nearly all of the 281 standing committee members in provincial standing committees were promoted by Mr Xi, according to data compiled by Wu Guoguang, a politics professor at the University of Victoria in Canada.

In 2018 "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" was enshrined in China's constitution.

It may sound like a mouthful, but having an ideology named after him was something that cemented Mr Xi's legacy.

Before Mr Xi, only Chairman Mao achieved this. Even Deng Xiaoping, known as the architect of China's modernisation, only had a "theory" under his name, while Mr Xi's immediate predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, did not have any thought or theories attached to their names.

It's debatable what exactly Xi Jinping Thought means, but that's not the point, analysts say - it's a power move.

"Xi's thought is aimed primarily at strengthening Xi's own legitimacy and power above anyone else in the CCP and the country. It is part of a new personality cult that links up Xi not only to Mao but to the most glorious and successful Chinese emperors of yesteryear," says Jean-Pierre Cabestan, an emeritus professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Dozens of universities and institutions, including the prestigious Peking University and Tsinghua University, have set up research centres under Mr Xi's names, according to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.

In August, the Ministry of Education unveiled a plan to promote Xi Jinping Thought in the national curriculum.

In 2019, a mobile app called Xuexi Qiangguo - literally translated into "Learn from Xi, Strengthen the country" - that includes quizzes on Xi Jinping Thought was launched.

Mr Xi believes "he has the correct ideology, and everybody must accept it," says Andrew Nathan, a political science professor at Columbia University.

"Whenever Mao took a policy position, everybody else had to fall in line, and that is also true of Xi."

How Xi Jinping made himself unchallengeable - BBC News

**OhOh** · 19-10-2022, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by helge

Way forward

Originally Posted by OhOh

Xi stressed, “We owe the success of our party and socialism with Chinese characteristics to Marxism and how China has managed to adapt it.”

Depends on how China has, "managed to adapt it"

**helge** · 19-10-2022, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by OhOh

Depends on how "Marxism and how China has managed to adapt it"

Touche'

I'm ofcourse referring to "my" marxism and not some poor chinese replica.

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