All in all, Xi stacking the PSC will make US really want to block CN more. Brand Xi must not allowed to win at any cost. Because if any @FairAndUnbiased huge win goal achieved not only neutral countries tries to copy China Political brand, it will follow Xi's centralizing characteristic which libs utterly despise.
Chinese Internal Politics
- Thread starter FairAndUnbiased
- Start date
Sorry bro it was typo..
One thing is almost certain, Xi is staying not for one but it looks like at least for two more terms.
I have to say that this degree of control over the PBSC by 1 person is unprecedented, literally without historical precedent.
5/7 are Xi Jinping or a personal friend of Xi Jinping: Xi himself, Ding, Cai, Li Q, Li X. Only Zhao and Wang are not a personal friend of Xi. Meanwhile Ding X, Cai Q, Li Q, Li X all have no real political base other than personally knowing Xi because they do not have critical experience like national office (Cai, LiQ, LiX) or regional office (Ding). Without Xi, they have no power.
Meanwhile, let's compare to Mao's Politburos. Mao always kept people with independent political power around him like Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, all of whom were powerful leaders in their own right. Mao did not stack the Politburo with his personal friends. This meant that when Mao and Zhou died, there were people waiting in the wings that could credibly hold national power like Hua Guofeng and Deng Xiaoping.
If say Xi got a heart attack, on the other hand, 5/7 of the PBSC is lost, because 4 of the people sitting there don't have personal political power. Cai/LiQ/LiX only had regional leadership, but no national leadership, how do they credibly formulate or even evaluate national policy? Ding never held executive power, how does he credibly know how to translate theory to the mechanisms of government policy? It will be up to Zhao and Wang to carry the country, and they're old too.
I have a bad feeling about this. I would have felt much better if Hu was up there.
5/7 are Xi Jinping or a personal friend of Xi Jinping: Xi himself, Ding, Cai, Li Q, Li X. Only Zhao and Wang are not a personal friend of Xi. Meanwhile Ding X, Cai Q, Li Q, Li X all have no real political base other than personally knowing Xi because they do not have critical experience like national office (Cai, LiQ, LiX) or regional office (Ding). Without Xi, they have no power.
Meanwhile, let's compare to Mao's Politburos. Mao always kept people with independent political power around him like Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, all of whom were powerful leaders in their own right. Mao did not stack the Politburo with his personal friends. This meant that when Mao and Zhou died, there were people waiting in the wings that could credibly hold national power like Hua Guofeng and Deng Xiaoping.
If say Xi got a heart attack, on the other hand, 5/7 of the PBSC is lost, because 4 of the people sitting there don't have personal political power. Cai/LiQ/LiX only had regional leadership, but no national leadership, how do they credibly formulate or even evaluate national policy? Ding never held executive power, how does he credibly know how to translate theory to the mechanisms of government policy? It will be up to Zhao and Wang to carry the country, and they're old too.
I have a bad feeling about this. I would have felt much better if Hu was up there.
This is pretty much how western governments stack their cabinets if they win an absolute majority. Using your allies in the top leadership means you can decide without wasting time on political fights
Seriously, are things really going to be real bad with the new batch of the leadership?!
I was hoping for a Chinese/Asian/East Asian Century, not an American Century 2.0!
I was hoping for a Chinese/Asian/East Asian Century, not an American Century 2.0!
China is not a western government. Let's look at Russia - even Putin is smart enough to not stack his cabinet.
PM of Russia
Party Chair of United Russia: Dmitri Medvedev. Personal friend of Putin.
Chairman of State Duma:
Chairman of Federation Council:
Minister of Defense: S
Minister of Foreign Affairs:
Minister of Internal Affairs:
FSB Chief:
FIS Chief:
Presidential chief of staff:
Secretary of Security Council:
Special Representative for Environment and Transport:
Of the top 12 standing members of the Russian Security Council who are not Putin, 6 are technocrats, 6 are Putin's personal friends.
Of the top 6 standing members of the PBSC who are not Xi, 2 are technocrats, 4 are Xi's personal friends.
Putin had the wisdom from working in FSB for decades to not surround himself with only yes-men.
Putin is said to have stacked his cabinet with too many personal friends which is responsible for the poor Russian performance in Ukraine. But he only has 1/2 of his cabinet being his friends, not 2/3.
You're implying (a) being Xi's" personal friend" is what got them in, and (b) being Xi's "personal friend" means they are automatically less qualified for their job.
What's your basis?
Note: Personal friends and yes-men colleagues are quite different things.
This can be understood the other way too though.
Maybe the reason why Putin cant put all his allies is because he isn't strong enough politically. Meaning that Putin does this not because that's how he wants it to be, but because political reality forces him.
If you are strong enough, and Xi certainly is after being proven competent, why then do you have to unnecessarily limit/constrain your political power. Limiting yourself politically means that the whole decision making gets slower. On the downside of the current situation, this limits consideration for alternative viewpoints. After all, if Xi says something, who would dare to go against him?
I am not too familiar with all of these people but what I do know is that Xi has shown me that he has vision and the capability to achieve it. The results will speak for themselves in a short five years.
I will also add it’s odd to dismiss a comparison between China and the West and then compare the government structures of China and Russia