Tag: National Security Commission (China)

As Xi Looks to Extend His Rule, He Leans on a Longtime Ally

Media Library

As China’s leader, Xi Jinping, forges toward a fourth term in power, he confronts a dilemma common to aging autocrats: testing and recruiting a rising generation of loyal officials while ensuring his own dominance. To manage this looming challenge, he is leaning on Cai Qi, a longtime deputy who is probably the most influential official in Mr. Xi’s inner circle. Tall, silver-haired, and constantly at Mr. Xi’s side, Mr. Cai is a supercharged chief of staff to his leader. Mr. Cai holds multiple leading roles, including in national security and…

Xi Jinping Picks Team to Work Under Him for the Next Five Years

Chin@Strategy

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, was confirmed to a norm-breaking third term as state president on Friday, further formalizing his position as China’s most dominant leader in decades. The announcement was no surprise: Mr. Xi oversaw the abolition of presidential term limits in 2018, and in October he secured a third term as head of the Chinese Communist Party, the position from which his real authority derives. Now, as the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp legislature concludes in the coming days, many of his loyalists are being elevated to the…

In Turbulent Times, Xi Builds a Security Fortress for China, and Himself

Chin@Strategy

Over informal, private meals with American leaders, China’s Xi Jinping let his guard down a little. It was a decade ago, relations were less strained, and Mr. Xi, still cementing his power, hinted he worried about the Chinese Communist Party’s grip. Speaking privately with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Xi suggested that China was a target of “color revolutions,” a phrase the party adopted from Russia for popular unrest in the name of democracy and blamed on the West. The recent “Arab Spring” uprisings across the…