Xi Jinping--The Modern Mao Zedong?

The People's Republic of China was formed in 1949 after the Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War against the Nationalists. The Chinese Communist Party was founded by Mao Zedong, a Marxist student, who would later be known as the "principal architect" of communist China and later the authoritarian ruler of communist China (Schram). During his rule, Mao Zedong used fear, political purges, and political campaigns as incentives to gain support and eliminate the opposition within the party. Similar to Mao, current President Xi Jinping has been purging military officials to consolidate his power and suppress potential opposition within the Chinese Communist Party. Xi Jinping's current military purges and increasing centralization of the military around him demonstrate the ways in which President Xi has become the modern-day Mao Zedong.

Mao Zedong believed that controlling the military is essential to maintain political, social, and economic dominance in a nation (Britannica CCP). This was clear, as under Mao's leadership, political rivals and critics were punished and dismissed via purges, predominantly during the Cultural Revolution and 'Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom' in 1956. During the 'Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom' movement, Mao encouraged the criticism of the government to improve comunism ut it led to the Rightists, who were people who criticized the government and were then punished, imprisoned, or sent to labor camps. While in the Cultural Revolution, Mao removed old ideas, enemies, and schools, and as a result, there was a lot of economic damage and the persecution of millions. Alike, Xi Jinping has created a society built on loyalty to him that is reinforced with fear, surveillance, and threats of retaliation.

The Chinese Communist Party has remained the sole ruling political party of China since it was founded in 1921 (Britannica CCP). This is an impressive feat for China to remain moderately consistent with politics for almost a century; however, with growing concerns internationally about the current reformation of China's government, countries like Taiwan, the U.S., and even Japan remain on edge, as China's revitalization of its army could be a potential sign that China is preparing for the reunification of Taiwan (Sacks).

Taiwan and China have had a strained relationship since the Nationalists, the opposing political party, fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War in 1949 under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek. Taiwan is now officially known as the Republic of China; however, it remains separate from Mainland China (The People's Republic of China) by the Taiwan Strait (Sacks). China continues to claim that Taiwan is a "breakaway territory" that requires reunification with Mainland China. Yet, China has never governed Taiwan (Sacks). Xi Jinping urges Taiwan to become part of Mainland China as "one country, two systems," but this approach has been unpopular among the Taiwanese people because Beijing had also promised this to Hong Kong, and as of late, there has been a recent "crackdown on Hong Kong's freedoms" (Sacks). Also, alongside China's new military purges, there has been an increase in Chinese pressure on Taiwan, including more military drills, naval exercises, cyberattacks, and even intimidation of countries that have ties with Taiwan. For example, in 2021, China cut off all trade with Lithuania because it opened a Taiwanese representative office in its capital (Sacks). This show of power and open acts of retaliation against other countries in differing stances of China reflects Mao Zedong's harsh way of ensuring authority internationally and domestically.

Xi Jinping has purged hundreds of generals under accusations of corruption and disloyalty, with many of the purged military officials going missing soon after (France24 English). The purges focus on the service chiefs, rocket force, logistics, and training departments, which suggests that Xi distrusts his military (Lin). The purges demonstrate China's biggest military leadership changes in modern history, especially regarding control over China's nuclear missiles, as many of Xi's purges have been on the Rocket Force (Economist and Lin). This has increased political tensions as these purges are seen to make the military more "combat-ready" (France24 English).

The U.S. government voiced its concerns, stating that Xi Jinping has ordered the People's Liberation Army to prepare to seize Taiwan by force by 2027, and this may result in a China-U.S. confrontation as the United States has not yet ruled out defending Taiwan if China attacks (France24 English and Sacks). Moreover, according to Zongyuan Zoe Liu, the senior fellow at the Counter of Foreign Relations in New York City, the timing for Xi Jinping's purges suggests that Xi is not concentrated on just the corruption within the government but has ulterior motives as he has purged many of the generals he himself has promoted (Lin and France 24 English). Claudia Astarita, a researcher at Leon's Far East Asia Institute at the French Political Science Institute in Paris, commented on how the once seven-person military is now down to two, reemphasizing Brian Hioe, the founder of New Bloom Magazine's thoughts that while the purges are potential signs of war, it is still incredibly hard to know from the outside looking into China's government (France 24 English).

As a student of Mao, Xi Jinping has followed suit in concentrating military power around him (The Economist). And even with increasing international pressures surrounding China's political stance, Xi Jinping has shown no effort to not continue his military purges and authoritarian ways, as he claims, "There must be no one in the military who harbors disloyalty to the [Communist] party" (Xi).

Even though many believe that China's military purges may be a sign of war, Brian Hioe believes that Taiwan will most likely believe that the purge makes it less likely China will attack because the purges signal a need for reform in the People's Liberation Army (France24 English).

Although Xi Jinping has presented as fighting corruption, his control of the military resembles that of Mao during the Cultural Revolution, Great Leap Forward, and 'Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom" movement. Exactly as Mao was willing to make sacrifices of the Chinese people to achieve his goal of complete international and domestic power, Xi Jinping has shown through his military purges that he is willing to take an aggressive, dictatorial stance to stabilize and improve China. Though China is considerably more advanced compared to when Mao was leader, Mao's legacy, ideology, and goals live on through Xi Jinping.