'..The feudal system protected the cycle of dynastic succession, which propped up the despotism of those both fit and unfit for office .. Xi’s vision for China’s future suggests a great leap backward, in which old lessons remain unlearned.''Yet Xi’s mission should be regarded in the context of a collective and profound post-traumatic stress disorder, the result of almost two centuries of cataclysmic events in China, beginning with the devastation of the Opium Wars, which exposed the country for the first time in its history to a superior force—Great Britain—and shook the very meaning of Chinese identity and its inherent sense of exceptionalism. Xi, and many others in China, long for an era when the country occupied the pinnacle of civilization. But those days were accompanied by the absolutism of emperors whose levels of competence were a matter of caprice. The feudal system protected the cycle of dynastic succession, which propped up the despotism of those both fit and unfit for office. For every Tang Taizong, who ushered in the golden years of the Tang Dynasty, there were many others like Empress Dowager Cixi, who usurped the throne, crippled the path of progress, and contributed to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty.
As Xi made clear today, during his three-hour address to the Party Congress, he sees this moment as “a new historic juncture in China’s development”—and himself as the man to seize it. He seems to believe that the more power he amasses, the easier it will be for him to enact the kind of monumental changes necessary to transform China into the world’s leading superpower..
Xi has also used his growing power to curb that of his citizens. Under his rule, China has become increasingly repressive. The media is censored and civil society has been muted .. Xi is steering the country away from the rule of law and toward the rule of the Party.
..setting the precedent of a modern-day emperor ensnares Chinese politics in a cycle of volatility and unsustainability that renders an entire nation vulnerable, once again, to the whimsy of an individual. “Several thousand years ago, the Chinese nation trod a path that was different from other nations’ culture and development,” Xi said in a speech to the Politburo in 2014. “We should be more respectful and mindful of five thousand years of continuous Chinese culture.” Xi’s vision for China’s future suggests a great leap backward, in which old lessons remain unlearned.
- Jiayang Fan,
At the Communist Party Congress, Xi Jinping Plays the Emperor, October 18, 2017
Context'..Putin’s Russia .. feudalism..' - '..The Byzantine choice was fundamental in the evolution of Russian society and state compared to Western Europe..''..Interpol's credibility is on the line..' - '..protecting the civil liberties — including privacy rights — of citizens..''..Mr. Cook .. Reporters Without Borders has referred to China as the "enemy of the Internet."..''..this long Credit cycle going back to the conclusion of WW II .. the “granddaddy of Bubbles”..'All Hail Chinese Emperor Xi Jinping: Will He Make China Great Again?, October 18, 2017