Abstract
The conclusion points to the world-historical significance of China’s rise as a country which has tightened authoritarian rule despite rapid economic growth. While the Chinese leadership is making a concerted effort to upgrade its economy (symbolized by the “Made in China 2025” initiative), the jury is still out on its chances of success. Despite facing grave economic but also political challenges (particularly corruption), Xi Jinping has consolidated his top-down leadership, further controls on civil society have been imposed, and a mixed strategy of ideological legitimation adopted, including a cautious revival of Confucianism. This represents a sustained and systematic attempt to attain modernity while remaining authoritarian. The regime is doing its utmost to avoid the “modernization trap” and retain one-party rule indefinitely.
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Notes
- 1.
Phillip Orchard (2018) argues that China “wants to transition to a consumption-based economy” with a large service sector and an advanced high-tech sector which is more sustainable than overreliance on exports and state investment emphasized in the country’s current economic policies. But “its domestic consumer base is not yet wealthy enough to support the level of economic productivity needed to allow for that transition. With a trade war looming, a shift to domestic consumption is becoming all the more urgent. Beijing is scrambling to conjure up yet another economic miracle.”
- 2.
But more recent events—such as a major vaccine scandal in 2018 which indicates corruption is still rampant—appear to have dented Xi’s popularity. Wang Xiangwei (2018) suggests: “In this age of the internet, emails, and social media, it is mission impossible in a country with a population of 1.3 billion people” to control public opinion. “The truth is that the disgruntlement on social media has never ceased.” While censors remain busy, critics continue to find ways to vent their anger in social media. “The overreach of the censors had even led to this ridiculous decision to ban the release of Disney’s new Winnie the Pooh film—reportedly because some social media users had compared Xi to the fictional bear.”
- 3.
Removing the presidential-term limit was largely symbolic, however, as Xi also serves as the CCP’s general secretary and chairman of Central Military Commission, positions more powerful than the presidency which have no term limits (Wang 2018). Nonetheless, all previous post-Mao paramount leaders—Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zimen, Hu Jintao—whatever their official positions with or without term limits, surrendered power; and, after Deng, according to formal institutional rules, it is unclear this is something Xi will ever do.
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Thompson, M.R. (2019). Conclusion. In: Authoritarian Modernism in East Asia. Security, Development and Human Rights in East Asia. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51167-6_6
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