ESSAY: THE CHAIRMAN

-Published on June 9, 2023 by "The China Project"

link to China Project website

THE CHAIRMAN

by Phil Cunningham

Given the long shadow cast by Máo Zédōng 毛泽东, the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China, it is probably inevitable that his successors should be compared with him to a greater or lesser extent, but no post-Mao leader begs the comparison more than Xí Jìnpíng 习近平.

This has become increasingly evident on the prime-time news program of state broadcaster CCTV, Xīnwén Liánbò 新闻联播, where Xi is daily revered in quasi-Maoist style adulation and is uniformly the focus of the top story.

But it doesn’t end there. The threads of his influence permeate the entire domestic news segment, in quotes and accolades, as can be seen in the May 31 and June 1 news cycles, where there are lengthy segments of Xi greeting and being greeted by children, with several shots reminiscent of Mao and happy children posters of yore.

Not surprisingly, given the acute centralization of power, Xi also sets the tone for coverage of foreign affairs, the dis…