U.S. intelligence has analyzed and reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee on the designation of “helmsman,” the highest Mao-era title, given to Xi Jinping, the Communist Party’s general secretary, after last year’s Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee.
The Washington Times reported on May 3 that Defense Intelligence Agency Director Scott D. Berrier said this indicates Xi’s continued consolidation of power and his new status, as “helmsman” is the highest authority title used only by Communist Party leader Mao Zedong. The title of “helmsman” is the highest authority ever used by Communist Party leader Mao Zedong.
Late last week, Baril told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, “I think Xi Jinping has a firm grip on control in every aspect of the party, the military and Chinese society.” In his analysis, Xi’s position changed significantly after last October’s Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee.
The official communiqué following last year’s meeting said that with Xi Jinping as the “core navigator at the helm,” “we will be able to overcome all kinds of difficulties and obstacles that arise on the way forward.” Speaking at the two sessions in 2018, Xi’s beloved Li Zhanshu also said that Xi is “the helmsman of the socialist state with Chinese characteristics and the leader of the people in the new era.”
Baril analyzed, “The communiqué likely marks Xi’s unique political status within the party, where he is referred to as ‘steering the helm,’ a title not used since Mao Zedong.”
Some analysts believe Xi is planning to consolidate his rule under the extreme Communist Party system, in an apparent attempt to be Mao Zedong II.
Mr. Zhang Jiadun, a U.S. expert on China, then retweeted the Washington Times article and commented, “Many China watchers insist that Xi will not take China back to the Mao era, but he is doing so now, and that will not end well.”
Previous Voice of America analysis said that Xi Jinping has unabashedly followed Mao Zedong, seeking personal authoritarian status while promoting a cult of the individual step by step. 2017 saw the Communist Party’s propaganda mouthpiece Xinhua call Xi Jinping the “leader of the new era,” and by 2020 Xi Jinping will be “helmsman” in 2020.
Analysts believe that Xi’s escalating cult of the individual is a source of widespread concern, given the scourge that Mao’s authoritarianism and cult of the individual brought to the Chinese people.
Recent Comments