Is President Xi trying to revive Maoist dictatorship?

A front-page leader in the New York Times of 4 January 2015 shows how the West is trying to read the tea-leaves of President Xi's political stance and what it would mean for China. Grasping the tail of the elephant, various commentators perceive the animal's shape as what seems a tubular, sharp-pointed, latter-day form of Maoist dictatorship. Collective leadership which has characterized China's politics in recent decades is now dead in the water, they claim. 

There is a ring of truth in this prognosis. The whole truth, however, is more complex and multidimensional.

The fallacy of the New York Times article lies in its fundamental contradictions. On the one hand it fears a lurch away from the market, the rule of law and a rebound towards cultural revolutionary rhetoric.

On the other hand, it fails to note that it was President Xi who for the first time elevated the Market to a "decisive role" in the economy with policies to built a more equitable and just society (Third Plenum). It was he who mandated that to enhance Party legitimacy, the Rule of Law (or Rule by Law) needs to be upheld regardless of ranks (Fourth Plenum). It was also he who brought about the downfall of the Bo Xilai gang who trumpeted red-revolutionary fervency.

The reality is that China is now entering into a socioeconomic and political watershed with deep and turbulent under-currents. When one of the writers of the NY Times article says Xi was the guy the Communist Party wanted from the start, he was only partial with the truth.

The whole truth is that the Party has realized that without systemic reforms, not least to fight entrenched corruption and power abuse, the whole Party boat may sink, bringing everybody down. Xi was the leader chosen to do the job and he must be given unprecedented authority to overcome powerful vested interests in the system. 

However, that doesn't mean China wants or has to copy the West's election-cycle-dominated and confrontational multiparty politics. Indeed, China wants to find her own development model and path towards democracy. The D-word is by no means shunted even in high-level public addresses. However, unless a better model proves to work in the unique, historical, cultural, economic and political context of China, she is unlikely to give up the one-party rule any time soon. Click here

But while the quest continues, China wants above all to maintain political stability, which is essential for the country with 1.3 billion people to try out various reform agendas. If this means cracking down on certain forces that seem to rock the boat too much at any given time, so be it.

Perhaps President Xi could be more relaxed about liberalism. But once the big genie is lightly let out of the bottle, it would be difficult to put it back again with a population the size of one fifth of mankind, including nearly 500 million peasants, many of whom remain relatively uneducated. 

Xi has the weight of China''s history on his shoulders. To him, it is better to be safe than sorry. But this doesn't mean that he is turning China back towards Maoist dictatorship.