Kerry Brown writes: China new ideology is Xiism. Xi’s power could be seen through his control over Party messaging.
Xi’s colleague, Premier Li Keqiang visited the UK, India and other countries during the year, but his profile was low. It seems that the real manager of China’s slowing economy was Liu He, who Xi regards as one of his most trusted advisors.
Both Xi and Li remained consistent on one issue: China’s growth rate is now set at below 7.5 per cent and the Chinese people have to live in a world where double-digit GDP growth is a thing of the past. The main focus now is on creating an economy that is service sector orientated, that consumes more, that is more urban, and that is less driven by investment than it has been in the past.
Xi spearheaded a diplomatic offensive, visiting countries in Latin America, Africa, South Asia and then, in November, attending the G20 summit in Brisbane, visiting Canberra and travelling to New Zealand and Fiji. In Brussels in late March he articulated the concept of the EU and China being ‘civilisational partners’. But he also managed to come up with the New Silk Road mantra, which covered a land and maritime link. And he embraced a Russia ostracised by Europe and America.
Even with the US, Xi was able to produce a major environment protocol with his American counterpart. He also announced with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott final details of a Free Trade Agreement, and supported an Asia-wide free trade zone concept, the FTAAP. A tepid rapprochement was made with Japan in November.
After its initial support for the Hong Kong government’s proposals for how elections for the Chief Executive in 2017 might be run, it largely kept out of direct dealings with the protests in the city. On Taiwan, too, Xi continued to be a mixture of pushy and supportive of incumbent President Ma Jing-jeou.
Ironically, perhaps the one area where Xi seemed to be bereft of new ideas was North Korea, which he dealt with largely by ignoring it.
In one area XI remained consistent with its predecessors: human rights lawyers and dissidents were ruthlessly dealt with: IIlham Tohti, a Beijing-based Uighur academic received a life sentence. Academics, intellectuals and people from the artistic sphere were given strict instructions on what was proscribed.
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