China: Xi Jinping invokes history to legitimize his power

Published on : 11/08/2021 – 5:23 PM

A precise history revised and corrected by Xi Jinping. Chinese president must present a resolution on the history of the Chinese Communist Party on the occasion of the sixth plenum of the central committee of the party, which begins Monday, November 8 and will last four days.

It will even be the focal point of this great rally which brings together the 300 most important cadres of the Chinese regime. The details of this document are not yet known, but it should be a “reinterpretation of certain recent Chinese historical events”, explains Marc Lanteigne, specialist in Chinese policy at the Arctic University of Norway, contacted by France 24.

In the footsteps of Mao and Deng Xiaoping

It’s hard to imagine that a document recounting the “great achievements” of the Chinese Communist Party could become the main course on the menu of one of the most important annual summits of the country’s governing bodies.

However, “it is an extremely important document because it will be only the third time in the 100 years of the history of the party that a Chinese leader thus authorized himself to publish such a resolution”, recalls Olivia Cheung, specialist of the. contemporary Chinese political history at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, contacted by France 24.

Before Xi Jinping, only Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping had ventured on the path of historical rewriting. In 1945, the founder of Communist China had thus used the weapon of historic resolution to criticize the past actions of his opponents (which he had, moreover, had arrested) and to assert the principle of his absolute authority over the party.

Almost forty years later, in 1981, Deng Xiaoping dared to criticize the cultural revolution led by Mao Zedong between 1965 and 1976, while laying the foundations for his political and economic reforms.

Their courses in historical orthodoxy have therefore always “deeply marked the Chinese political and social landscape”, underlines The Guardian.

No wonder Xi Jinping decides to draw the same historic weapon. For him, first of all, it is a new way of following in the footsteps of two of his most illustrious predecessors. He had already done so during celebrations of the 100 years of the Communist Party in July 2021 and also on the occasion of the 19^e party congress in 2017, when he had his “ideas” registered in the party statutes alongside those of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

It has become a fixture for the Chinese president. He wants to create a kind of Holy Trinity of Chinese leaders allowing him to establish an ideological connection between himself and the two other great political figures in the history of Communist China. “There would thus have been a first political era – that of the revolution with Mao Zedong – then the second era which corresponds to that of the reforms of Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping would embody the third era, that of the consolidation of the regime”, explained in 2017 at France 24 Jean-Pierre Cabestan, specialist in China and director of the department of international studies at the Baptist University of Hong Kong.

History lessons for personal ambitions

But it is not only a question “of cementing its place in the political history of the country”, assures Marc Lanteigne. This resolution should also serve Xi Jinping’s agenda. First, “by giving legitimacy to his ambition to carry out a third term”, underlines the researcher from the Norwegian university.

It is, indeed, one of the most politically sensitive issues in China. Xi Jinping is expected to ask the next party Congress in 2022 to let him continue to lead the country beyond the two five-year terms that have become the norm… since Deng Xiaoping.

One of the main points of the landmark 1981 resolution was to limit the number of terms in order to prevent another leader from developing a cult of personality similar to that established by Mao Zedong. “The collective exercise of power was very important in the eyes of Deng Xiaoping,” said Olivia Cheung.

It is a real ideological puzzle for Xi Jinping. It is difficult, in fact, to praise the merits of his illustrious predecessor while going against his teaching by running for a third term. “It is thus probable that Xi Jinping’s historic resolution will revisit the history of Deng Xiaoping’s reign by minimizing the importance of the elements that could harm his ambition to continue to reign,” said Olivia Cheung.

It’s also a safe bet that Xi Jinping’s history class presents some recent events – starting with the economic-political confrontation with the United States or the health crisis – in a threatening light in order to sell the idea. “that this would not be the moment to change direction at the risk of leaving struggles to be able to weaken the party”, affirms Marc Lanteigne.

Vade retro “historical nihilism”

According to this researcher, this resolution should also be an opportunity for the Chinese president to place his new political mantra – “common prosperity” – in a certain historical logic. To this end, Xi Jinping will no longer only have to do a work of rewriting or historical reinterpretation, but rather of revisionism. All recent Chinese economic history revolves around economic growth at all costs, even if it means increasing inequalities.

It is quite the opposite of the concept of “common prosperity” which is based on more controlled growth accompanied by a more equitable sharing of wealth. The historic resolution “will seek to show that the party has always had common prosperity as a priority in order to give the impression that Xi Jinping is part of the continuity of Chinese political history and not in rupture”, analyzes Marc Lanteigne .

Finally, this historic third resolution must also become a shield against what Xi Jinping perceives “as one of the main threats hanging over the party: ‘historical nihilism'”, assures Marc Lanteigne. It would be a question of fighting against the temptation to accept several versions of the history of the Chinese Communist Party. The history lesson that Xi Jinping is preparing to give “must serve as a standard for years to come, a standard from which we cannot deviate,” summarizes Olivia Cheung. And this is not just a detail because, as Marc Lanteigne reminds us, “Xi Jinping believes that ‘historical nihilism’ – that is to say, accepting the questioning of the official narrative – is what accelerated the fall of the Soviet regime “.