XI RETURNS TO BASICS: Bye, bye capitalism, Welcome socialist crackdown

XI RETURNS TO BASICS: Bye, bye capitalism, Welcome socialist crackdown

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By Valentin Popescu*

President Xi Jinping launches sweeping socialist reforms to address inequality in the world’s second-biggest economy. He has got his eye on a huge segment of the economy that has powered economic growth in recent years - billionaires,

celebrities, property, gaming and technology companies. He has spared none and argued the side-effect of growth has been inequality and that it is time for “common prosperity”.

Despite being technically a “Communist” country, the Chinese government had put its faith in trickle-down economics, believing that allowing some people to become extremely rich would benefit all of society by dragging it out of the disastrous quagmire of Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution as quickly as possible.

To an extent it worked. A large middle class has emerged and people in virtually all strata of society now have better living standards as a result.

The concept of socialism -“with Chinese characteristics” - allowed the government massive philosophical leeway to run a society which, in many ways, was not very socialist at all.

General Secretary Xi Jinping appears to have decided that this is no longer acceptable. The Chinese government, under his leadership, has started putting the Communist back in the Communist Party, at least to some extent. The new catchphrase is “common prosperity”.

When Xi took command of the CPC in 2012 and proclaimed “only socialism can save China”, it was largely ignored as the perfunctory mention of an antiquated slogan - not to be taken literally in a modern-day, market-powered economy.

First, he launched an anti-corruption purge, interned millions of Uighurs, launched sinicisation of Tibet in name of “culture of unity” and crushed the hopes of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Now Xi’s sweeping new policy moves from crackdown on internet companies, for profit education, online gaming and property market excesses, to the promulgation of “Common Prosperity” - show his seriousness in steering China back towards its socialist roots.

Having done away with term limits in 2018, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong is pushing what some observers describe as a mini “revolution”, curbing the excesses of capitalism and shedding negative cultural influences of the West. The effort, touching everything from school curriculums including the study of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” -to tighter regulation of the property sector and a squeeze on what the government sees as unwholesome entertainment, has rattled investors and prompted officials and state media to try to assuage markets.

So, does Xi Jinping really believe in this idea of a Communist project? Some observers say it certainly seems that way.

Xi also seems to believe that this means thrusting the Party back into most aspects of daily life, as the only realistic way of achieving what needs to be done.

Under Mao, the party doctrine aspired to free people from the exploitation of capital, destroy private ownership and defeat American imperialism.

Deng Xiaoping, Mao’s successor, took a pragmatic turn, allowing market forces to incentivise production and unleashing four decades of breakneck growth that fuelled massive wealth accumulation - but also deep inequality.

The latest round of reforms is enabled by Xi’s consolidation of control since taking office - he unleashed a massive anti-corruption campaign, eliminated space for public dissent, and reasserted Communist Party power - with himself at the “core” - across all aspects of society. However, many in China express scepticism over the crackdowns on daily life in the name of “socialism”.

—*About the author: A basketball player by training, musician by temperament, and part-time teacher Popescu is a blogger with interest in South Asia and South-east Asia because of childhood memories; she lives in London for a living and frequents native Baneasa in Bucharest, Romania.