The rise of Xi Jinping, explained

Summary

This video explores the rise of Xi Jinping, from his youth during the Cultural Revolution to becoming one of the most powerful leaders in China's history. It details the political maneuvering and purges he undertook to consolidate power, drawing parallels to Mao Zedong. The narrative highlights Xi's strategic moves, the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party, and the significant shifts in China's domestic and international policies under his leadership. The video also addresses the impacts of Xi's reign, including economic growth, increased global presence, and human rights concerns.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The script discusses the top leadership of China's ruling party, revealed every five years at the National Congress.
• 👑 Xi Jinping emerged as the top leader for a historic third term in October 2022, signaling his potential plan to stay in power for life.
• 🔗 Xi's connection to Mao Zedong is explored, highlighting how Mao's actions during Xi's childhood impacted his rise to power.
• 💡 The script details Mao's Long March and how it established him as the de facto head of the Communist Party and the military.
• 🛠️ Deng Xiaoping's post-Mao reforms aimed to prevent the consolidation of power around one person, promoting collective leadership.
• 🌟 Xi Jinping's strategic career in rural provinces helped him rise to power without direct competition from other elite 'princelings.'
• 🎯 Xi's anti-corruption campaign targeted rivals, consolidating his control over the party and the military.
• 📜 Xi Jinping's ideology, 'Xi Jinping Thought,' was established as the core guiding principle of the Communist Party in 2021.
• 📈 Under Xi's leadership, China's economy and international presence have grown significantly, despite internal and external challenges.
• 🔍 The script concludes with Xi's ongoing dominance in Chinese politics, reinforced by loyal supporters in key positions.

Q & A

What is the significance of the National Congress in China?

The National Congress is a carefully choreographed political event where the top leadership positions of the Chinese Communist Party are revealed every five years.

Who was the first person to emerge at the most recent National Congress in October 2022?

Xi Jinping, China's president for the last ten years, emerged first, indicating his continued leadership and a historic third term.

How did Xi Jinping manage to stay in power for a third term?

Xi Jinping removed China's presidential term limit, which previously restricted all his predecessors to two terms, signaling that he may be planning to stay in power for life.

How does Xi Jinping's leadership compare to Mao Zedong's?

Xi Jinping has been compared to Mao Zedong due to his significant influence and control over China, with Xi being the only leader since Mao to have unchecked power.

What historical event significantly influenced Xi Jinping's early life?

Xi Jinping's early life was significantly influenced by Mao's Cultural Revolution, during which his father was purged, and Xi was sent to the countryside to do hard labor.

What was the Long March, and how did it impact the Chinese Communist Party?

The Long March was a year-long retreat of the Red Army, led by Mao Zedong, to establish a new communist base. It solidified Mao's leadership and saved the Red Army from total annihilation.

What is the Politburo Standing Committee, and why is it significant?

The Politburo Standing Committee is an elite group within the Chinese Communist Party that holds supreme control over the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, making it the ultimate authority in China.

How did Deng Xiaoping's leadership differ from Mao Zedong's?

Deng Xiaoping moved away from Maoism, promoting power sharing and economic reforms that opened up China to international trade and economic growth.

How did Xi Jinping's career path differ from other Princelings?

Xi Jinping spent many years working in rural provinces, away from Beijing's political competition, which helped him build a reputation as a hard-working leader and gain a strong base of support.

What major policy did Xi Jinping introduce to solidify his control over the Chinese Communist Party?

Xi Jinping introduced the third historic resolution, which unified the party's ideology around 'Xi Jinping Thought,' making his personal political ideology the core guiding principle of the party.

Outlines

00:00

🇨🇳 The Seven Most Powerful Men in China

The seven top leaders of China's ruling party are revealed every five years at the National Congress. Xi Jinping, who emerged in the top spot in October 2022, signifies his possible intent to stay in power for life. This section draws comparisons between Xi and Mao Zedong, highlighting Xi's rise from a young boy whose life Mao ruined to becoming one of the most powerful figures in the world.

05:03

🏛️ The Structure of the Chinese Communist Party

The highest authority in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the Central Committee, with the Politburo and the elite Politburo Standing Committee wielding supreme control. Mao Zedong's ascent during the Long March positioned him at the top of the CCP and the military, consolidating his power through the declaration of Mao Tse-Tung Thought. This set a precedent for the party's structure and power dynamics.

10:04

🛠️ Mao's Cultural Revolution and Its Aftermath

Mao's Cultural Revolution was a violent campaign to consolidate his power, resulting in widespread persecution and millions of deaths. High-level officials, including Xi Jinping's father, were purged. After Mao's death, Deng Xiaoping rehabilitated many former leaders and introduced reforms to prevent the consolidation of power around one person. Deng's reforms led to economic prosperity and a precedent of power sharing.

15:05

🚀 Xi Jinping's Strategic Climb to Power

Xi Jinping's rise involved strategic placements in rural provinces, where he faced less competition and gained credibility. His brief tenure in Shanghai before returning to Beijing and joining the Politburo Standing Committee showcased his prudent leadership. Xi's non-ambitious appearance and his willingness to work in lower-level positions positioned him favorably for leadership.

20:05

👑 Xi Jinping's Consolidation of Power

Upon becoming China's leader in 2012, Xi Jinping launched an anti-corruption campaign that targeted his rivals, filling their positions with his supporters. This led to tight control over both the party and the military. Xi introduced 'Xi Jinping Thought' as the party's core ideology, solidifying his power. His leadership saw significant economic growth and increased China's global presence, but also faced challenges like the Covid-19 protests.

Keywords

💡National Congress

The National Congress is a political event in China where the top leadership of the Communist Party is revealed every five years. It symbolizes the order and structure of the party's hierarchy, with the first person to emerge being the head of the party for the next term. This event is central to understanding the distribution of power within China's political system.

💡Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping is the current President of China and the leader of the Communist Party, having secured an unprecedented third term by removing presidential term limits. His leadership style and political maneuvers are a focal point of the video, drawing comparisons to Mao Zedong and indicating his aim to consolidate power indefinitely.

💡Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong was the revolutionary founder of the People's Republic of China and a central figure in Chinese history. Known for his ruthless dictatorship, Mao's influence and tactics are frequently compared to those of Xi Jinping in the video, highlighting the continuity and divergence in their leadership styles and the impact on Chinese society.

💡Long March

The Long March was a year-long retreat by the Red Army during the Chinese Civil War, led by Mao Zedong. It is a significant historical event that established Mao's leadership within the Communist Party. The video explains how Mao's successful navigation of the Long March cemented his position and how it indirectly influenced Xi Jinping's rise to power.

💡Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution was a sociopolitical movement initiated by Mao Zedong, aiming to enforce communism by removing capitalist, traditional, and cultural elements from Chinese society. The video discusses its devastating effects, including widespread persecution and the personal impact on Xi Jinping's family, setting the stage for Xi's eventual rise to power.

💡Politburo Standing Committee

The Politburo Standing Committee is the highest echelon of power in the Chinese Communist Party, composed of top officials who control the party and the military. The video highlights the importance of this committee in maintaining the centralized authority of leaders like Mao and Xi Jinping, demonstrating its crucial role in China's governance.

💡Anti-corruption campaign

Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign was a major initiative launched upon his rise to power, targeting senior officials and military officers. This campaign is depicted in the video as a strategic move to eliminate rivals and consolidate Xi's control over the party, showcasing his methods of maintaining authority and influence.

💡Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping was a significant leader who succeeded Mao and implemented economic reforms that opened China to the global market. The video contrasts Deng's approach of collective leadership and power-sharing with Xi Jinping's centralization of power, illustrating the shifts in Chinese political dynamics over time.

💡Xi Jinping Thought

Xi Jinping Thought refers to Xi's personal political ideology, enshrined as the guiding principle of the Communist Party in a historic resolution. The video explains how this doctrine solidifies Xi's ideas as unchallengeable, similar to Mao's influence, marking a significant ideological shift within the party.

💡Uyghurs

The Uyghurs are a Muslim minority ethnic group in China, subjected to severe human rights abuses under Xi Jinping's regime. The video highlights the oppression of the Uyghurs as part of Xi's broader strategy of internal control and surveillance, reflecting the authoritarian aspects of his leadership.

Highlights

The National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party unveils its new leadership every five years.

Xi Jinping emerged as the head of the party for a historic third time in October 2022.

Xi Jinping removed the presidential term limit in China, signaling a possible intention to stay in power for life.

Xi Jinping's rise to power is compared to Mao Zedong, the revolutionary founder of the People's Republic of China.

As a young boy, Xi Jinping's life was significantly impacted by Mao, leading to his exile and hard labor in the countryside.

Xi Jinping's father, Xi Zhongxun, played a key role in providing refuge to Mao's army during the Long March.

The Long March solidified Mao Zedong's leadership, ultimately leading to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Mao Zedong established a single understanding of party history and declared his ideology, Maoism, as the guiding principle of the Chinese Communist Party.

Deng Xiaoping's reforms introduced a power-sharing structure within the party, moving away from Mao's dictatorship.

Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms led to China's rapid economic growth and its emergence as a global economic power.

Xi Jinping strategically built his career in rural provinces, gaining credibility as a hard-working party leader.

Xi Jinping launched a major anti-corruption campaign, purging rivals and consolidating his power within the party.

In 2021, Xi Jinping introduced a third historic resolution, unifying the party's ideology around 'Xi Jinping Thought.'

During Xi Jinping's first ten years in power, China's economy and military spending more than doubled.

Xi Jinping's leadership faced significant challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, including widespread protests against strict lockdown policies.

Transcripts

[audience applause]

These are the 7 most powerful men in China.

They represent the top leadership positions of the ruling party...

and their identities are revealed every five years...

at a carefully choreographed political event

called the National Congress.

“China's Communist Party unveiled its new leadership

over the next five years.”

The order of appearance is symbolic.

The first person to emerge

is the head of the party for the next five years.

At the most recent event in October 2022...

that person was Xi Jinping

China's president for the last ten years...

who walked out in the top spot a historic third time

after getting rid of China's presidential term limit

that restricted all his predecessors to two terms.

A signal that he may be planning to stay in power for life.

The world hasn't seen a Chinese leader like this

since Mao Zedong...

the revolutionary founder of the People's Republic of China...

whose ruthless dictatorship

scarred the Chinese people for generations.

Xi has been compared to Mao a lot.

And he clearly draws from Mao's playbook.

But there's something else that connects these two.

When Xi was just a young boy...

Mao ruined his life.

Generations apart, their paths crossed unexpectedly

and a teenage Xi from an elite family in Beijing...

ended up in exile.

Condemned to hard labor in the countryside.

50 years later

Xi is one of the most powerful political figures in the world

and the only leader since Mao

to have unchecked power over China.

So how did he go from being banished in his country...

to taking complete control of it?

[sinister, electronic music]

[music fades]

Xi Jinping's connection to Mao formed

long before Xi was even born.

[dark, pensive music]

It goes back to when a bloody civil war was raging in China.

A group of radical communist revolutionaries, including Mao

gained influence over large swaths of mainland China...

and controlled a communist military called the Red Army...

that fought the Nationalist Party

ruling the Republic of China at the time.

At this point, the Communists were losing bad.

The bulk of their army was pinned down here...

in a communist controlled region originally established by Mao...

now surrounded by Nationalist forces.

And they were running low on food.

So the Red Army decided to launch a bold attack...

to break through the Nationalist forces and evacuate the roughly

130,000 communist soldiers and civilians stuck here.

On October 16th, 1934, they made their move...

and attacked a weaker part of the enemy line.

They broke through.

And even though their numbers quickly dropped

with thousands dying and thousands more

fleeing to the countryside...

around 86,000 stuck together and pushed on.

This was the beginning of a year-long

historic retreat called the Long March.

The journey to establish a new communist base...

far from the Nationalist forces.

Mao, who used to be a military leader

wasn't in charge at this time.

He'd insisted on using guerrilla tactics

which had heavily influenced the Red Army earlier in the war.

But that approach had fallen out of favor and he was demoted.

The Long March changed that.

After escaping the siege here

the Red Army continued to suffer relentless attacks

by the pursuing Nationalist army.

The military leaders of the march

had pushed for a more traditional wartime strategy

of direct confrontation...

rather than Mao's guerrilla tactics.

And the result was catastrophic for the Red Army.

Less than half of the original escape group

survived the first three months alone.

So it was at this first stopping point

where Communist Party leader Zhou Enlai...

handed military leadership back to Mao.

And Mao picked an end point for the march... here.

800 miles away in rural northern China.

But they didn't go straight for it.

Mao led the Red Army deep into the mountains

where he predicted lighter resistance.

And he was right.

But the journey was still brutal.

It was nine more months of nonstop marching

and fighting along this several thousand mile route...

before they ultimately arrived in northern China...

where a guerrilla base led by a communist revolutaionary

named Xi Zhongxun, offered Mao's army refuge...

bringing the Long March to an end.

That man was Xi Jinping's father.

In the end, fewer than 8,000 of the original marchers survived.

Even though thousands died on the Long March

from starvation and fighting and disease...

Mao's leadership was credited

with saving the Red Army from total annihilation.

And he became the de facto head of the party

as well as the military...

entrusted with rebuilding the army

to take on the Nationalist forces for total control of China.

“Wherever and however...

the Red Troops move into battle...

they spread the glory of Mao Zedong.”

This is a good stopping point in the story to talk about how

power in the Chinese Communist Party or CCP works.

Officially, the highest level of authority

is a group called the Central Committee

and is responsible for all of the party's major policy decisions.

Within the Central Committee is a select group of officials

called the Political Bureau or Politburo.

In most Communist parties, like that of the former Soviet Union...

the Politburo represents the most powerful members of the party

besides the General Secretary.

But the Chinese Communist Party has a key distinction

that makes it unique.

It has one more even smaller selection

of top officials who ultimately have the final say.

An elite class of Politburo members called the Politburo Standing Committee.

This group, which includes the General Secretary

holds supreme control over the Central Committee

dictates the will of the party and is in full control

of the Central Military Commission

which oversees China's defense.

Mao's promotion during the Long March landed him here

in the highest position of the military

and the Politburo Standing Committee.

Even though he was considered the de facto head of the party

when the Long March ended in 1935...

he officially became head of the party in 1943.

With both the party and the military under his control...

Mao began to exploit the system to ensure

he remained at the top for the rest of his life.

At Mao's first National Congress

as the official party leader in 1945...

the party introduced a resolution that brought his influence

to a whole new level.

They unified the party around a single understanding of its history...

and declared Mao's political ideology

later called Mao Tse-Tung Thought or Maoism...

as the unquestioned guiding principle

of the Chinese Communist Party.

Basically, Mao's ideas or policy decisions

could no longer be challenged by anyone.

It was here he unveiled his equivalent at the time

of the Politburo Standing Committee.

The four other top party leaders...

all long marchers deeply loyal to Mao.

Like Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai...

who would go on to hold some of the most powerful positions

in the future government.

Four years later, Mao declared final victory for the Communists

in a decades long Chinese civil war

and established a new country:

The People's Republic of China, or PRC.

“Mao Tse-tung, once a lowly party worker...

now assumed the stature of a dominant figure

in all of Eastern Asia.”

But winning a revolution isn't the same as running a country.

Because now that you're running a country

there's all these other things you have to do

like deliver the mail and like build a dam and stuff like that.

You can't possibly have the party do all these things.

So the party set up a government that would take

the policy decisions made by the Politburo Standing Committee

and figure out a way to make them a reality.

And so it evolved to a system where...

the party would make all the important decisions...

and especially the Politburo Standing Committee.

Then, as it is today...

many of these decisions would go to the State Council.

So the State Council was the highest decision-making body

on the state side, led by the Premier of China.

The Premier of China, by the way, is almost always

a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

One way Mao kept a tight grip on power over the years

was by promoting those loyal to him to top positions

in the party in government.

Whether they had government experience or not.

For example, Zhou Enlai...

the former party leader

who helped Mao rise to power during the Long March...

became China's first premier.

The advantage of that is that they could never challenge him.

The disadvantage of that is

they didn't know what they were doing

and so administration suffered...

policy outcomes suffered.

Long March survivors often became party elites under Mao.

Xi Jinping's father, for example, was appointed

Secretary General of the State Council...

and as the son of a Long Marcher

young Xi was given the informal title of Princeling.

Mao succeeded in never giving up his power during his lifetime.

His unchecked policies resulted in massive famines

and widespread persecution

that cost between 40 and 80 million lives over a span of decades...

and culminated in the disastrous Cultural Revolution.

A violent final attempt from Mao to consolidate his power

and force loyalty to the practice of Maoism.

The idea was to make himself and his ideas eternal.

The way he viewed communist figureheads

like Lenin and Marx before him.

Anyone that didn't fall in line with Mao’s ideology

was publicly humiliated...

impoverished...

excluded from society, and, in many cases

executed.

Either at the hands of the army...

or by a militant youth group obsessed with enforcing Maoism:

The Red Guards.

[cheering]

Even those closest to the dictator

weren’t safe from his purges during the Cultural Revolution.

High level officials

including members of the Politburo Standing Committee

and Long Marchers...

were removed from their positions.

Liu Shaoqi was denounced as a traitor and died

while imprisoned under harsh conditions.

Mao also removed the Chief of Staff of the Army

and replaced him with a Maoist...

leaving no one left to oppose him in the military.

Mao's handpicked successor

who always appeared loyally by his side

in photos and propaganda posters

died under mysterious circumstances

when his plane crashed as he was fleeing to the Soviet Union.

Mao later denounced him as a traitor.

He denounced Xi's father, too.

This is a photo of Xi senior

being restrained and publicly criticized

by the Red Guards at the height of the Cultural Revolution.

He would remain a prisoner in Beijing for 8 years following this.

With his father purged...

Xi Jinping, 15 at the time

was expelled from his elite school in Beijing

and sent to work in the countryside.

He had to live in a cave and do hard manual labor.

His food was barely enough for

a growing young person.

And Chairman Mao was responsible for all of it.

But then... Mao died.

The Cultural Revolution ended.

His successor was Deng Xiaoping...

one of the Politburo Standing Committee members

who was removed from power during the Cultural Revolution.

Who just before Mao died...

started making a promise to fellow exiled party veterans.

Deng Xiaoping signaled credibly...

to all the surviving Long Marchers

that he wanted to rehabilitate people.

So when Mao died, they all supported the rehabilitation of Deng.

And as soon as Deng was rehabilitated

he went ahead and rehabilitated all these people.

With experienced leadership back in place

the party needed to figure out

how to prevent something like this...

from ever happening again.

In order to undo Mao's cult of personality...

the party introduced a second historical resolution in 1981.

It condemned periods of Mao's rule...

and emphasized a renewed commitment to collective leadership...

vowing to oppose the consolidation of power

around one person moving forward.

The successors to Mao didn't want a dictatorship.

So they divided up these positions

and put them in the hands of different people.

Like Mao, Deng kept tight control

over the Central Military Commission as its chairman...

and held a leadership position in the government.

But was never head of state.

He never held the highest position in the party either.

Instead, he set up a new advisory commission

and served as its chairman...

which allowed him to influence the party's direction...

without positioning himself directly on top of it.

This allowed a power sharing structure

while still making Deng the de facto leader of China

until he stepped down in 1989...

following the Army's massacre of students protesting in Tiananmen Square.

“A protester suddenly ran into the middle of the street

and in front of the oncoming tanks.”

“Anger at Deng Xiaoping, the entire Chinese government...

it had the real feeling of rebellion in the streets of Beijing.”

“People want to fight the military out of their city.”

Deng and his ideology

which moved away from Maoism, set a precedent of sharing power.

He opened up China and established economic ties

with these countries...

and was the first PRC leader to visit the US in 1979.

“Today, we take another step in the historic...

normalization of relations

which we have begun this year.”

Deng’s reforms became the foundation

for decades of economic prosperity

that led China to having the world's second largest economy over time...

and being on the verge of becoming the world's next superpower.

“Communism is creating a consumer society.”

“Also reminds you that the standard of living in China is going up.”

“Here... capitalism rules.”

One thing power sharing did lead to...

was a lot of policy innovation

and then some degree of decentralization.

And both of these things helped China's economy enormously.

Which is why this period of economic growth and reform

stretching over roughly 30 years is known as the Deng era.

Whether he wanted to or not, Deng kept his word...

and never tried to consolidate absolute power around himself.

He did end up sharing power.

And that set the stage for power sharing in the party...

until the rise of Xi Jinping.

So what was Xi doing all this time?

[contemplative music]

When Mao died in 1976

Xi was back in Beijing studying communist philosophy...

even though the Chinese Communist Party had ruined Xi's family...

He had joined it.

Just as the Cultural Revolution was winding down.

But why?

Personally, he might begrudge Chairman Mao

for doing all this terrible things to his family...

but I think at this time he also recognized that in the system

of the Chinese Communist Party power is everything.

Without power, you're nothing.

But in order to get that power...

Xi did something unexpected.

He left Beijing.

As his competitors were fiercely competing

with each other in the 1980s and 1990s.

He sort of got out of their way...

and went to the provinces.

He took positions in party leadership

in rural, poor provinces all around China...

where there were no other princelings to compete with.

First, in Hebei, a poor rural province outside of Beijing...

where he easily reached the top spot as party secretary.

Then in Fujian, a heavily militarized region

where top members of the army were stationed.

He moved up the ranks to party secretary here, too.

Before becoming the governor of the province a few years later.

After making powerful friends in the military...

Xi went here... where he once again

assumes the office of party secretary...

and grew his support on the civilian side.

This strategy of moving around

didn't just give Xi a leg up in areas

where competition was slim.

It also gave him credibility...

as a humble, hard working party leader...

and he cultivated a growing group of supporters

who would come back into play years down the line.

It was his last stop and his shortest one

that ultimately got him back to Beijing.

A brief stint in the top party spot in Shanghai in 2007...

where he rehabilitated the city's image

following a high-level corruption scandal.

Xi developed a reputation here

as a prudent leader who toed the party line.

Just 7 months later, he finally returned to Beijing...

having been promoted to the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

Basically, the people who were deciding on top leadership at the time

they wanted a Princeling.

But they didn't want a princeling

who was too ambitious or too strong.

So Xi Jinping

he was seen as less ambitious

because he was willing to go to the countryside

and work in lower-level positions.

When Xi emerged as the 2007

National Congress and leadership unveiling...

he was one of the 9 most powerful men in the country.

It was at this moment that his strategic climb...

over 17 long years in the countryside paid off.

Big time.

When the General Secretary stepped down in 2012...

Xi emerged at the top spot in the party as China's leader.

Now the elite son of a former revolutionary

turned exiled peasant...

turned party darling...

was poised to seize control of everything.

Like Mao, Xi Jinping believes that rallying around

a single figure is crucial to the party's survival.

Rather than the collective leadership

Deng’s reforms had normalized.

So pretty much as soon as Xi Jinping came to power.

He started getting rid of people.

“The news... four top officials removed for taking bribes

was announced on state TV.”

“Xi Jinping has just sacked his foreign minister.”

“Just sacked his defense minister.”

“He sacked a whole lot of other people at the top

of the military establishment.”

“The former security czar

has not been seen in public for more than a year.”

“The nvestigation against Zhou allows the Chinese president

to remove those opposed to his reforms.”

He launched a major anti-corruption campaign...

as soon as he took power in late 2012, early ‘13...

which led to the arrests of hundreds of senior-level officials

as well as military officers.

These purges targeted Xi's rivals in the party...

whose vacant positions he filled with his own supporters.

After this massive purge...

Xi Jinping was in very tight control over

both the party and also the Chinese military...

thereby making him the most powerful leader

of the Chinese Communist Party since the death of Mao.

That pattern continued in the second term

where he unveiled 5 new faces of the Politburo Standing Committee...

three of them with close personal ties to Xi.

In 2021, Xi pulled off one of his most dramatic acts yet...

to enforce his influence over the Chinese Communist Party.

He introduced a third historic resolution

that unified the party's ideology

around one clear line of thinking:

Xi Jinping Thought.

Xi's personal political ideology...

would now be the core in the party's thinking...

political stance and action.

Basically, Xi Jinping's ideas could no longer be challenged.

And they weren't for many years.

During Xi's first 10 years in power

the size of China's economy more than doubled.

So did average individual income.

So did military spending.

Under his leadership...

China's presence on the world stage has grown too.

Positioning the rising superpower

to take on the role of an aggressor, externally.

Reasserting claims over parts of the South China Sea

Intimidating Taiwan and Tibet

and stripping democratic process in Hong Kong.

Inside its own borders

strict Internet censorship and surveillance are widespread...

and oppression of Uyghurs...

a mostly minority Muslim ethnic group...

is marked by human rights abuses.

But it wasn't until Covid that Xi saw

the first real challenge to his authority.

“Anger in China is growing.”

“Video showing protester is in Xinjiang...

fed up with China's zero Covid rules.”

“The boldest public challenge yet for leader Xi Jinping.”

With these protests all around the country...

and the party's reputation in peril.

Xi reversed the failed policy.

But is now faced with a shaky economy...

and cracks in his unchecked authority.

It was just weeks before the widespread protests

at the 20th National Congress in 2022...

that Xi walked out in the leading position a third time.

He had already locked in the presidency for another five years...

and unveiled a Politburo Standing Committee

completely packed with those loyal to him.

After removing the final senior members of the party

that had ties to his predecessor.

Now there is no one left in party

or military leadership whose ideology differs from Xi.

I don't think anyone can push him out at this point.

I think Xi will be the most powerful leader in China...

as long as he's alive and conscious.

Thanks so much for watching this episode of Atlas.

So many teammates worked on this piece.

A small army of editors, animators, and researchers

helped bring this complicated story into focus.

I especially like to shout out Rajaa...

one of the key researchers on this piece...

who conducted an incredible interview

with our expert Victor Shi.

It takes a lot of resources to make these videos

but we publish our work free to watch here

because we think journalism should be accessible to everyone.

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Thanks again.