Intelligence Squared Understanding Xi: Is China’s President a Threat to the World? (Part One)
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May 31, 2025 
Rana Mitter, a renowned historian at Harvard Kennedy School and a former director at Oxford’s China Centre, discusses the complexities of Xi Jinping's leadership. He unpacks Xi's unique political ideology and how his confrontational style affects global diplomacy. Mitter analyzes the implications of Xi abolishing term limits and his ambitions within the Indo-Pacific. Key topics include the rise of strongman leadership globally, as well as the intricate relationship between Xi and Putin, highlighting shifting dynamics in international politics.
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Xi Jinping as Strongman Leader
- Xi Jinping fits the strongman leader template by centralizing power and enforcing personal rule over the Communist Party, state, and military.
- He dismantled collective leadership traditions, consolidating various factions under his sole pathway to power.
Xi’s Ideology and Term Limits
- Xi institutionalized Xi Jinping Thought as official ideology, pushing members to daily study it like a cult of personality.
- He abolished presidential term limits, enabling potentially lifelong rule to complete his vision of 'common prosperity.'
Common Prosperity Motivates Xi
- Xi's motivation for extended rule includes a desire to address rising inequality through common prosperity policies.
- He views social order and ideological conformity as essential to avoid the chaos of his Cultural Revolution childhood.
