Motives behind Xi-phobia

Although, the 20th National Congress has concluded, General Secretary Xi Jinping is still in the news. He is one of the lead topic and story among the media outlets, think tanks and policy makers.

Friends are cherishing his re-election and consider it a step in right direction. They say General Secretary Xi is a dependable and trustworthy friend and partner in rapidly changing global politics. They are hopeful his re-election will help developing countries to have voice in the global affairs.

On the contrary, the opponents of President Xi have unleashed an all-around propaganda against him. They are not leaving any stone unturned to create a scary image of him. They are trying to equate him with dictators and portraying him as modern emperor. Though, the campaign is not new, it has got accelerated after the re-election. Rather, I will say the campaign has turned into Xi-phobia.

In this context, it is important to find answers to a few questions. First, what the motives are behind this campaign? Second, why many Western counties are indulging in this campaign? Third, what China should do to counter Xi-phobia before it is too late?

The motives are very clear. The opponents want to undermine China and check its peaceful rise. They think it is necessary to demoralise Chinese people. They consider maligning Chinese leadership and Communist Party of China (CPC) the best available option. So, they have launched many campaigns against President Xi Jinping and the CPC.

They have marked President Xi as a major stumbling block in their way to exploit developing countries. As President Xi had taken many steps which are helping developing countries to get rid of exploitative relationship with some developed countries and financial and economic institutions.

For example, Xi launched Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to create economic and trade opportunities by building infrastructure and improving connectivity. Developing and least-developed countries considered it a good opportunity and an alternative and started joining BRI. It is the biggest initiative of modern history and has highest number of members (149). President Xi launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It is the second biggest global development bank after World Bank with 105 members. Shanghai Import Expo provided opportunities to developing, least-developed and developed to benefit from the biggest emerging market of the world.

President Xi is advocate of reforms in global system which can ensure equality, integrity, justice and respect for the sovereignty of all nations without any discrimination. He is opposing bullying behaviour. He presented vision of community with shared future to make global system more human and planet-friendly and secure sustainable peace.

He believes partnerships should be built to eradicate poverty, food insecurity and combat challenges like climate change and secure sustainable security. Thus, he presented Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative as a contribution from China. GSI (common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainability security) and GDI (poverty, food insecurity, climate change, development financing, technology, connectivity etc.) are comprehensive initiatives which have all the elements necessary to security, sustainable development and peace.

Unfortunately, these efforts and initiatives are not welcomed by his opponents. They dub them as a threat to world. They are trying to convince people that Chinese model is anti-democracy or have weak values.

In reality, the opponents want to hide their hegemonic aspiration in the disguise of liberal values, democracy etc. They feel if President Xi becomes successful in implementing all these initiatives, their hegemony will be over.

So, they have launched a malicious campaign against President Xi on the basis of self-conceived assumptions. For example, they are saying that President Xi is promoting his allies and suppressing others, which is not true. As a matter of fact, he is busy in reforming CPC according to the global status of China. As, we know China is a global power aspiring to become new hub of innovation, science and technology and centre of world economic and trade activities. For that purpose, CPC needs people who have vast experience in these fields with good global exposure. That’s why, CPC started enhancing membership of professionals, and President Xi simply accelerated the process. Second, he is encouraging foreign returns to play a role in CPC because they have world exposure and better understanding of the global dynamics. As a result, the number of professionals increased (38.6pc, 2011 to 53.3pc, 2021) and foreign returns (6.2pc, 16th, to 20.5pc in the 19th Central Committee).

Third, anti-corruption drive was designed to eliminate corruption among party ranks, bureaucracy and military. It is one of the most cherished goals of President Xi, and people are extremely happy over the success of this campaign. In this backdrop, it can be anticipated Xi-phobia will increase in coming days.

Thus, China and CPC must adopt a strategy to counter this campaign. There can be many ways, but I will suggest two policy options. First, specialised material on President Xi should be created; thoughts and reforms should be part of Confucius institutes and Confucius classrooms. Second, specialised international exchange programmes should be developed and scholars, media personnel, policy makers and academia be invited to study China, President Xi thoughts, philosophy of global initiatives like BRI, AIIB, GDI, GSI and reforms. In conclusion, China must take immediate steps to counter Xi-phobia.