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“His main argument is that in Chinese politics, from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping, there’s an enduring tendency to gravitate towards one core leader…collective leadership is actually an abnormality. You have collective leadership only when the top leader fails to really consolidate power… so that you have different factions competing with each other. Elsewhere in Chinese political culture, with Confucianism and Legalism and ancient political thought, looking up at one core leader is what supplies stability. The emperor, the wise sage—he can maintain order. So, Guo argues, Xi Jinping being able to concentrate power and now being formally at the top of the party actually has a lot of cultural legitimacy—because Chinese political culture really supports the idea of having one core leader.” Read more...
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