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I find the parallels between Xi and Putin fascinating: both had "modest" origins (or modest spells in the case of Xi) and much publicize them. Both were not rea

I find the parallels between Xi and Putin fascinating: both had "modest" origins (or modest spells in the case of Xi) and much publicize them. Both were not really accounted for much, simply managing to rise through the ranks without making a wave, and always scrupulously deferring to authority. Both were nominated to the head of their respective party as a compromise or a strawman. That is until they took power, after which they both consolidated their grasp quickly, much to the surprise of everyone. Interesting that the leaders of two of the world's superpowers (and the two formerly communist ones at that) share such a similar journey.

deleted 9y ago
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katastic 9y ago
I honestly find it suspect that the media is full of "russia! russia! russia!", but nobody ever mentions China, which is in a far greater position for war (1.6 MILLION TROOPS) and accounts for like 28% of all known hack attempts. And speaking of influencing elections... there was this thing in the 90's called... Chinagate. [1] With millions directly found to influence an election. As well as leaked weapons and nuclear secrets as recently as >>2009<<. But I guess 6 years is forever ago and China has completely changed its ways. p.s. And I'm NOT saying "don't talk about Russia" I'm saying, why aren't we talking about BOTH? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_finance_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_fi...
- theWatcher37 9y ago
  This is because our intelligence agencies currently view China as a tamed bitch and Russia as a wild threat. This view may or not be in tune with reality, but that is the view none the less
- khuey 9y ago
  There was that whole annexation of Crimea thing.
- dreamfactored 9y ago
  Don't forget the drones with GPS flooding the world and taking pictures of everything everywhere
- addicted 9y ago
  The Chinese don’t feel the US needs to regress for them to succeed. They have confidence in themselves that they will continue growing, and probably grow faster, with a strong US as a partner. Russia, on the other hand, has been regressing and getting smaller. Set aside their nuclear arsenal, and they aren’t leading in anything, and are falling behind in nearly everything (they are barely within the top 10 of countries in terms of GDP). This is quite a comedown from 30 years ago and the Russian, especially Putin’s, response has been to create havoc amongst Western democracies. China will continue to hack into other countries’ systems to steal technology and IP etc (and the various intelligence agencies have been warning against this for over a decade) but they are not gonna try and create political havoc unlike the Russians.
Iv 9y ago
Can someone explain to me why Xi is considered to have "consolidated his grasp"? This seems to be a well accepted idea but I don't see what substantiates that. He starts his second term as prime minister of China, and serving two terms has been the norm in recent times. I did not remark China becoming more authoritarian under his rule. I do not see indications that he may stay after 2022, his scheduled depart. What did I miss?
- aaron-lebo 9y ago
  Political observers have called Xi "the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping."[84] Xi has notably departed from the "collective rule" practices of his predecessor Hu Jintao. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping#Consolidation_of_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping#Consolidation_of_po... The entire article is a good read, it's amazing how much power he has.
- wisty 9y ago
  His anti-corruption campaign is the main one. There's a focus on "tigers" and "flies" - high profile targets and a general clean-up of low-level corruption. It seems like quite a lot of the "tigers" were opponents of Xi. Also, he gets compared to his immediate predecessor (Hu) who was was very bland and worked more on a consensus model.
  - Iv 9y ago
    But his anti-corruption campaign really looked like an anti-corruption campaign. I understand that they can be used as power tools but what are the elements to believe this is the case presently?
    - justicezyx 9y ago
      People never fight for the fighting's sake, they fight for profit, all sorts of profit. Why Xi wants to put down the tigers and flys? It's because those are in his way to achieve his idea of "revitalize the Chinese nation". Because those people are having different ideas on how to do the same thing, or entirely having a different purpose. Conveniently, it's always been true that absolute power comes with absolute corruption. That has never been more true since the economic take-off of China. And anti-corruption has always been the most effective weapon to put down powerful people.
chewz 9y ago
And it is suprising that such social mobility is possible in autocratic regimes but not in US.
- jrs95 9y ago
  Well, given that the established aristocracy was mostly destroyed in communist revolutions in each country, it's not entirely surprising. You need political support from that class of people in the U.S., although being one of them isn't necessary. A few presidents have been from middle class (or upper middle class) backgrounds, Obama and Bill Clinton both did.
forapurpose 9y ago
> Interesting that the leaders of two of the world's superpowers (and the two formerly communist ones at that) share such a similar journey. Maybe it's just two autocrats who use cults of personality and tactics from the same playbook.
ttflee 9y ago
And it's almost the same trajectory for Leonid Brezhnev.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

katastic 9y ago

I honestly find it suspect that the media is full of "russia! russia! russia!", but nobody ever mentions China, which is in a far greater position for war (1.6 MILLION TROOPS) and accounts for like 28% of all known hack attempts. And speaking of influencing elections... there was this thing in the 90's called... Chinagate. [1] With millions directly found to influence an election. As well as leaked weapons and nuclear secrets as recently as >>2009<<. But I guess 6 years is forever ago and China has completely changed its ways. p.s. And I'm NOT saying "don't talk about Russia" I'm saying, why aren't we talking about BOTH? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_finance_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_fi...

theWatcher37 9y ago
This is because our intelligence agencies currently view China as a tamed bitch and Russia as a wild threat. This view may or not be in tune with reality, but that is the view none the less
khuey 9y ago
There was that whole annexation of Crimea thing.
dreamfactored 9y ago
Don't forget the drones with GPS flooding the world and taking pictures of everything everywhere
addicted 9y ago
The Chinese don’t feel the US needs to regress for them to succeed. They have confidence in themselves that they will continue growing, and probably grow faster, with a strong US as a partner. Russia, on the other hand, has been regressing and getting smaller. Set aside their nuclear arsenal, and they aren’t leading in anything, and are falling behind in nearly everything (they are barely within the top 10 of countries in terms of GDP). This is quite a comedown from 30 years ago and the Russian, especially Putin’s, response has been to create havoc amongst Western democracies. China will continue to hack into other countries’ systems to steal technology and IP etc (and the various intelligence agencies have been warning against this for over a decade) but they are not gonna try and create political havoc unlike the Russians.

Iv 9y ago

Can someone explain to me why Xi is considered to have "consolidated his grasp"? This seems to be a well accepted idea but I don't see what substantiates that. He starts his second term as prime minister of China, and serving two terms has been the norm in recent times. I did not remark China becoming more authoritarian under his rule. I do not see indications that he may stay after 2022, his scheduled depart. What did I miss?

aaron-lebo 9y ago
Political observers have called Xi "the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping."[84] Xi has notably departed from the "collective rule" practices of his predecessor Hu Jintao. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping#Consolidation_of_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping#Consolidation_of_po... The entire article is a good read, it's amazing how much power he has.
wisty 9y ago
His anti-corruption campaign is the main one. There's a focus on "tigers" and "flies" - high profile targets and a general clean-up of low-level corruption. It seems like quite a lot of the "tigers" were opponents of Xi. Also, he gets compared to his immediate predecessor (Hu) who was was very bland and worked more on a consensus model.
- Iv 9y ago
  But his anti-corruption campaign really looked like an anti-corruption campaign. I understand that they can be used as power tools but what are the elements to believe this is the case presently?
  - justicezyx 9y ago
    People never fight for the fighting's sake, they fight for profit, all sorts of profit. Why Xi wants to put down the tigers and flys? It's because those are in his way to achieve his idea of "revitalize the Chinese nation". Because those people are having different ideas on how to do the same thing, or entirely having a different purpose. Conveniently, it's always been true that absolute power comes with absolute corruption. That has never been more true since the economic take-off of China. And anti-corruption has always been the most effective weapon to put down powerful people.

chewz 9y ago

And it is suprising that such social mobility is possible in autocratic regimes but not in US.

jrs95 9y ago
Well, given that the established aristocracy was mostly destroyed in communist revolutions in each country, it's not entirely surprising. You need political support from that class of people in the U.S., although being one of them isn't necessary. A few presidents have been from middle class (or upper middle class) backgrounds, Obama and Bill Clinton both did.

forapurpose 9y ago

> Interesting that the leaders of two of the world's superpowers (and the two formerly communist ones at that) share such a similar journey. Maybe it's just two autocrats who use cults of personality and tactics from the same playbook.

ttflee 9y ago

And it's almost the same trajectory for Leonid Brezhnev.