The Enigma That Is Xi

China's communist elders chose him because they thought he could be controlled. He proved them wrong

- Vijay Gokhale

This autumn Xi Jinping will, according to most analysts, be appointed as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for a third five-year term. If that happens, he could become the longest serving dominant leader to hold office since Mao Zedong. In any case, over the past ten years, he has transformed China’s political, social and national security landscape.

Xi was born into the political elite. His father was a communist leader. It was to prove both a blessing and a curse. His pedigree initially ensured that he led a comfortable life close to the centre of power. But when his father fell afoul of Mao in 1962, nine-year-old Xi became the son of a disgraced leader.

In 1966, barely in his teens, he had to publicly denounce his father and was threatened with death for alleged antiparty crimes, before being exiled for seven years to a remote part of north-western China to perform hard labour. Later, Xi averred that this taught him critical life-lessons. Interestingly, he retained faith in the party despite the cruelties that it had meted out to his family.