The Political Thought of Xi Jinping

China scholars Tsang (China in the Xi Jinping Era) and Cheung (Factional-Ideological Conflicts in Chinese Politics), both at the China Institute at SOAS University of London, argue that, although the formal framework of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party has not changed in recent decades, the political ideology of Chinese president Xi Jinping dictates how the country’s government functions. Xi often calls for a strong, united, and prosperous China, which would be guided by his detailed 14-point program and his unchallenged leadership of the CCP. The country is viewed as Marxist-Leninist, but a version thoroughly Sinicized. The authors describe this as the vision of an ambitious strongman who seeks to make his doctrine an official state dogma rivaling the revered ideology of Mao Zedong. Although clearly articulated and dominant in both government and society, Xi’s doctrine does not yet have the stature of Mao’s, Tsang and Cheung argue, but they expect “Xi Thought” to become China’s official state ideology.