Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China's Superpower Future

by Chun Han Wong

From one of the most admired reporters covering China today, a vital new account of the life and political vision of Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader of the People’s Republic whose hard-edged tactics have set the rising superpower on a collision with Western liberal democracies.

Party of One shatters the many myths and caricatures that shroud one of the world’s most secretive political organizations and its leader. Many observers misread Xi during his early years in power, projecting their own hopes that he would steer China toward more political openness, rule of law, and pro-market economics. Having masked his beliefs while climbing the party hierarchy, Xi has centralized decision-making powers, encouraged a cult of personality around himself, and moved toward indefinite rule by scrapping presidential term limits—stirring fears of a return to a Mao-style dictatorship. Today, the party of Xi favors political zeal over technical expertise, trumpets its faith in Marxism, and proclaims its reach into every corner of Chinese society with Xi portraits and hammer-and-sickle logos. Under Xi, China has challenged Western preeminence in global affairs and cast its authoritarian system as a model of governance worthy of international emulation.

As a China reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Chun Han Wong has chronicled Xi Jinping’s hard-line strategy for crushing dissent against his strongman rule, his political repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and his increasingly coercive efforts to reel in the island democracy of Taiwan, as well as the domestic and diplomatic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. When the Chinese government refused to renew Wong’s press credentials and forced him to leave mainland China in 2019, he moved to Hong Kong to continue covering Chinese politics and its autocratic turn under Xi. Now, Wong has drawn on his years of firsthand reporting across China—including conversations with party insiders, insights from scholars and diplomats, and analyses of official speeches and documents—to create a lucid and historically rooted account of China’s leader and how he inspires fear and fervor in his party, his nation, and beyond.

Timely, revelatory, and important, Party of One explains how the future Xi imagines for China will reshape the future of the entire world.

Genres: China, Politics, History, Nonfiction, Biography, Asia, Audiobook

412 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2023

About the author

Chun Han Wong has covered China for The Wall Street Journal since 2014. He was part of a team of reporters named as Pulitzer Prize finalists for their coverage of China’s autocratic turn under Xi Jinping. As a Journal correspondent in Beijing and Hong Kong, Wong has written widely on subjects spanning elite politics, Communist Party doctrine, human and labor rights, as well as defense and diplomatic affairs. Born and raised in Singapore, Wong is a native speaker of English and Mandarin Chinese. He studied international history at the London School of Economics, where he graduated with first class honors and won the Derby Bryce Prize.

Reviews

[Lee Candilin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two quotes sum up this book:

"The future is certain; it is only the past that is unpredictable."
-Old Soviet joke

"Building a nation's fate on the reputation of one or two people is very unhealthy and very dangerous."
-Deng Xiaoping

The chinese character 屈服tends to suggest force and obedience come hand in hand. 服(从)has to be earned through persuasion, not by force. 服will come naturally with respect, not with force.

History has taught us what happened to autocratic regimes that got overboard with control. Let’s see if history repeats itself.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ain't No Party Like A ...

This is an exceptional exposé that unveils the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its authoritarian grip on power.
This book offers a penetrating examination of the top-down dictatorship, drawing striking parallels to the manipulative dynamics of a multi-level marketing scheme. Through its pages, readers gain a profound understanding of the immense suffering endured by ordinary citizens while those in power reap the benefits.

Wong's incisive analysis and comprehensive research lay bare the inherent flaws within the CCP's regime, highlighting critical issues such as the GDP-driven growth, the mishandling of the COVID pandemic, and the contentious conflict surrounding Taiwan. These pivotal events serve as touchstones for drawing comparisons to the era of Mao Zedong, illuminating the enduring patterns of control and the consequences faced by the Chinese populace.

Party of One offers a captivating glimpse into the future trajectory of China as a global superpower. By peering behind the carefully constructed facade, readers are confronted with the stark realities of a regime driven by power consolidation and the suppression of dissent. Wong's ability to unravel the intricacies of Xi Jinping's rise to power and his vision for China's future makes this book an engrossing and thought-provoking read.

I wholeheartedly recommend Party of One to anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the complexities that define China's political landscape. By exposing the authoritarian underpinnings of the CCP, this book becomes an essential resource for those interested in global politics and the potential implications of China's ascendance.

In conclusion, I rate Party of One with a good score, recognizing its profound insights and timely relevance. This book offers a captivating exploration of the hidden truths surrounding the CCP's regime and its impact on both domestic and international affairs.
Prepare to be enlightened and challenged as you delve into the pages of Party of One, and dare to confront the realities of China's rising influence.

4.3/5

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding overview of the current ruler of China and policies on a variety of current topics. This was not a pleasant or fun read. The reality is a bit scary. I especially appreciated Chapter 5 about the state of publishing and reporting in China. The book was published in 2023, so is already out of date to a certain extent, but I felt that the book gave a good overview of the political state of China from a Western perspective. The author has been a reporter in China and references Chinese texts, interviews, newspaper articles, and various books. I will look for more from this author and highly recommend the book if you want to know about politics in China today. One of my ongoing questions, is how all of this affects the lives of everyday people living in China.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too journalistic, something like a summary of the past decade of NYTimes articles on China. I enjoyed the earlier historical overview but the modern narratives on police state & press a bit too hysteric (even if I’m sure there are many accurate facts in there) and overly reliant on heavy handed and bombastic language to make the story interesting, but in a way that undermines scholarly credibility and bit too politicized. Not a very balanced or informative political & economic analysis of China compared to other books on the topic.

[Ka Ming Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched, clearly-organized, dense, and approachable book looking at the seismic influence of Xi on the CCP's policies and governance since he took power.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know. As an American that also once lived in China, so much of what Wong says is really informative and distills complicated political machinery into comprehensible imagery. But he also editorializes some very weird things. When I first went to China, every five steps I thought, "This place makes no sense, it's has an insanely-hypocritical contradiction of a government, and the whole society is held together by duct tape and string." Then, when I moved back to the United States, I got really quiet and realized, "Oh, we're about 90% identical."

Wong harps on the fact that Xi wasn't elected by a vote from the people. Neither is any cabinet member of the US executive branch (especially including the chief of staff). Neither is the head of government for any parliamentary government in the world. Are any of these leaders comparable to Xi? Not really, they don't have or exercise the same power he does, by a wide margin. But when you continually throw one denominator under his rule ('unelected') it makes it difficult to parse through some measure of attempted objectivity being obscured by a perspective that has a few axes to grind (justified or not).

The ten percent that China and the US differ on, in my opinion, is foundational. Xi is a legalist, in the Confucian sense. I can't think of a single American president that I could even throw into the sphere of being Legalist-adjacent. The 'goal' of China and the 'goal' of the United States, in their most romantic senses, aren't really compatible. Chinese people will sacrifice liberty for security and make it work, Americans will sacrifice security for liberty and make it work, and both will look at the other like they're insane. China will bulldoze cultural sites and seize land to build high-speed railroads, America might take half a century to get through its own red tape to build even a hundred feet of high-speed rail.

I say all of this to say: I don't know. I think it'd be just as fruitless to compare the English monarchy to the Qing dynasty in the opium wars, trying to figure out how each one is 'supposed' to be relative to the other. I'm no cultural relativist, but China is very very very old. It has a way of being. That way of being has changed to the point where it's unrecognizable, relative to itself at previous points in history, sure. But it is still distinctly Chinese. In the same way that Deng Xiaoping wiggled the country out of ideological gridlock by saying "We'll do socialism, yes, but with 'Chinese characteristics,'" I think Xi is both incredibly emblematic of the CCP's definition of a 'leader' but also somewhat of a historical oddity, so many of the comparisons of what he 'should be like' if he were running a Western nation really fell flat for me.

It's a good book, in ways, but I wouldn't recommend it to others because I think they'd come away thinking it's far more factual than it is. They'd have an opinion of China that's more slanted than they realize. I don't know.

[Eye on Asia and Africa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2019, Singaporean journalist, Chun Han Wong, was one of the first in a recent wave of reporters to be expelled from mainland China; some suddenly, others having their visa renewal requests denied at the eleventh hour. “Party of One” is a collection of well-researched ideas on the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) activities, with the locus centered on Xi Jinping. Chun boasts dozens of well-placed sources with their views on everything from the upbringing of Xi Jinping to the CCP leader’s tightening grip on power and control of CCP activities, opinions, thoughts and strategy.

Xi was the son of a senior CCP leader who then fell out of favor and was imprisoned by the Red Guard. Despite the treatment against his father, and the fact that his mother was forced, in one instance, to disown him for fear of CCP reprisal, Xi maintained his political vigor through seven years of hard rural labor. After ten attempts (Kerry Brown writes nine) at joining the CCP, he finally succeeds and begins his political career in a rural village. Whatever his personal grudges against the failings of Mao’s policies, Xi carefully crafted his career, aided most certainly by well-placed family members and political favors, especially after Xi’s father was released from prison.

According to Chun, Xi understood the influence behind the Fajia (legalism) system and Confucian thought as they could be applied to China’s specific cultural context. As burdensome as the risk-averse, paperwork-heavy, meeting-fatiguing, ritualistic bureaucratic system was, it was the necessary cost of legislating morality and ensuring CCP influence across government institutions.

Party of One goes in to detail on the evolution of the surveillance state under Xi. Chen Quanguo is described as the mastermind behind the strategy to control and coerce Xinjiang into a more compliant and Han Chinese province. Quanguo first experimented with the surveillance tactics in Hebei and Tibet before applying the most recent and strictest version to Xinjiang under Xi (pg. 106). In a way, Chun claims that the digital surveillance state is replacing the role of civil society and NGOs as a means to voice complaints and institute government accountability. The big difference is that under Xi the dissenting voice is silent and AI can be wielded towards any number of CCP-promoting community stabilizing actions.

Xi benefited, earlier in his leadership, from his friendship with Wang Qishan, then chief of the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), whose role it was to ensure CCP loyalty. In 2015, armed with a new law against “discussing party center politics”, the CCDI threw a wide net against corrupt activities, catching a few of Xi’s opponents in the mix. The 2018 National Supervisory Commission (NSC), another tool in Xi’s arsenal, solidified his authority. Xi was careful to keep his name, if not personal activity, out of corrupt corners. In a way, Xi’s personal example of financial responsibility lends some credence to his counter-corruption sweeps. At the same time, it is still illegal to question, mention, much less investigate by anyone other than the NSC or CCDI, allegations against senior party members; to the ire of journalists like Chun Han Wong.

Pondering the counterfactuals in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) developmental growth, WTO integration and CCP leadership selection through the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s is a fascinating exercise, especially when one adds the Xi ingredient. According to journalists like Chun, the modern PRC is Xi, wielding unchecked power and unquestioned authority. China’s economic achievements and development successes must take a back seat to what Chun appears to believe is the dangerous, Xi-driven Party of One.

Xi’s party has aspirations beyond China (which includes expanding borders, some might say). The book analyzes the ways and means of China’s foreign influence to include the Belt and Road Initiative; China’s method for rivaling the economic competition. The book ends with a synopsis of China’s relations with its neighbors and their balance strategies, diplomatic approaches and concerns. Before the final chapter on Xi’s upheaving of the CCP leadership succession scheme, Chun considers Taiwan.

Intentionally or not, the Taiwan chapter feels like a climax to Chun’s thesis. For a number of decades, East Asia was more-or-less at ease with the ambiguous status of Taiwan. The thriving, impressive and solid democracy of Taiwan itself juxtaposed against Xi’s ambitions are stirring the hurricane’s winds of conflict. Taiwan has come to symbolize or at least test the waters of what global geopolitics might hold in the future. Ending the book with Taiwan is a statement on its own, suggesting what Asian politics should take a more hawkish view of China’s dream.

Xi Jinping may not BE the CCP. On the opposite extreme, China’s national and global aspirations are not economic wins all around, as the CCP would lead the world to believe. The reality is somewhere in the middle. The best studies of China conclude from within the Middle Kingdom and not merely speculation from without. Chun had a keen inside look for quite some time, his book is worth a read. There was a time when analysts speculated that Xi might be a quiet reformer, considering his family’s condition under Mao. For journalists like Chun, they give Xi no benefit of the doubt.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last sentence is perfect: Understanding this powerful, opaque, and restless China has become harder than ever, but this is why we must try. Its been 10 years since studying abroad in Beijing, 7 years since I lived and worked in China and 5 since I’ve been back for travel (late 2019) and now only 1 year since China relaxed its incredibly stringent Covid-19 restrictions. I keep up a little bit with China news but goodness me was I naive to think that not that much could possibly change in a decade.

I now consider myself lucky to have watched the sun set on China’s liberal years with boots on the ground there, and saddened to think that the country I once loved would be unrecognizable today, and that’s not to say it’s still not a nation full of friendly, curious, relatively open people. What has changed is the “don’t ask don’t tell” approach the party had when it came to all things foreign within China with an emphasis on the worlds of academia, international exchange and business. As long as you generally followed the rules the party looked the other way. If you want to understand China’s new-fangled belligerent, fiery approach to foreign and domestic affairs through the eyes of Xi Jinping, I would consider this the perfect starting point. China is no longer a sleeping giant, it is now an ethnocentric nationalist authoritarian regime built around one single leader with one goal in mind: strengthen the nation. And what is the nation? Not the people as it once it seemed but the CCP. The party reins supreme, not that it was never the focal point before Xi, but now seems to permeate every part of life in China. A political party that just so happens to be pushing its country to become #1 in the world in technological pursuits like 5G tech, AI, censorship and digitized surveillance. Gone are the days of multi-national companies with friendly incentives to do business in China in a lax environment. These businesses are now required to have a Party Committee baked into their business, where employees are also committee members and can act as the eyes and ears of the party and take time off during the work day to study “Xi Jinping thought” and read party literature to make sure the most recent rules and regulations are being followed across the company.

The biggest change to the actual government structure ethos seems to be its emphasis on inter party surveillance to root out corruption, which on the surface seems like a noble cause but in practice seems to scare anyone in government from taking any action, for stepping over an unknown redline could mean ousting and or jail.

And it’s not to say I don’t understand Xi’s approach. He looks at the fall of the USSR as a lesson for the PRC, and blames that fall on weak leaders who let graft eat away at the foundation of the nation till it inevitably collapsed. To avoid this, cut out the graft and have the people rally around the party through any means possible. Loved this book, for being quite dense was a true page turner for me. Also, Taiwan?? Yikes I must go before I miss its own sun set.

[Bryan Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent recap of China post-2012 by a WSJ journalist. About as insightful as a WSJ article too. About as prejudiced as a CNN article though.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Half way in: the book so far has been a summary of current events accompanied by a bit of historical background. Good for novice China readers but nothing refreshing yet for those who follow China news.
TBU.

[CA · Rating 1 out of 5]

No fresh info or views.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking. As a member of the Chinese diaspora I think it’s important to at least gain some understanding of Chinese politics and I think this book provides a good starting point. Although quite XJP focused, this book introduced the different political systems in China well and gave me an insight into the Chinese Government that I definitely lacked previously. Will definitely continue reading more into Chinese politics.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer on modern China's politics. Also a very sobering picture of an Orwellian society that uses the latest technology to control the speech and behavior of its citizens. The threat of conflict with China is more real than I had thought.

[Alex O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an informative read - trying to read from a variety of perspectives (this was certainly more negative than the Hauwei book) and that has proven to be an interesting choice. Learned quite a bit about modern China and Xi. Onto another general history...

[Ran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who cares about China should read this book! The quality of the reporting and writing is SOLID. One of the best books I read this year.

[Gigi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Refers to the Falun Gong multiple times as a “spiritual movement,” with no further context, which was funny.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's next?? The question we are prompted with by Goodreads upon completion of a book. This book answers that question as regards the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the current chairman, Xi. I found this book to be very informative, although I will say it's not for everybody. Those looking to do a deep dive into China's history will benefit most from reading it. Others may find the writing to be a touch too pedantic for their liking; I enjoyed the book overall. A very good effort.

[Nick Gaschler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Party of One is marketed as an analysis of Xi Jinping and what he has done in China. Written by an authority on the topic - Chun Han Wong - who has been a correspondent and reporter in Mainland China during the Xi years, this book provides excellent and insightful analysis on the administrative decisions that the CCP has made since Xi Jinping took power in 2012. Admittedly, this book started off slow for me. However, the discussions about how the Party has reshaped its control of it’s own history under Xi, the ongoing disputes with Taiwan and uniting China and the dialogue concerning China on the international stage were fascinating and provided amazing insights into those respective issues.

I found more issues in this book than I wanted to however. For starters, the organization is strong, yet segmented. It felt almost as if I was reading a collection of eight essays concerning contemporary China rather than a cohesive book. The repetition of Party history and the re-explanation of policies previously discussed made it repetitive which took away from the book as a whole. I also would’ve liked to know more about the specific hand Xi plays in this. I came away from this book feeling it was more of an analysis on China and the CCP rather than an analysis of Xi Jinping himself. No less interesting or fascinating, but I wished it turned its focus on Xi just a little more. This may be more of a personal qualm. I began this book off the heels of Jung Chang’s Mao biography and wished to compare both leaders which is why I found this book relatively lacking in that capacity outside of Chapter One. Nonetheless, I cannot fault Chun Han Wong for this. The research and facts presented here paints a compelling picture of China and to that end, this book is excellent.

I have honed in on learning more about China after I read Martin Pillsbury’s “100-Year Marathon”. Though it’s a rather hawkish perspective, China is the first nation that was on the negative side of colonialism to have built themselves back into a superpower. As a historian, watching geopolitical tensions rise like this reflects a new historical trend. The idiom mentioned in this book that “The West declines as the East rises” has validity to it and I would not be surprised to end my life in a world where the United States is no longer the dominant power. Therefore, it becomes necessary to learn as much as possible about a prospective hegemon that could arise in my lifetime. Xi Jinping commands a lot more power than the average observer I think realizes. The actions that China takes in the next decade will be indicative of how the following decades goes. The authoritarian style of leadership is frightening for someone who lives in a relatively liberal West. Yet, this book reveals that like any country, China has its own domestic problems. Whether or not they will serve to be the PRC’s downfall is yet to be seen, but if anything the party of Xi may come to doom China’s rise as Chun Han Wong remarks in this work. I don’t view Xi as an evil dictator in the mold of a Mao or Stalin. His autocratic tendencies are troublesome, but he seems to have a care for his people and securing China’s future that destructive dictators do not.

[Bernard Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wong Chun Han is a Singaporean and a reporter with the Wall Street Journal since 2010. He covers China.

Party of One (2023), his first book, is about the rise of Xi JinPing and the China he is leading. Chun Han's views are derived from having lived in Beijing and interacted with many intimate sources over many years.

The picture he paints of Xi is a sobering one. It is of a leader focused on securing absolute control above all and the impact (largely negative) this will have on China going forward.

The frequent argument is that a benevolent autocratic regime can do things fast and efficiently. And for China, this is necessary, at this stage, to counter the efforts of the west to stoke up centrifugal forces within China.

But such regimes can also do the right things wrong, the wrong things right, or do nothing at all, as the system ossifies under the rule of one person. Why take any risks when the punishment for wrongdoing is so harsh? Receive an order, over implement it (eg, Covid, Wolf Warrior diplomacy). Don't receive an order, don't do anything. Stay low, be obsequious to survive. Also, what is there to assure one that the dictator remains benevolent?

It is a sobering view - granted written by an author that works for a liberal Western publication and who was recently kicked out of China. But it certainly does balance out the overly positive views on China Singaporeans do receive on our devices on a daily basis. Chun Han writes:

"In a 2021 Pew Research study of public opinion in seventeen advanced countries, Singapore was the only country where a majority of respondents - some 70 per cent - voiced confidence in Xi's handling of world affairs. Doublethink Lab, a Taipei-based research firm that studies influence and disinformation operations ranked Singapore second most exposed to Beijing's influence efforts in a 2022 index of thirty-six countries for their susceptibility to Chinese narratives, trailing only Cambodia."

We are clearly a battleground in an information war. This book is not over the top in its western propaganda. And it is a good read to make sense of Xi and China.

[Christian Benedict · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot of things about China. I almost assumed that the Communist party was heavily authoritarian and corrupt since Mao, given their only incentive is to remain in control. Interestingly, for several decades, from Deng all the way until Hu Jintao, the Chinese leadership became much more tolerant of civil liberties, capitalism, even if it meant relinquishing control of various aspects of the country (comparatively speaking). As soon as Xi took over power around 2010, it’s been a descent back to Mao. The book details Xi, and through giving countless examples, make it crystal clear that he is only concerned with the consolidation of power above all else. Given the CCP political structure, it seems almost inevitable given the incentives that someone as power hungry as him would find his way to the top. The one complement I must give Xi is that he doesn’t really care for money, which helped him climb to the top. This makes him different from Putin, who seems to love money more than power.

It becomes very clear that authoritarian governments are unequivocally awful. Power corrupts. I don’t care how good they seemed before, humans cannot be trusted with power. There are infinite examples of this, China being the largest one. Humans are far more interested in lining their pockets than helping others.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was fucking fantastic. It's the first book I've read on China, while in China, that felt like it helped me get my head around some of the 'quirks' of this new horizon, and helped me see why some things are the way they are - or at least why I'm perceiving them that way. This was an engaging, interesting (and in my opinion, not overly bashing or laudatory) look at Xi Jinping and the way he 'runs' China, and I learned a lot of (very interesting) stuff about his youth and background, too. The complexities of the CCP are any layered and seem to have deeply scarred many, with Xi reacting to the punishment of his father by 'leaning in' so to speak.

Loved it and will be recommending it to others. Also, a cool, fun note - there's a bit where the author talks about the delicate balance Disney faces handling their theme park in Shanghai in partnership with state owned enterprises, and an example of the public relations challenge is given in a story about their Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications, Murray King. I had the pleasure of meeting Murray King at Disney Shanghai a few days laster, and recommending him this book!

[Rob Sedgwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at Xi's rise and the changes he has made to the Chinese state in the last 11 years, in particular, his "top-down" approach reversing much of the opening up of his predecessor and returning more to a Mao-style personality cult. Zero Covid, a policy devised by one person (and dropped just as quickly almost overnight) is a good example of the level of power that the Chinese state now has over its people and companies. Everybody reports ultimately to Xi. The book describes the massive interference in China's private sector and how nobody in China is allowed to get too big. The likes of the Russian oligarchs and American-style tech gurus such as Musk are not tolerated. The jury is out on how much that stifles innovation and whether China will ever overtake the USA in the GDP table.

The book has many facts but not enough anecdotes or quotes to make it really enjoyable. I am sure the author has spoken to a lot of people but the text is quite guarded when it comes to actual examples.

[Aadil Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing and is definitely a useful tool for learning about China. The author does a great job in using historical context to get you into Xi’s head, his reasoning, and understand the Party’s growth. It’s a scary kind of growth. You see a man trying to tame his hold on power/control to help move China forward (successfully) and then lose it, rather, unleashes it—his ability to dictate what he wants done. Xi doesn’t raise China via greed in the monetary sense but through pride in The Party. The success of The Party is all that matters to Xi and he does literally anything to ensure that, void of morals—Xi dictates the morals.

[David Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chronicling rise and current status of Xi Jinping with depth of context of both the historical events, deep party intrique and military and economical issues of China.

Only thing which I was really not interested in were the exact "unique treasures" the author highlighted in his afterword: small ilustrations of day to day life, struggles and random human stories. However I fully understand that these will probably make the book much more palatable for most people.

Five stars, great work

[Casey McLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a challanging read for an intro to Chinese politics and the party but man was it all encompassing. It painted a super understandable and detailed picture of china's past, present, and future both politically internally as well as internationally. It is wild over there, and it will have an impact on us all I think.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a person with average knowledge of China, this book was a great primer! I liked that the author explained XJP’s life prior to becoming head of state, as it’s evident some thing he does/says reflect his lack of a formal education/trying to appear erudite etc

[Adam Terenyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to better understand China today, this is the book to read. Its commentary is accessible—the author is an esteemed WSJ correspondent—and exceeds the academic quality you’d normally see at the top scholarly presses.

[WT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, easy to follow and learned alot. Every American leader should read.

[William Schlickenmaier · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I build my contemporary China canon, this is absolutely on the list. The references are even better, not just books and articles but conversations with experts too.

[Michel Van Roozendaal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great analytical read about the CCP under Xi . It is less about Xi as a person, but about the impact he is having as the paramount leader of China.The story is put into context of Chinese history, both the imperial phase up to 1911 as well as the present. The book is intelligently written in a neutral but thought provoking way. It covers in a systematic way at many different aspects of Xi’s leadership and impact it has on China’s position in the world but also its relationship with the US, Hong Kong, Taiwan etc. One of the final chapters is about succession which I thought was particularly interesting.

The author is a Singaporian reporter who has been based in China for many years, before being de-facto expelled from China in 2019 (as his press credentials were not renewed). Would really recommend this book.