For Wei Jingsheng, Xi has gone from liberal to dictator

Xi’s attitude will lead to the collapse of the Communist regime. He thinks he is stronger than Mao Zedong, but nowadays it is no longer possible to deceive the Chinese with Marxism-Leninism. The great dissident evaluates Xi’s first five years or rule.

Beijing *(AsiaNews) – The annual China "Two Conferences" are being held in Beijing now.  This year's National People's Congress and The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference mark the end of the last 5 years of rule by Xi Jinping, as well as determining the next term of the Xi administration.  They are also a warm up for the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. 

The media inside China and abroad and many analysts are highly concerned about these "Two Conferences". The Western analysis gave a report card for the first term of Xi Jinping's governing which highlights a) China's reality that must be reformed because its "economy is huge but a serious waste"; b) the bold oath Xi Jinping has on the international stage does not match his performance in the past 5 years; and c) the combination of power and wealth in China is accelerating the disparity between rich and poor in China. 

So, has the Chinese political ecology and social environment progressed or retreated in the past five years under Xi's ruling?  From where comes the greatest risk to Xi's regime?  Where is the "legal society" Xi promised to establish?

Wei Jingsheng said that the words "Xi Core Leadership" have been mentioned repeatedly by the officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which shows that not all voices within the Communist leadership are convinced; thus the need to repeat this phrase of "Xi Core Leadership."  After Mao Zedong's era, the word "leader" was rarely mentioned because this word in Chinese is associated with dictators.  But now this word has surfaced again, which indicates that Xi Jinping may want to engage a dictatorship, and everyone is forced to call him a leader at his request.

Wei Jingsheng said that there is a phrase which goes "where your butt sits decides where your brain is."  Xi Jinping once said that he was going to learn from Chiang Ching-kuo (of Republic of China) by opening freedom of speech and lifting the ban on forming political parties, but the results after he took office have departed farther and farther from that claim.  Wei Jingsheng said that as the Communist system is different from democratic systems, it needs dictator leadership to gather the people.  Therefore, under such a system there will not be too much difference from Mao Zedong's era.

Wei Jingsheng said that after Xi Jinping came to power he was brown-nosed by many and thus lost his mind and changed.  When a person sits on the seat of a dictator, he will unknowingly become a dictator.  Mao Zedong was an example.  Xi Jinping also seems to have become corrupted due to the power in his hands.  This system decides everything, while the "Two Conferences" are just like pretty vases and rubber stamps, which give no restriction on Xi's function but instead sing praises to him.

Wei Jingsheng said that in the early years after the Communist Party was founded, there were many young people joining the party in order to pursue democracy and freedom.  But the Communist Party has become an autocratic dictatorial regime, which has made many old communist members think it is worse than KMT.  After Xi Jinping came to power, he has not only offended the Chinese people and increased the gap between rich and poor, but also made more enemies within the Communist party and made a mess diplomatically -- these are the reasons for political instability in China.

Wei Jingsheng said: "Xi wants to concentrate power to do big things.  But we have to see what are the big things he is doing.  Now Xi Jinping tightens speech more and more.  Not to mention not lifting the forbidden formation of political parties, he even arrested many people when he treated rights defending lawyers as forbidden organizations.  This trend proves that he is not like Chiang Ching-kuo at all.  Then what will be the big things he is going to do?  He will become more dictatorial and more authoritarian, so people will live even worse.  This will only lead to the collapse of the Communist regime.

Wei Jingsheng said that the so-called "anti-corruption" of Xi Jinping is just to concentrate his personal power.  He did not arrest the well-known corrupt officials, but instead arrested his political opponents and put the officials who were disobedient to him in prison.  The Chinese people have observed these actions already and are disappointed with his "anti-corruption".

Wei Jingsheng said that the increasing tightening of freedom of speech under Xi Jinping is about to surpass what it was during the Cultural Revolution.  Xi Jinping frequently blocks people using their own created media, and the Chinese people cannot say anything.  In the ideology of the Communist Party, "rule of law" is regarded as a weapon against its enemies, which is the essence of the law according to the Communist regime.  This is what everyone should recognize.

Wei Jingsheng said that in a healthy society that follows a rule of law the people have supervision over the government, making it not easy for officials to be corruptive.  But in China, the people are reprimanded when they report or petition against officials' wrongdoings.  The rule of law has become a tool for Xi Jinping to purge the dissidents who disagree with him.  Xi Jinping claimed to "rule the country by law", but the Communist Party itself does not have to comply with the law, such as not giving the people freedom of speech which is guaranteed by Chinese law.  The law is only a weapon against the people by the Chinese Communist regime.

Wei Jingsheng said that Xi Jinping has been keeping "turning left" since he came to power, while the rule of law in China has simply retreated to the level during the Cultural Revolution period.  In the past, when Deng Xiaoping "turned right while signalling a turn to the left", China still could be maintained during its economic improvement.  But Xi Jinping wants to resume the Mao era by repression, which will for sure result in the eventual collapse of the Communist regime.  Xi Jinping may think that he is stronger than Mao Zedong, but in the present day, it is totally impossible for him to fool the Chinese by using Marxism-Leninism.

For more content, please watch the full version of the video of VOA "Issues and Opinions" program on March 8, 2017.

• china
• wei ingsheng
• xi jinping
• communism
• mao zedong
• cultural revolution
• deng xiaoping
• chiang ching-kuo