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China Series: Who is the Real Xi Jinping?

He’s one of the most powerful people in the world – yet in the West we know little about him. Who is Xi Jinping? And what are his ambitions for China and the world? 

He’s one of the most powerful people in the world – yet in the West we know little about him. Who is Xi Jinping? And what are his ambitions for China and the world? 

In May 2022 writer and academic Kerry Brown  came to Intelligence Squared to shed light on China’s enigmatic leader. Drawing from rare first-hand interviews and Chinese sources little known to the outside world, Brown discussed Xi’s tumultuous early life from his birth into the elite to his being sent to a remote village for ‘re-education’ and hard labour during the Cultural Revolution when his father was purged and imprisoned. 

Brown explored the development of Xi’s political philosophy and how his pious worship of Mao Zedong has shaped him as a leader. He examined the cult of personality built around Xi in recent years and explain what decisions like abolishing term limits on the Chinese presidency and incorporating ‘Xi Jinping Thought’ into the constitution tell us about the direction of Xi’s China. 

Brown was in conversation with historian Rana Mitter for the second event in our new China series.


Speakers

For the motion

Kerry Brown

Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College London, his latest book is Xi: A Study of Power.


Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College London. He is the author of over ten books on modern Chinese politics, history and language. His latest book is Xi: A Study of Power.

Speaker

Chair

Rana Mitter

Historian, author and broadcaster


Historian, author and broadcaster. He is director of the University China Centre at the University of Oxford, where he is Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China. His new book, China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism, will be published in September this year. He is a regular presenter of the arts and ideas programme Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3.