Xi Jingping’s first speech as China’s new Communist Party chief was well received by educated urban residents, judging by online comments.
“Our people have an ardent love for life,” said Xi in his speech on the day following the end of the 18th National Party Congress. “They wish to have better educations, more stable jobs, more income, greater social security, better medical and health care, improved housing conditions, and a better environment. They want their children to enjoy sound growth, have good jobs and lead more enjoyable lives.
“To meet their desire for a happy life is our mission.
“Our Party faces many severe challenges, and there are also many pressing problems within the Party that need to be resolved, particularly corruption, being divorced from the people, going through formalities and bureaucracy caused by some Party officials,” said Xi.
Many Chinese were impressed by Xi’s plain, colloquial tone — devoid of catch phrases, slogans, stilted rhetoric and historic references. They were also reassured by his unaccented Mandarin like that spoken by educated urban residents, in sharp contrast to the thick provincial accents of previous generations of leaders who typically hailed from rural families.
The Communist party organ Global Times made a point of noting that Xi’s 18-minute speech — brief in comparison to those of his predecessors — used the word “people” nearly 20 times.
A Weibo microblog post by Jian Heng, a guest professor at Shantou University in Guangdong province pointed out, “He mentioned the word ‘party’ 20 times; ‘people’ appeared 19 times; ‘responsibility’ was said 10 times and ‘problems’ 3 times. Didn’t use anything related to law. No ‘law,’ no ‘constitution,’ no ‘rule of law’ nor ‘democracy,’ no ‘freedom.’”
While Jian focused on the lack of any promises of political reforms, the majority of China’s netizens took heart in Xi’s populist tone. They tended to agree with He Bing of the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing whose microblog notes, “He speaks with a human touch.”
Many were also impressed by the sense of easy confidence exuded by their new leader. Others liked how Xi closed the distance between top leader and ordinary people with his almost conversational tone.
All were pleasantly surprised that the Party had managed a leadership transition in which the new leader takes control of the military rather than have it remain under the control of the outgoing leader as in the two prior transitions.
“It’s a great step forward in political civilization,” said Huang Weiping, director of the Institute of Contemporary Chinese Politics Research at Shenzhen University. “The new Party leader now commands the military, not the other way around. It meets the standards of a modern country that aims at the rule of law.”
Hu’s decision to hand over all of his power at once is seen as giving the new Standing Committee the authority to carry out its duties with full independence and not under the shadow of a former leader who retains control over the military the way Jiang Zemin did for two years after Hu Jintao was formally named the top leader.
The people’s sense of satisfaction with Xi and the leadership transition reflects more than just Xi’s speaking style. It also reflects the populist pledge made by the Party to double incomes by 2020 relative to 2010.
The major reservation expressed by those who analyzed the leadership transition was the sense that China had not yet achieved a truly institutionalized government. Of the seven new members of the ruling Politburo Standing Committee, four were the choices of former leader Jiang Zemin, 86, who had retired 10 years ago. That Jiang was able to prevail over Hu Jintao in the competition to place top leaders is seen as a sobering reminder of just how big a role personal connections continue to play in China’s government power structure.
