ABSTRACT
This chapter details the high-level intrigues that preceded the Eighteenth Party Congress at which Xi Jinping was formally anointed as China’s most powerful leader. It discusses Xi’s subsequent efforts to centralize all centers of power under himself, thereby reversing a previous trend toward the evolution of collective decision making in the standing committee of the politburo. It also discusses Xi’s introduction of “the China dream” and of fostering a cult of personality around himself. It describes the brief attempts at resistance and summarizes the accomplishments of his far-reaching campaign against corruption and the sweeping reforms he instituted in the military. The Nineteenth Party Congress not only gave Xi a second five year term, as expected, but it also amended the party constitution to raise his status to that of Mao Zedong and over all previous party leaders, apart from Mao. A subsequent amendment abolished the two-term limit, enabling Xi to stay on indefinitely.
