Transfixed by Donald Trump, people in Western countries have turned with relief to the solidity they see in Xi Jinping. Few, however, have followed in any detail the enormous transformation Xi has wrought in China, turning the first party then state and increasingly the broader population, into followers of the emerging new personality cult.
Xi is now seeking to entrench his legitimacy as an unchallengeable ruler for the next decade or more, by leading the People’s Republic into international leadership, with its governance becoming a global model.
Rowan Callick is a former China correspondent for The Australian (2006-09) and the Australian Financial Review (1996-2000) and Asia-Pacific editor for both newspapers. He is the author, most recently of Party Time: Who Runs China and How (Black Inc.)