A 40,000-Chinese character monograph titled ‘An Objective Evaluation of Xi Jinping’ (客觀
評價習近平 ) authored by Chinese writing under the pseudonym ‘Fang Zhou & China’ (方舟
與中國 - literally ‘China & Its Ark’) was released in late January and is the first public salvo
of criticism in China in 2022. Commentators in the independent Chinese media quickly pointed
out that Fang Zhou’s damning round-up was released on the eve of the 2022 Winter Olympics
in Beijing, an event staged in part as a celebration of Xi Jinping. A translation of the article, or
monograph, by Geremie R. Barme reveals that it severely castigated Xi Jinping and his
performance in a number of areas. It asserted: "Xi will be the architect of his own defeat. His
style of governance is simply unsustainable; it will generate ever newer and greater policy
missteps. That he has been able to get this far is a testament both to Xi’s obduracy and also his
inertia, a kind of helplessness fuelled by the fact that he will not back down on any front. The
truth of the matter is that he has never really been bolstered by sincerely held core beliefs; he
is sustained by his political instincts. Some people in the Party have his measure. They make a
show of total compliance and they even encourage his wilfulness. They commandeer access to
him and have proved masterful at putting the best face on the consequences of his political
follies. In reality, they are guiding him towards an impossible predicament while letting all the
frustrations and fury that his policies create focus on him and him alone. When the time comes,
he will bear sole responsibility for the quagmire at the heart of China’s cyclical authoritarian
politics". The article says in conclusion: "Even if by some remarkable sleight of hand, he
manages to secure another term in office he will still be faced by a landscape riven by problems
and an inevitable rout in the year 2027. He’s caught up in a monomaniacal fantasy that realworld politics can actually be based upon the kind of abstract ideal that he holds dear. His circumstances are not all that different from those experienced by Yuan Shikai, whose
autocratic mindset and imperial ambitions were frustrated by the reality of the times. Well may
Xi Jinping inwardly regard himself as the greatest ruler in all of Chinese history but, sooner or
later, he will learn that this is a chimera. The chasm between Xi Jinping’s hubristic self-belief
and stark reality is his Achilles heel. Xi Jinping may well end up as a lonely figure; his
comeuppance is unavoidable".
(Comment: I am attempting a detailed translation and a summary will follow separately.)
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