In an extract from his new book, The Broken China Dream, Minxin Pei looks at how Xi Jinping seized unassailable political power and forced China back down a path many had thought the country would never return to.
Illustration by Nate Kitch
The closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on October 22, 2022, was supposed to be a festive occasion celebrating Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term as the party’s general secretary. But something evidently went awry. Xi’s predecessor, former party chief Hu Jintao, then 80 years old, was escorted off the podium, apparently against his will. The more than 2,300 delegates to the congress stared in stunned disbelief while Xi and the other top pa
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