A Greensboro political science professor whose research focuses on East Asian politics said China's historical view of emperors as “Sons of Heaven” could contribute to President Xi Jinping’s ability to hold that position.
“Due to the lack of institutionalized rule that granted real authority to and checks the power of the party general secretary, a real power relies greatly on personal ties, factional alignments, popular support and individual skills,” Xuezhi Guo said on the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) podcast Pekingology.
During the podcast with Jude Blanchette, Guo discussed his new book, “The Politics of the Core Leader in China: Culture, Institution, Legitimacy and Power". Guo is a professor of political science and department chair at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, according to jeffersonscholars.org. His research centers on East Asian, international and comparative politics as well as political thought.
Chinese rulers were called Sons of Heaven, or tianzi starting with the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BCE), according to Britannica. The Sons of Heaven philosophy arose from belief in tian, meaning heaven or sky, as a deity. Heaven could mandate human sovereignty. If the land suffered from unrest, the belief was that the mandate had been revoked.
Xi Jinping is the son of Xi Zhongxun, one of the Community Party's founders, and started out in his 20s as a local party secretary in Hebel province, according to BBC. He became president of the People's Republic of China in 2012 in a reign “accompanied by a resurgence in patriotic nationalism whipped up by state media with a particular focus on Mr. Xi as China's strongman.” The constitution includes Xi Jinping's views on socialism for the new era, BBC reports. The National People’s Congress removed the two-term limit from the presidency in 2018.
Xi will vie for a third term during the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2022, The Heritage Foundation reported.
CSIS is a nonprofit policy research organization focused on national security issues.
