Chairman of everything

Two of the defining figures of our age are China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Both are authoritarian rulers intent on reshaping the global Western-led order. They despise and mistrust the United States equally, and, to justify their hold on power, promote a nationalist and civilisationist vision that elevates the long historical and cultural roots of their societies. They have defined themselves as indispensable for their respective countries’ futures and standing in the world.

But the similarities end there. Putin’s power rests on his maintaining influence among a small cabal of wealthy oligarchs. Xi is the head of the only effective political institution operating in China: the Communist Party of China (CPC). This is a bureaucracy of some ninety-three million paid-up members, the biggest political party on the planet. It controls the military and all other organs of state power, and is dedicated to perpetuating its own rule.