Xi Jinping is More Vulnerable Than You Think

President Xi Jinping’s command at this month’s Communist Party gathering was so complete that President Trump likened him to a “king.” But some China analysts are wondering whether Xi has overreached.

Xi dominated the stage, literally and figuratively, at the party’s 19th Congress, which ended this week in Beijing. His consolidation of power has nearly erased the collective leadership style of his recent predecessors and vaulted him into a Chinese pantheon occupied only by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. “Xi Jinping Thought” is now celebrated as the guide to a “new era” for China.

Xi’s capture of the commanding heights was summarized in a private report by Pamir Consulting, a leading advisory firm on China. During Xi’s first five years in office, Pamir reported, his anti-corruption campaign has disciplined 1.53 million party members and prosecuted 278,000, including 440 ministerial or provincial officials and 43 Central Committee members, about 11.4 percent of that body.