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We Need To Talk About Xi: What we need to know about the world’s most powerful leader
Meet the most powerful leader in the world.
Chinese premier Xi Jinping graces our television screens and news headlines on a regular basis. But even after a decade in power, he remains shrouded in mystery.
From growing up with a father purged in Mao's Cultural Revolution and his mission to eradicate poverty, to his persecution of Uyghur Muslims and paranoia about being likened to Winne the Pooh, Xi Jinping is a man obscured by caricatures. In this short, essential primer, historian and writer Michael Dillon unveils the character of Xi Jinping - arguably the world's most powerful man - to truly understand his grip on China, what he wants and how the West gets him wrong.
But this is not just the story of Xi; this is the story of today's largest economic powerhouse, which dives into the crux of the issue - what does Xi's leadership of China mean for the rest of the world, and what will he do next?
Chinese premier Xi Jinping graces our television screens and news headlines on a regular basis. But even after a decade in power, he remains shrouded in mystery.
From growing up with a father purged in Mao's Cultural Revolution and his mission to eradicate poverty, to his persecution of Uyghur Muslims and paranoia about being likened to Winne the Pooh, Xi Jinping is a man obscured by caricatures. In this short, essential primer, historian and writer Michael Dillon unveils the character of Xi Jinping - arguably the world's most powerful man - to truly understand his grip on China, what he wants and how the West gets him wrong.
But this is not just the story of Xi; this is the story of today's largest economic powerhouse, which dives into the crux of the issue - what does Xi's leadership of China mean for the rest of the world, and what will he do next?
208 pages, Paperback
Published August 13, 2024
26 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Michael Dillon
28 books5 followersMichael Dillon is a China specialist with expertise in teaching the history, politics and society of the Chinese world and the Chinese language. He was founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham, where he taught courses on modern China in the Department of East Asian Studies. He has a BA and PhD in Chinese Studies from Leeds University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society. He is a peer reviewer for academic publishers and journals including China Quarterly, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Inner Asia and is guest editor for a forthcoming special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies focussing on Chinese ethnicity. He is a frequent commentator on Chinese and Asian affairs for the BBC and other international broadcasters, contributes to the Times Literary Supplement and was a consultant for China, a four-part television documentary directed by Jonathan Lewis for BBC2, Granada and PBS (USA).
He reads Chinese fluently, speaks Putonghua (Mandarin) and some Cantonese and has a working knowledge of the Uyghur language of Xinjiang.
He reads Chinese fluently, speaks Putonghua (Mandarin) and some Cantonese and has a working knowledge of the Uyghur language of Xinjiang.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 25, 2024
A very quick and easy to read book that you can finish in one day. Do not expect to learn anything deep nor insightful. This is equivalent of getting a shortcut into knowing about the leader. The alternative would be to go through wiki and past new articles. Instead this book saves you time by collecting these snippets together to be conveniently flipped through in book form.
Unfortunately this is where the praise of the book stops. For me this is typical of a white guy's view of the East, viewed through the narrow lens of the West's perspective. Some historical facts about Taiwan are also inaccurate. The West's view of the world is mostly viewed through the prism of the last 150 years after they have risen to become the global super powers. The sense of entitlement is evident, so are the rather naive view of the world through the black and white definitions of good vs evil evident from the Christianity teachings. One can not blame the West for this view, as one is unable to blame how a child sees the world through his rather limited existence when judging adults in the same way a white guy tries to understand a civilisation state such as China that transcends through the past three-thousands years. The book is written full of mistrust and scepticism.
One is recommended to read Kissinger's "World Order". The man shows great understanding of the changing world order and where the histories of the West fit in. China is a civilisation state that was forced to become a nation state after the current world order was established after the Thirty Years' War in the mid 1600s. Since then West enforced their language, religion and way of life to the rest of defeated nations which they plundered and ravished (read the excellent book Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano ). More recently the spread of democracy has replaced the spread of Christianity but the need to impose one self onto others is still very much alive today.
What one needs to understand is that no world order exists forever. China was once the world superpower and now it is rising to reclaim its place. The Chinese Civilisation does not care about the recent invention that is called democracy. Nor does China care about the legitimacy of the political party ruling Taiwan over the last 70 years as the Chinese nation is a civilisation state and not a nation state, with Taiwan being part of this civilisation in the 1600s after the Dutch invaders were defeated and Taiwan becoming part of this empire.
The author has essentially failed to provide the bigger picture of the changing world order. Xi is then more easily understood when viewed through this lens. Xi is not just a singular entity but he embodies the unstoppable rise of the Chinese civilisation once again, and symbolises the coming changing world order.
Unfortunately this is where the praise of the book stops. For me this is typical of a white guy's view of the East, viewed through the narrow lens of the West's perspective. Some historical facts about Taiwan are also inaccurate. The West's view of the world is mostly viewed through the prism of the last 150 years after they have risen to become the global super powers. The sense of entitlement is evident, so are the rather naive view of the world through the black and white definitions of good vs evil evident from the Christianity teachings. One can not blame the West for this view, as one is unable to blame how a child sees the world through his rather limited existence when judging adults in the same way a white guy tries to understand a civilisation state such as China that transcends through the past three-thousands years. The book is written full of mistrust and scepticism.
One is recommended to read Kissinger's "World Order". The man shows great understanding of the changing world order and where the histories of the West fit in. China is a civilisation state that was forced to become a nation state after the current world order was established after the Thirty Years' War in the mid 1600s. Since then West enforced their language, religion and way of life to the rest of defeated nations which they plundered and ravished (read the excellent book Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano ). More recently the spread of democracy has replaced the spread of Christianity but the need to impose one self onto others is still very much alive today.
What one needs to understand is that no world order exists forever. China was once the world superpower and now it is rising to reclaim its place. The Chinese Civilisation does not care about the recent invention that is called democracy. Nor does China care about the legitimacy of the political party ruling Taiwan over the last 70 years as the Chinese nation is a civilisation state and not a nation state, with Taiwan being part of this civilisation in the 1600s after the Dutch invaders were defeated and Taiwan becoming part of this empire.
The author has essentially failed to provide the bigger picture of the changing world order. Xi is then more easily understood when viewed through this lens. Xi is not just a singular entity but he embodies the unstoppable rise of the Chinese civilisation once again, and symbolises the coming changing world order.
December 17, 2024
Poorly written book that barely goes beyond the kind of banalities mentioned by the average NYT’s article. Though Dillon tries to be even-handed his liberal fundamentalism structures his analysis in innumerable ways he’s never thought to question:
-we’re told that Xi is opposed to Hu Jintao because the latter was committed to collective leadership and was more open to world. There’s no proof provided for this claim. But what about the fact that it was under Hu that corruption, inequality, and pollution exploded? Dillon makes no mention of these as sources of tension between Xi and Hu—instead he projects onto the tension what his own liberal politics want to find there. Remarkably he even cites Xi’s suspicion of Hu’s cozying up to big business as a resistance to pluralism—it doesn’t cross his mind that there would be a justification for regulating big business beyond repression and party control! Sloppy neoliberalism at its worst.
-overall general tendency to idealize the tenures of Jiang and Hu and demonize that of Xi. The former was a “mini golden age”.
-mentions that somehow the Chinese dream excludes the ideal of equality of opportunity. Why? What evidence is there that this is explicitly built into its policies? Isn’t the largest poverty alleviation campaign in history a small step made towards equality of opportunity? How could you write a book about xi and not even get into the specifics of his ideology beyond the “China Dream” motif: no mention of poverty alleviation as a specific policy (widely praised by the UN as a model for developing countries), the extension of the safety net, the attempt to de-leverage and de-commodify the property market, the desire to create high-quality (rather than simply high-speed) growth, nor even the turn towards green policies (as seen in the growth of EV car industry in China). How could this book have been green-lit by its editor? He does rightly note that Xi has a serious and sincere commitment to poverty alleviation but how can you mention this without going into the actual policies? Just lazy.
-“serious disturbances in Urumqi”! What a cowardly euphemism. There were acts of terrorism in Urumqi in 2009 that led to the deaths of hundreds of people. To frame the presence of cameras in these spaces as extensions of Xi’s innate authoritarianism and not as a response to objective security threats here is absurd. One can certainly critique the heavy handedness but as is it grounds the situation in nothing more than a personality quirk of Xi. Typical liberal psychologization combined with bad great man theory of history. Later in the book he does go into the origins of the crack down as a response to Islamist terrorism in the region.
-he cites Strittmatter’s book as “cooly analytical”; in fact, the latter was one of the silliest and most paranoid western accounts of China written in the last few years.
-investigations into “anticompetitive business practices” are framed by Dillion as nothing more than power politics. Typical one-dimensional liberal motif.
-“any kind of dissent is forbidden” in Xi’s China. Really? Has the author spent more than a few weeks there in the last five years? Conversations in China in everyday life are free and far-ranging; someone is as likely to critique Xi as they are to praise him. Go to the country and talk to its teachers and cabbies—don’t listen to this nonsense.
-cites the possibility that in China in the 50s and 60s people prioritized honesty—he then characterizes this attention to honesty as “puritanical morality”! Wait, what if it is just morality? What makes it puritanical? By adding the adjective he falls into the typical liberal equation of communism with religion. Xi’s discomfort with massive inequality and corruption is framed as an extension of this “puritanical side”; so too his discomfort with prostitution and drug use! But wouldn’t many conservative and liberals in the West be happy to see inequality tackled and drug use lessened in their societies? This doesn’t at all imply one is puritanical.
-Hong Kong Protests: writes that “there was violence” in the passive voice obscuring the very real property damage and acts of physical violence committed by the protestors in this period (train stations destroyed, cars and buses set on fire, even pro-Beijing locals set aflame). He also fails to note that despite millions of people in the street not one person was killed by the state in these protests. One can critique the absence of democracy, but lays pay attention to the varieties and intensity of autocracy.
-again how could a book on Xi make ZERO mention of his commitments to ecological thinking? No mention of the remarkable expansion of Ev’s, solar or wind under Xi: no mention of the fact that it has made hard commitments to climate targets as America withdrew itself out of international climate agreements. Again who green-lit this?
-mentions that America is committed to defending Taiwan but not that it formally affirms Taiwan as a part of China (in its Shanghai communique): “The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China”. How can you mention the former without mentioning the latter? He fails to mention that almost everyone in China sees Taiwan as a part of China and sees the global “community’s” interest in Taiwan as illegitimate and more often than not openly imperialist. Zero attention to the role played by America’s new Cold War thinking in the production of Xi’s militarism nor China’s increasingly aggressive position vis a vis Taiwan.
-Stop with the silly comparisons of the cult of personality of Mao or Stalin with Xi! Again, have you walked down a Chinese street recently? Xi’s face is NOT very visible in public space at all. yes there’s been aconsolidation of thinking around a center framed as “Xi Jin Ping” but any comparison between China today and life under Mao is egregiously stupid. You’re more likely to stumble upon a McDonalds in China than you are a portrait of Xi. The claim he makes that today Shanghai and Suzhou are awash in Xi imagery—totally false.
-it’s great that he openly admits that what is happening in Xinjiang is oppressive but does not qualify as “genocide” (meaning outright extermination of a people). He’s brave to have said this.
-Xi Jinping we’re told is anti-business but his close ally Li Qiang is not and actively encouraged Musk to invest in China. Why would Xi have Li in a position of power if he wasn’t in all kinds of ways also pro-business?
-Covid: omg. Stop. Yes, there were costs to Xi’s covid lockdown. And there were also advantages as almost every major global health organization has mentioned again and again. Surely millions of lives were saved by not going the route of America. Let’s stop calling lockdowns “draconian”, if not in the interest of truth, then at least in that of an original sentence. Covid led to “unprecedented mass demonstrations”—these numbered at most in the thousands of people. The demonstrations are “mass” and the lockdowns “draconian”: liberal fantasia at its most obvious.
-one sentence towards the end of the book saying the Cold War tensions don’t all lie on the Chinese side—that’s it!
Save yourself the time and money and read something else. Dillon’s book avoids some of the worst caricatures of China and Xi, I’ll give him that, but overall this is sloppy work.
-we’re told that Xi is opposed to Hu Jintao because the latter was committed to collective leadership and was more open to world. There’s no proof provided for this claim. But what about the fact that it was under Hu that corruption, inequality, and pollution exploded? Dillon makes no mention of these as sources of tension between Xi and Hu—instead he projects onto the tension what his own liberal politics want to find there. Remarkably he even cites Xi’s suspicion of Hu’s cozying up to big business as a resistance to pluralism—it doesn’t cross his mind that there would be a justification for regulating big business beyond repression and party control! Sloppy neoliberalism at its worst.
-overall general tendency to idealize the tenures of Jiang and Hu and demonize that of Xi. The former was a “mini golden age”.
-mentions that somehow the Chinese dream excludes the ideal of equality of opportunity. Why? What evidence is there that this is explicitly built into its policies? Isn’t the largest poverty alleviation campaign in history a small step made towards equality of opportunity? How could you write a book about xi and not even get into the specifics of his ideology beyond the “China Dream” motif: no mention of poverty alleviation as a specific policy (widely praised by the UN as a model for developing countries), the extension of the safety net, the attempt to de-leverage and de-commodify the property market, the desire to create high-quality (rather than simply high-speed) growth, nor even the turn towards green policies (as seen in the growth of EV car industry in China). How could this book have been green-lit by its editor? He does rightly note that Xi has a serious and sincere commitment to poverty alleviation but how can you mention this without going into the actual policies? Just lazy.
-“serious disturbances in Urumqi”! What a cowardly euphemism. There were acts of terrorism in Urumqi in 2009 that led to the deaths of hundreds of people. To frame the presence of cameras in these spaces as extensions of Xi’s innate authoritarianism and not as a response to objective security threats here is absurd. One can certainly critique the heavy handedness but as is it grounds the situation in nothing more than a personality quirk of Xi. Typical liberal psychologization combined with bad great man theory of history. Later in the book he does go into the origins of the crack down as a response to Islamist terrorism in the region.
-he cites Strittmatter’s book as “cooly analytical”; in fact, the latter was one of the silliest and most paranoid western accounts of China written in the last few years.
-investigations into “anticompetitive business practices” are framed by Dillion as nothing more than power politics. Typical one-dimensional liberal motif.
-“any kind of dissent is forbidden” in Xi’s China. Really? Has the author spent more than a few weeks there in the last five years? Conversations in China in everyday life are free and far-ranging; someone is as likely to critique Xi as they are to praise him. Go to the country and talk to its teachers and cabbies—don’t listen to this nonsense.
-cites the possibility that in China in the 50s and 60s people prioritized honesty—he then characterizes this attention to honesty as “puritanical morality”! Wait, what if it is just morality? What makes it puritanical? By adding the adjective he falls into the typical liberal equation of communism with religion. Xi’s discomfort with massive inequality and corruption is framed as an extension of this “puritanical side”; so too his discomfort with prostitution and drug use! But wouldn’t many conservative and liberals in the West be happy to see inequality tackled and drug use lessened in their societies? This doesn’t at all imply one is puritanical.
-Hong Kong Protests: writes that “there was violence” in the passive voice obscuring the very real property damage and acts of physical violence committed by the protestors in this period (train stations destroyed, cars and buses set on fire, even pro-Beijing locals set aflame). He also fails to note that despite millions of people in the street not one person was killed by the state in these protests. One can critique the absence of democracy, but lays pay attention to the varieties and intensity of autocracy.
-again how could a book on Xi make ZERO mention of his commitments to ecological thinking? No mention of the remarkable expansion of Ev’s, solar or wind under Xi: no mention of the fact that it has made hard commitments to climate targets as America withdrew itself out of international climate agreements. Again who green-lit this?
-mentions that America is committed to defending Taiwan but not that it formally affirms Taiwan as a part of China (in its Shanghai communique): “The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China”. How can you mention the former without mentioning the latter? He fails to mention that almost everyone in China sees Taiwan as a part of China and sees the global “community’s” interest in Taiwan as illegitimate and more often than not openly imperialist. Zero attention to the role played by America’s new Cold War thinking in the production of Xi’s militarism nor China’s increasingly aggressive position vis a vis Taiwan.
-Stop with the silly comparisons of the cult of personality of Mao or Stalin with Xi! Again, have you walked down a Chinese street recently? Xi’s face is NOT very visible in public space at all. yes there’s been aconsolidation of thinking around a center framed as “Xi Jin Ping” but any comparison between China today and life under Mao is egregiously stupid. You’re more likely to stumble upon a McDonalds in China than you are a portrait of Xi. The claim he makes that today Shanghai and Suzhou are awash in Xi imagery—totally false.
-it’s great that he openly admits that what is happening in Xinjiang is oppressive but does not qualify as “genocide” (meaning outright extermination of a people). He’s brave to have said this.
-Xi Jinping we’re told is anti-business but his close ally Li Qiang is not and actively encouraged Musk to invest in China. Why would Xi have Li in a position of power if he wasn’t in all kinds of ways also pro-business?
-Covid: omg. Stop. Yes, there were costs to Xi’s covid lockdown. And there were also advantages as almost every major global health organization has mentioned again and again. Surely millions of lives were saved by not going the route of America. Let’s stop calling lockdowns “draconian”, if not in the interest of truth, then at least in that of an original sentence. Covid led to “unprecedented mass demonstrations”—these numbered at most in the thousands of people. The demonstrations are “mass” and the lockdowns “draconian”: liberal fantasia at its most obvious.
-one sentence towards the end of the book saying the Cold War tensions don’t all lie on the Chinese side—that’s it!
Save yourself the time and money and read something else. Dillon’s book avoids some of the worst caricatures of China and Xi, I’ll give him that, but overall this is sloppy work.
March 4, 2025
This book provides an accessible, high-level overview of modern Chinese history, centering on Xi Jinping’s leadership and its global implications. It’s particularly useful for readers with limited exposure to Chinese culture, offering concise insight into key historical milestones and how they inform China’s contemporary perspective and role in the world. By placing Xi at the forefront, Dillon skillfully connects historical events to modern issues, illustrating the country’s evolving influence. Although relatively short, the book offers a solid introduction to the primary themes that shape China’s interactions on the global stage. Highly recommend it to anyone wanting to find out more about China and it's stance on key global issues.
Read
July 18, 2024voor de helft gelezen 😳
June 23, 2025
Libro molto carino e utile per farsi un'idea un po' più chiara sulla politica interna della Cina.
March 20, 2025
Interessante e di facile lettura. Una serie di informazioni sul passato di un individuo importante per il nostro presente e prossimo futuro che ci lasciano però in una posizione difficile per capire la persona e cosà farà prossimamente. Specie ora che è saltato fuori Trump.
November 12, 2024
After this short review in Dutch, a review in English follows.
Excellent boek(je) om meer inzicht te hebben in de persoon Xi Jinping. Aan de hand van zijn loopbaan kan men zijn huidige standpunten begrijpen. Waarschijnlijk ook zijn toekomstige omdat hij niet direct van het politieke wereld toneel zal verdwijnen. Michael Dillon blijft bij de feiten en weeft ze aan mekaar. Dit is misschien een waarborg voor objectiviteit. Door DS aangegeven als waarheidsgetrouw. Zeer aan te raden.
Excellent book to gain more insight into the person Xi Jinping. From his career one can understand his current views. Probably also his future because he will not immediately disappear from the political world stage. Michael Dillon sticks to the facts and weaves them together. This may be a guarantee of objectivity. Indicated by DS as truthful. Highly recommended.
Excellent boek(je) om meer inzicht te hebben in de persoon Xi Jinping. Aan de hand van zijn loopbaan kan men zijn huidige standpunten begrijpen. Waarschijnlijk ook zijn toekomstige omdat hij niet direct van het politieke wereld toneel zal verdwijnen. Michael Dillon blijft bij de feiten en weeft ze aan mekaar. Dit is misschien een waarborg voor objectiviteit. Door DS aangegeven als waarheidsgetrouw. Zeer aan te raden.
Excellent book to gain more insight into the person Xi Jinping. From his career one can understand his current views. Probably also his future because he will not immediately disappear from the political world stage. Michael Dillon sticks to the facts and weaves them together. This may be a guarantee of objectivity. Indicated by DS as truthful. Highly recommended.
March 21, 2024
Een interessant verhaal van een auteur die claimt de "waarheid" te kunnen vertellen over de Chinese president Xi. Echter stelt hij zelf al in zijn boek dat er bitter weinig gegevens te vinden zijn over Xi en dat de president zelf nooit interviews geeft. Dus dit boek is vooral gebaseerd op de observaties van de auteur die zelf enige tijd in China heeft doorgebracht. Ondanks dat, en er vanuit gaande dat meer dan de helft van de beweringen waar zijn, geeft dit boek toch een redelijk goed beeld van de president van China, volgens Dillon 'de machtigste leider ter wereld'.
April 1, 2024
Wie een exclusieve inkijk verwacht in het brein van Xi Jinping zal waarschijnlijk teleurgesteld achterblijven. Xi is en blijft een mysterie voor iedereen die hem niet persoonlijk kent, maar toch geeft Dillon in dit boek een interessante analyse van Xi Jinping en zijn politieke carrière. In iets meer dan 200 pagina’s vat hij zo’n beetje alles samen wat er over Xi en zijn politiek te weten is. Een interessante read dus voor iedereen die er mee over wil weten.
Kleine sidenote wel: wie dit boek in het Nederlands leest, verwacht zich maar best aan een nogal chaotische vertaling.
Kleine sidenote wel: wie dit boek in het Nederlands leest, verwacht zich maar best aan een nogal chaotische vertaling.
May 15, 2024
Fascinating. Four stars not because of the subject, but because of the writing style... the book seems rushed, has no footnotes, and seems to skim the surface. Still, that may be all that is available to us about its enigmatic subject.
December 22, 2024
An extremely understandable written overview of Xi Jinping's point of views on different topics from his own personal course of life. Interesting he does not want to be seen as a princeling while he is one.
March 5, 2024
Groot gemis in het boek is COVID. Een kleine alinea.
April 26, 2024
Serves as a nice introduction.
July 23, 2024
thoughtful introduction
July 23, 2024
Super interessant op een enge manier.
I Xi what you did Michael.
I Xi what you did Michael.
November 14, 2024
It is quite superficial, even for someone who is quite unfamiliar with China. Nice writing style though.
January 5, 2025
Good summary of who he is
January 12, 2025
Interesting for insight into the CCP and how it operates. Besides that, not riveting.
May 5, 2024
Informatief, al moest ik wel vaak zoeken waar het over ging: daarmee vind ik het hinken op twee gedachten: een inleiding om snel meer te leren over Xi, en tegelijkertijd vereist het veel voorkennis.
Misschien is de kwestie wel te gecompliceerd voor een dun boekje
Misschien is de kwestie wel te gecompliceerd voor een dun boekje
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews