President Xi Jinping has centralized power in China to unprecedented levels: He has sidelined the prime minister and the State Council and tries to control everything himself, says Harvard University historian Roderick MacFarquhar in the new MERICS Podcast. Xi might have a vision for China–like Mao Zedong long before him–but he lacks the authority and historic legitimacy to implement his ideas. Even worse: His leadership style weakens the entire system.
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This podcast was first published by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), a YCW Partner. MERICS is one of the largest international think tanks for policy-oriented research on contemporary China.
