Party of One

‘Compelling and informative... Wong‘s thoughtful book is a useful gateway into [Xi Jinping‘s] mind‘ Literary Review From one of the most respected reporters on China today, a vital new account of the political education of Xi Jinping, the authoritarian leader of China whose hard-edged tactics have set the rising superpower on a collision with Western liberal democracies. Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China‘s Superpower Future shatters the many myths and caricatures that shroud one of the world‘s most secretive political organizations and its leader. Xi Jinping has centralized decision-making powers, encouraged a personality cult around himself, and moved toward indefinite rule by scrapping presidential term limits-stirring fears of a return to Mao-style dictatorship. Under Xi, China has challenged Western preeminence in global affairs and cast its authoritarian system as a model of governance worthy of international emulation. As a China reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Chun Han Wong has chronicled Xi‘s hardline strategy for crushing dissent and asserting Beijing‘s expansive global interests. Wong spent five years in Beijing before the Chinese government forced him to leave mainland China in 2019, after which he moved to Hong Kong. Now, Wong has drawn on his years of first-hand reporting across China to create a lucid and historically-rooted account of China‘s leader, and how he inspires fear and fervor in his party, his nation, and beyond. Timely, revelatory, and important, Party of One explains how the future Xi imagines for China will reshape the future of the entire world.