Any hope that Xi Jinping would prove himself a reformer has been dashed by a leaked internal speech from December in which he asserts the Soviet Union fell because none among its leadership “was man enough to stand up and resist” the uprisings of the late 1980s. In her analysis for Deutsche Welle Chinese, translated by Yaxue Cao, Gao Yu connects Xi’s criticism of Gorbachev and Hu Jintao’s 2004 denunciation of the Soviet Union’s last leader as “the chief culprit of Eastern Europe’s transformation and a traitor of socialism.” Xi insists that the regime “stand firm on the Party’s leadership over the military” lest it succumb to the fate of the old Eastern Bloc. Xi’s remarks recall the cold calculation China’s leadership made made during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Netizens react on Weibo:
@MrSodapop: Brother Tao‘s enhanced version.
@可乐泡饭先生:涛哥加强版。
@majinwei: He’s hinting that he’s the “man enough” one.
@不再管闲事:他是暗示,他就是那个男儿。
@wuyuerugou: Fine then, he’s hopeless.
@深色错觉:好吧,对他不抱希望
@dustinthewind: This proves the Russians are rational enough to distinguish love of country from love of party.
@风里逐尘:证明俄罗斯人还是理智的,分得清爱国和爱党的区别
@mylifeperfect: Xi is using his fight against corruption to win us over and pave the way for his authoritarian regime. If you’re dreaming that he’ll implement constitutional government, dream on.
@沈勇平:习想建立一个威权政府,以反腐收揽人心。想幻想其行宪政,绝无可能。
@SunShudong: Don’t forget the words of our nation’s founder: “In the mighty tide of global change, those who swim with the current prosper; those who fight it perish.”
@孙蜀东:别忘了国父遗训:“世界潮流浩浩荡荡,顺之者昌逆之者亡”。。。。
Via CDT Chinese.