Xi Jinping is much in the news. He is the general secretary of the People's Republic of China for an unprecedented third term.
We travel now to very early in the second decade of the 20th century, thanks to Joseph Torigian in his new book.
The Party’s Interests Come First is a biography of Xi Jinping's father, a profile of his family, and a glimpse through the eyes of the protagonist, Xi Zhongxun, of the transformation of China into the success of today—except the unknowns are very large, and Joseph helps me understand some of them.
Joseph is an associate professor at the School of International Service at the American University. He has published a book that is overwhelming to me, a first time reader of Chinese Communist history.
I look immediately to understand this without any Freudianism. I'm not projecting here, but in the West, we regard fathers and sons as a profound relationship that explains a deal. Hence, we have dramas that talk about Oedipal complexes or not. Do they have the same thinking in China about fathers and sons?
LINKS:
The Party’s Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian on Amazon
The John Batchelor Show on Apple Podcasts:
The opinions expressed on this website and on The John Batchelor Show are those of John Batchelor and guests, and not those of CBS News.
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