Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects troops at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison, June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo
Washington Times: Xi claims ultimate authority, adopts Mao's title 'helmsman'
Chinese President and Communist Party General-Secretary Xi Jinping continues to consolidate power and has reached new status, adopting the title “helmsman,” a descriptor not used since Mao Zedong and denoting ultimate authority, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
Army Lt. Gen. Scott D. Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said Mr. Xi’s increased power will fuel the Chinese military’s drive to create forces more powerful than those of the United States in the coming years.
“I think Xi is firmly in control of the party, of the military and every aspect of Chinese society,” Gen. Berrier told the Senate Armed Services Committee in testimony late last week.
In his prepared remarks, Gen. Berrier said a Chinese Communist Party Central Committee meeting in October marked a significant shift in Mr. Xi’s power.
“The ensuing communique likely signaled Xi’s singular political position within the party, declaring him the ‘core navigator and helmsman,’ an invocation not used since Mao Zedong,” the three-star general said.
Read more ....
WNU editor: Presdient Xi actually claimed this title a few years back. Check out this Guardian post from 2017 .... 'Unrivalled helmsman'? We read Chinese media's enormous ode to Xi so you don't have to (The Guardian).
He also wants the military to call him "The Chairman" .... Chinese President Xi Wants The Chinese Military To Address Him As 'Chairman' (July 12, 2017).
