Lecturer and philosopher-ruler: Xi Jinping behind closed doors

Well into his third term as China's leader, Xi Jinping remains one of the most reclusive figures in global politics, and his attitudes toward rivals and partners are inferred from the tightly controlled choreography of his public appearances.

But from private meetings with foreign leaders, recorded in the testimonies of those who attended, and from the occasional microphone accidentally turned on, a clearer picture emerges. It is the image of a leader who has no serious rival in the struggle for power in China, who does not hesitate to lecture less powerful leaders and who acts as a philosopher-ruler modeled after ancient Chinese rulers, writes the New York Times.

The newspaper states that Xi, according to at least one witness, formed his judgment of US President Donald Trump almost a decade ago, and that assessment has likely shaped his approach to world affairs since then, including how he will treat Trump in Beijing this week.

In late 2016, just weeks after Trump surprised the world by winning the U.S. presidential election, Xi met with President Barack Obama for the last time at a summit in Lima, Peru. According to Ben Rhodes, then-deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration and one of those present, Xi seemed puzzled by how American voters could have chosen such an unconventional candidate.

According to the Times, Obama tried to explain to Xi that Trump’s rise was a sign of economic discontent in the United States, partly due to the loss of manufacturing jobs to China and the theft of intellectual property. According to Rhodes, Xi didn’t like that explanation. He put down his pen, folded his arms and said, “If an immature leader throws the world into chaos, the world will know who to blame.”

Analysts estimate that during two days of talks with Trump in Beijing, which begin today, Xi will seek to present China as a stable and strong global power, but also to be conciliatory enough to preserve the fragile trade truce with Trump.

“I expect Xi to show Trump respect, but not flattery,” said Susan Shirk, author of “Overshoot: How China Derailed the Path of Peaceful Rise.”

"The message of difference from Trump's unilateral and disruptive moves will be clear but unspoken," she added.

Lecturer: How does Si relate to mean forces?

If he treats Washington with cautious restraint, Xi will be less hesitant in the face of middle powers like Canada and Britain, the New York Times estimates.

He recalls that in 2022, at the end of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia, Xi confronted then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and accused him of leaking details of their conversations from the previous day to the media. The tense exchange between the two leaders, as they stood close to each other and spoke through interpreters, was captured on television cameras.

“That was not appropriate,” Xi said, with a forced smile. “And the conversation was not conducted that way,” he continued, shaking his head. He said that productive conversations require honesty and respect, and then added, in a veiled warning: “Otherwise, it is difficult to say what the outcome will be.”

Trudeau tried to counter that, by Canadian standards, he had done nothing wrong and offered to agree to disagree. Xi then interrupted him and said, “Let’s create the conditions first,” before shaking Trudeau’s hand and leaving.

With the current Canadian leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Xi tried to set the rules of their relationship, saying he did not want to be criticized in public.

Carney said that during a recent meeting in South Korea, the Canadian leader's first since taking office, Xi told him that he should raise all issues with him privately. "He decided to spend the first 10 minutes or so on what he wanted their personal communication to look like," Carney said in March.

Carney summed up Xi's message this way: "No surprises. If something is really important to you, be clear," he said. He added: "I mean, he didn't say it in those exact words, but that's how I understood him. Don't lecture me in public. Ask me questions directly."

Biden recounted that Xi told him that democracies "cannot survive in the 21st century" because they require national consensus. "It's hard to achieve consensus, so they can't keep up with autocracy, one-man rule," Xi reportedly said.

The American newspaper reports that Xi, while he may not want to be lectured, has no problem voicing his displeasure to others. When Keir Starmer met with Xi in Beijing in January, the British prime minister raised the issue of Sino-Japanese relations, which are at their lowest point in years.

Xi, who had been calm until then during the meeting, became agitated and told Starmer that Japan was entirely to blame for the tensions, two people familiar with the conversation said on condition of anonymity.

Beijing launched a pressure campaign on Tokyo after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament that Japan could respond militarily if China attacked Taiwan.

Philosopher: How to talk to the powerful

The Chinese Communist Party seeks to build legitimacy by presenting itself as the guardian of thousands of years of Chinese civilization. The Times writes that Xi is reinforcing this tradition by acting like one of the ancient Chinese philosopher-rulers, whose duties included applying Confucian values ​​to governing the country and conducting state affairs.

“In Chinese political culture, the supreme leader is not expected to deal with everyday, practical issues,” said Zoe Liu, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “He is the ‘son of heaven’ and is expected to deal with philosophical issues.”

This not only increases the leader's importance, but also emphasizes the greatness of Chinese culture to Western leaders hoping to change Beijing's behavior.

This quickly became clear to Barack Obama during a state visit to Beijing in 2014. After a long private dinner with Xi at the walled Chinese leadership compound known as Zhongnanhai, Obama aides expected to hear that the two leaders had discussed contentious issues like the South China Sea.

“In fact, they had a kind of long debate about whether individualistic societies and collectivist Confucian societies could be compatible,” said Rhodes, a former Obama adviser.

The Times reports that the same lofty tone shapes the way Xi talks about political systems. President Joe Biden recounted that Xi told him that democracies “cannot survive in the 21st century” because they require national consensus. Biden said Xi explained this to him by saying, “It’s hard to get consensus, so I can’t keep up with autocracy, one-man rule.”

Xi’s sense of imperial grandeur was twice captured by an accidentally turned-on microphone in a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. While bidding farewell to the Russian leader in Moscow in 2023, Xi was heard saying: “Right now, changes are happening that we haven’t seen in 100 years, and we are the ones driving them together.”

Two years later, at a military parade in Beijing, cameras captured Xi and Putin discussing immortality and the advancement of biotechnology.

"It's possible that in this century, people will be able to live for 150 years," Xi is heard saying.