Kissinger Institute

Robert Daly: "The thought landscape in China is diverse, changing rapidly and has a strong impact on US-China relations," and comments on @judeblanchette 's book's focus on neo-Maoists, whose school of thought is coming to the forefront

.@judeblanchette : "I started getting interested in Neo-Maoists in 2010-2011," names Bo Xilai as a person of interest, and started dialogues with individual Neo-Maoists, which "reemphasized the agency in [Chinese] political discourse."

Blanchette: "Early on, Neo-Maoists saw Xi Jinping as someone who accepted China's Maoist heritage, that this was a political leader who would take China in a new direction."

Daly: "is Xi Jinping a Neo-Maoist, and if he is, why are they rounding up student organizers on campuses acting on behalf of laborers?" Blanchette: "Let me take out the 'neo' and ask "Is Xi Jinping a Maoist?"

.@judeblanchette : "We've seen that stability maintenence has always been important to the CCP, especially after 1989. He's not looking to unleash a revolutionary tide."

Blanchette: " A neo-Maoist is a time marker- a new evolution of individuals with an affinity for China's revolutionary history but have adapted it, and who think the Party has ceded too much to market forces," and finds that Xi fits several of those qualities

.@judeblanchette : "Theres clearly thresholds for Xi Jinping. On one hand, you have individuals celebrating a leader who is proud of the Red Legacy. On the other hand, Mao is a tricky individual and certain types of Maoism the CCP would see forgotten," i.e. JASIC worker unrest

Daly: "Who do the neo-Maoists see themselves primarily arguing against? Liberals, mainstream Party members they think have gone wrong, or global liberalism?"

Blanchette on the political history of neo-Maoism "There was pushback at the beginning of reforms. It was always more volatile, a push-pull cyclical element to it, because reform and liberalization created costs and losers. Some people would see rent seeking ability diminished"

Neo-Maoists also saw "Mao as a tactical tool to push back against the CCP," and it made them harder to crack down. "Not impossible," according to Blanchette, but enough that Deng, in leadership years, noticed the usage of banners bearing Mao's image.