Kinas högsta ledare har inte precis gjort sig kända för att vara karismatiska eller generösa då det gäller att dela med sig av känslor och privatliv – tidigare presidenten Hu Jintao beskrevs ofta som ”robotliknande”.
Xi Jinping har å andra sidan framstått som relativt extrovert för att vara Kinas högsta ledare. Han delat med sig av fritidsintressen som kampsport eller fotboll, och har en vacker fru som är en känd sångerska som ofta ses vid hans sida under statsbesök.
Ändå vet vi relativt lite om Xi. Ingen vidare dertaljrik information finns angående hans uppväxt eller familj, och än mindre angående hans tankesätt eller värderingar. Även den mest luttrade Kinaexperten skulle ha svårt att förklara Xi Jinpings personlighet för någon ovetande nyfiken.
En intressant beskrivning erbjuds dock i ett nyligen uppmärksammat och läckt dokument från Wikileaks. Det är USA:s ambassad som har sammanställt information om Xi Jinping baserat på samtal med en kinesisk professor som nu har amerikanskt medborgarskap, och tidvis växte upp tillsammans med den blivande presidenten.
Under fler år var de grannar och talades vid nästan dagligen – då professorn senare flyttade till USA kom Xi Jinping dit för att hälsa på honom.
Professorn talade med tjänstemän på ambassaden vid flera tillfällen åren 2007-2009. Detta var alltså innan Xi var president, men icke desto mindre förutsåg professorn att Xi om han fick makten skulle gå hårt åt landets korrupta och nyrika.
Rapporten är flera sidor lång och kan läsas i sin helhet via Wikileaks. Här nedan återger jag de delar jag själv fann mest intressanta:
According to a well connected Embassy contact, Politburo Standing Committee Member and Vice President Xi Jinping is ”exceptionally ambitious,” confident and focused, and has had his ”eye on the prize” from early adulthood. Unlike many youth who ”made up for lost time by having fun” after the Cultural Revolution, Xi ”chose to survive by becoming redder than the red.”
(…)
Xi is a true ”elitist” at heart, according to the professor, and believes that rule by a dedicated and committed Communist Party leadership is the key to enduring social stability and national strength, as in the (self-perceived) elite-dominated society of his youth, knit together by family ties, elders and male authority. After years of conversations with Xi, and having shared a common upbringing with him, the professor said, he is convinced that Xi has a genuine sense of ”entitlement,” believing that members of his generation are the ”legitimate heirs” to the revolutionary achievements of their parents and therefore ”deserve to rule China.”
(…)
Unlike those in the social circles the professor ran in, Xi Jinping could not talk about women and movies and did not drink or do drugs. Xi was considered of only average intelligence, the professor said, and not as smart as the professor’s peer group. Women thought Xi was ”boring.”
(…)
Xi also does not care at all about money and is not corrupt, the professor stated. Xi can afford to be incorruptible, the professor wryly noted, given that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. It is likely that Xi could, however, be ”corrupted by power.”
(…)
Xi knows how very corrupt China is and is repulsed by the all-encompassing commercialization of Chinese society, with its attendant nouveau riche, official corruption, loss of values, dignity, and self-respect, and such ”moral evils” as drugs and prostitution, the professor stated. The professor speculated that if Xi were to become the Party General Secretary, he would likely aggressively attempt to address these evils, perhaps at the expense of the new moneyed class.
(…)
Xi is favorably disposed toward the United States, the professor maintained, and would want to maintain good relations with Washington. The professor said Xi has ”no ambition” to ”confront” the United States.
