Xi Jinping, the current president of China, has announced that Hong Kong’s citizens will only vote on Chinese government approved candidates for the Chief Executive.
Recently, the Chinese government and Xi Jinping, its president, have announced that Hong Kong’s citizens will have to elect chief executive candidates selected by the government rather than those selected by the people of this city. This decision breaks a promise that Hong Kong’s citizens will be able to choose their own leader in 2017. Mr.Xi explains that allowing such freedom to Hong Kong’s citizens will lure the mainland Chinese for the same treatment, and this could arouse chaos in the society’s order. Societal disorder, he believes, is something China really has to avoid for its growing economy at any cost. In some sense, it seems that he has made a tough decision for the good of the society, but a question remains. Does Mr.Xi’s decision demonstrate a successful leadership?
In the Prince, Machiavelli states that a successful leader is the one to be feared rather than loved. He adds that it is better for a leader to be considered mean than to be seen as friendly. The reasoning behind his claim originates from his recognition of reality. Bounded by human capacity, a successful leader cannot satisfy every individual. Thus, he must not act for the want of his citizens but the need of his state. For the good of his state, a leader can take any action necessary, even though it may go against his moral beliefs. In this perspective, one may argue that Mr.Xi’s action could be deemed as sacrifice of his reputation for the order and prosperity of China. But, in the case of Mr.Xi, one crucial condition is absent for a great leadership.
Despite such an enormous power given to a leader, a leader must not be hated by people for the following reason: a prince
More than 100,000 Hong Kong’s citizens have gathered on the main street in Hong Kong, and occupied there since the announcement.
can never secure himself against a hostile people, because of their being too many. The same logic applies to the current Chinese government and the crisis it faces in Hong Kong. After Mr.Xi has announced for the amendment to the law, more than 100,000 Hong Kong citizens have gathered at the main street of Hong Kong and occupied there since the announcement. This movement holds significance because the Chinese government has never experienced this scale of protest since the Tiananmen Square in 1989. Not only that, many citizens in mainland China have also supported Hong Kong in pursuit of a more democratic system in China. This clearly shows the mounting dissatisfaction of the people, thus more hatred toward the oppressive Chinese government and Mr.Xi.
This incident also has shown that Chinese people don’t fear Mr.Xi who has established a great authority that is assessed as equal to that of Mao Zedong, the communist leader who founded modern China. According to the Economist, the Chinese government has striven to block any story related to Hong Kong from mainland China. Any post or writings related to Hong Kong have been dismissed from Chinese social networks, and mass media has inaccurately illustrated the protest as cause of social disorder and damage toward the Chinese economy. Despite such efforts, news about Hong Kong has found a loophole and infiltrated mainland China. Many people in China shared the story in every method possible. Not only that, people have formed their own activist group to request the autocratic government to give universal suffrage to Hong Kong citizens. These behaviors are something unseen from mainland China in the past because people feared the Chinese government.
This is a chart from the Economist article titled “Online Censorship”. It demonstrates how Chinese government’s intervention into the social networks have increased dramatically after the Hong Kong protest has erupted.
The Chinese government no longer is feared nor is it loved. It will arouse more hatred as long as it tries to establish complete authority over people. Clearly, this is an example of failed leadership in Machiavelli’s perspective. Yet, Mr.Xi and his party still have an opportunity to make a notable mark in the Chinese history and redeem themselves. First, fire Leung Chun-ying, the current Chief Executive of Hong Kong, as the people requested, and convince them that the government listens to their voices. But, Mr.Xi must remember one crucial fact. Firing Mr.Leung won’t satisfy the people in Hong Kong. He must stop oppressing Chinese citizens. Otherwise, as Machiavelli suggested, Mr.Xi and the Chinese government would not only find themselves marked as the worst leader of all time, but also lose the founding cornerstone of the modern China, the supports of Chinese citizens.
Touchdown Theory 