THREAD re: Xi Jinping's image in China
1) The upper row displays two photos of Xi Jinping, Communist ruler of China. The one on the top left is how nearly all of Western media depict him. The one on the top right is practically never shown by Western news outlets. (cont)
2) Readers may recognize what Xi Jinping is wearing in the top right photograph--a Zhongshan suit, made infamous by its near-universal use among men during the rule of Mao Zedong. So far as I am aware, the only other ruler to utilize it today is N. Korea's Kim Jong-un. (cont)
3) To be clear--Mao did NOT invent this suit. It was popularized in China by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, China's first ruler after the Chinese Emperor's abdication in 1911. Dr. Sun Yat-sen was NOT a Communist, but rather the predecessor to the government that currently rules Taiwan. (cont)
4) Nevertheless, under Mao Zedong the Zhongshan suit became nearly synonymous with Mao's reign of terror. Practically all Chinese men adopted the suit as their everyday form of dress during Mao's rule, especially during Mao'a Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). (cont)
5) After Mao's death in 1976, wearing the Zhongshan suit in China became less common, including among China's leadership. Chinese leadership only wore it on the rarest, most formal of occasions, until Xi Jinping assumed rule in 2012.
6) Despite the suit's association with Mao's reign of terror (or possibly because of it), Xi Jinping began wearing it frequently after he assumed control of the Communist Party in China in 2012, per the below WSJ article. https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-21246
7) Despite his frequent wearing of the Zhongshan suit, most Western media NEVER depict Xi Jinping wearing it. The WSJ article linked above in No. 6 is one of the few Western media articles I have found that discusses his revival of wearing the suit on a regular basis.
8) Readers can draw their own conclusions re: what Xi Jinping may be intending to convey in his fashion statements.

I only note that Xi Jinping's recent attacks on Hong Kong, the Uighur Muslims, and the Catholic Church would make Mao (and all 20th Cent. dictators) proud.

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