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Last May, inspired by a speech Chinese President Xi Jinping gave in Bruges, Belgium, I wrote a column declaring him “China’s Great Communicator.” Not surprisingly, it was well-received in China and was the subject of a China News Service article distributed widely in China.
Today, the Wall Street Journal’s ChinaRealTime reports the new popularity of a book collecting Xi JInping’s speeches, claiming it is rivaling Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book in popularity. According to the article:
Since its publication not quite two months ago, the somewhat turgidly named “A Reader of General-Secretary Xi Jinping’s Important Speeches” has already sold 10 million copies, its publisher reports.
By contrast, Mao’s Little Red Book—subject of spoofs, tourist kitsch and inspiration for endless tchotchkes—has sold some 900 million copies since it was first published in the some 50 years ago, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Notwithstanding the hype, Xi is clearly a different kind of Chinese leader. His charisma and communications skills are undeniable. In the U.S. ten million copies would be a huge bestseller. But he’s got a ways to go to catch up with the Great Helmsman.
