Opinion | What's Xi Jinping, a transformational visionary leader? Donald Trump looks more like a 'dictator'

By Augustus K. Yeung

INTRODUCTION

Amid hues and cries, and hounded by America's leading newspapers, the New York Times included, the multiple-indicted Donald Trump, former U.S. president is now internationally known for notoriety. He stands accused as a "dictator".

Joe Biden will be remembered by the Chinese as a career politician-turned-president – who is fighting a proxy war in Ukraine; misleading the NATO countries such as UK and Canada; dubbing the revered Chinese leader a "dictator" – while attending a private fundraising dinner, trying to tease or please the wealthiest Democratic elites.

This diplomatic "blunder" was leaked by an intruding reporter. And Joe Biden drew a rebuke from Mao Ning, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

That leaves President Xi Jinping, who has been "building a community with a shared future for mankind."

China sees itself as a "socialist country with Chinese characteristics", which keeps Westerners wondering – what that "Chinese characteristics" mean.

According to the tradition of Confucianism, the ideal maturation process should go like this: "Self-perfection or maturation; family in making or building; state governance; an enabler in world-peace-and-prosperity."

Belt and Road Initiative is Xi's Pet Project for Building a Visionary World

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality." Observed Warren Bennis, a wise thinker. Xi himself has successfully covered the first three phases. He is now "building a community with a shared future for mankind."

In short, Xi Jinping is transforming China from an ancient idealist into an enabler. Have you ever wondered why Xi spent private moments with French President Macron in Guangdong?

The BRI is Xi's vision for transformation. He was introducing it to and sharing it with his French friend, although it is misunderstood by the U.S. and its Western allies.

Great efforts have now been made to revive it by introducing the Western theme and welcoming the good English language campaign to the Greater Bay Area.

Specifically, the GBA Base has been established; the rest is expected to fall into proper place.

What responsibility is this GBA base going to assume? How to go about fulfilling this responsibility? This information gap must be bridged as it involves other theoretical concepts such as content and standardization.

Will there be sophisticated measures such as the DSE, or the Gaokao to standardize the optimal results of world-wide learners who will be taking part in this good English campaign? Should students be evaluated?

That doctoral student mentioned in the last article has written three sets of books over the years: First, there is the past exam model essays for the DSE students to practice their writing; second, there are articles for motivating and skill training the undergraduates; finally, the last and latest is a manuscript, consisting of his online published articles on opinion writing. This is exactly what President Xi has been expecting.

What Exactly Does President Xi Expect from Both Chinese and Foreign Students?

This is a tripartite guided writing course designed to help learners harness the art of writing good English.

His critical observation: most students have experienced an imbalance between reading and writing – as they have been one-sidedly encouraged to focus on "Reading Comprehension," resulting in inadequate writing skills,

How many young learners of English have been sending articles to the press? Why must students write and get them published?!

President Xi has repeatedly encouraged young people "to write and tell China's story". To do so, learners must be well-equipped and closely guided in professional writing – for their articles to be "liked".

Given the LIKE APPROACH, a curriculum content primarily focuses on good English writing, young writers, (taking Jin Keyu of Cambridge University as a role model), will be trained to write to fulfill the president's calling, further developing China's soft power.

The happiest experience is for the students to see their own guided writings published, an immense incentive to keep them on the writing track.

There was one student from the University of Hong Kong; I taught him in an advanced English writing course. Gary's story content was most newsworthy and interesting. It was about a young English man and woman, both international students, murdered in Hong Kong Island by a group of local gangsters.

One day, when Gary was waiting for the lift, he found newspaper reporters and photographers crowding into the lobby. Soon he discovered that one of the suspects was living in the same building. Encouraged and professionally guided to rewrite this unique experience, he soon sent it to the South China Morning Post.

"It was published!" Gary said excitedly the next time we met in the workshop. I am keeping a copy of this newspaper article, sharing the joy of turning his writing into a published article.

CONCLUSION

The greater turn and twist, though, is that a storyteller is now actively answering President Xi's call: When I sleep-walked into debunking and demolishing that infamous Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, which had for decades been indoctrinating, recruiting people (innocent students and unemployed vagabonds, including 'Long Hair') to destabilize the municipal Government and its Legislature, momentously leading to student riots in 2019.

Yet, they blamed it on Beijing – politicizing the issue in foreign countries, notably the UK and Germany!

Writing China's story has since become a passion. And I am loving it. This is "the best of time" when China is rising rapidly. This is "the worst of time" when America feels "threatened" by a rising and "assertive" nation.

To the U.S. that excels in power projection and that puts a price on cut-throat competition, China is understandably perceived as a rival. But a security "threat"?!

Perhaps this is the Hegelian knot that President Xi Jinping expects us to help entangle. It will not be easy – as China is now a socialist nation founded on Marxism "with Chinese characteristics".

That an ancient civilization – an impoverished China – being transformed into a modern nation with Marxist ideology – is simply too good to be true as a strategic partner.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

To contact the writer, please direct email: AugustusKYeung@ymail.com

Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:

Opinion | Good English is Greater Bay Area's Passport to world of business and the Belt and Road

Opinion | World's experts foreseeing China new role in English language learning