What the Floods Say About Xi Jinping
This piece analyzes the political implications of Xi Jinping's absence during recent natural disasters in China. It argues that his detachment from public crises reflects a shift toward an imperial style of governance that prioritizes personal power over public engagement.
Why it matters
The shift in leadership style suggests a consolidation of power in China that may impact how the government responds to domestic crises and public sentiment.
China’s leader behaves more like an emperor than a man of the people.
Hans Christian Plambeck / laif / Redux September 3, 2026, 8:06 AM ET Share Save Listen − 1.0 x + Seek 0:00 6:35 When the Yangtze River flooded in 1998 and inundated villages in central China, Jiang Zemin, the Communist Party’s general secretary, was on the scene, bullhorn in hand, to encourage local relief efforts. Ten years later, his successor, Hu Jintao, stood among the rubble after an earthquake rocked Sichuan province, in the country’s southwest. Last week, after floodwaters caused by a collapsing glacier tore through the Himalayas between Nepal and China, leaving more than 1,100 people dead and thousands more missing, the party’s current general secretary, Xi Jinping, stayed largely and safely in Beijing.
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