For more than 30 years, Willy Wo-Lap Lam has been one of the most widely read analysts of elite politics in China. The 62-year-old professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong is the author of five books analyzing China’s top leaders since Zhao Ziyang. His most recent book, “Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping: Renaissance, Reform, or Retrogression?”, explores how a relatively undistinguished regional official became one of the most powerful and charismatic leaders in the history of the People’s Republic. In an interview, Mr. Lam discussed what’s behind Mr. Xi’s reversal of many of the principles that have guided Chinese politics in the post-Mao era and what Mr. Lam sees as “the closing of the Chinese mind.” Excerpts follow:[Source]
