The Paranoid Style in Chinese Politics
China analysts have long puzzled over whether the ruling Communist Party is simply paranoid, or has real enemies bent on its destruction. The scandal surrounding Bo Xilai’s dramatic fall from power sheds considerable light on the question.
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HONG KONG – Henry Kissinger, who learned a thing or two about political paranoia as Richard Nixon’s national security adviser and Secretary of State, famously said that even a paranoid has real enemies. This insight – by the man who will be known forever for helping to open China to the West – goes beyond the question of whether to forgive an individual’s irrational behavior. As the scandal surrounding Bo Xilai’s dramatic fall from power shows, it applies equally well to explaining the apparently irrational behavior of regimes.