Politburo Study Session On The Communist Manifesto; #MeToo PKU #Smackdown; Myanmar A PRC Client State Again?; European Selection Bias In the "Thucydides Trap"; Didi Under Siege

Xi proudly sees himself as a Marxist leading Communist China.

Tuesday he chaired a Politburo study session on Marx and Engel's "The Communist Manifesto".

Yes the contemporary PRC brand of Marxism and Communism is far removed from the original visions, but the CCP believes it has the right, the power and ability to evolve those ideas to fit the times, an effort led by a cadre of theoretical gymnasts who would put Nadia Comăneci to shame.

It matters little whether we foreigners think this talk of Marx and Communist is all just BS, and does not matter much more if most PRC citizens have tuned out. What matters is whether or not Xi believes it. For a long time I have thought he did and have only become more convinced of that over the last couple of years. Yes doubling down on Marxism is a means to an end for the Party, but that does not also mean that Xi himself is not an ardent Marxist whose fervor is only increasing as he sees a world evolving and fracturing in ways that would stir the lo…