Video tribute to first couple shows shift in Xi Jinping image push
Photo collection set to music and posted online racks up 150m views, but some fear it's another sign of rising personality cult
A rare video depicting the relationship between President Xi Jinping and his celebrity wife, Peng Liyuan, has attracted 150 million views in the nearly three weeks since it was posted online, a sign of the profound change in the public face of the leadership since Xi took power two years ago.
Called , the music video, which runs 3 minutes and 21 seconds, consists of a collection of 33 photos and two illustrations of the couple, showing small details like eye contact between them. means uncle or daddy and is mother in Chinese.
The video caught the public by surprise as the personal life of China's top leader or the first couple has seldomly been reported and discussed in the past. In extensive interviews with various state-run media in recent weeks, the four musicians who created the video expressed their admiration for the couple's love and the president's personality.
The video received 22 million hits in less than a week after its release on November 18, and 150 million by last Sunday, according to the . The party flagship newspaper said the first couple set a good example for China's young couples.
The argued the wide interest was a demonstration of public admiration for the family values the first couple represented. The said that those who won the hearts of people would be able to lead them.
But some people writing online have mocked the video as sycophantic. Some compared it to , a song praising Mao Zedong that became the unofficial national anthem during the Cultural Revolution.
Others warned that the video was the latest iteration of the growing personality cult around Xi, following a series of well-planned and unprecedented public relations campaigns. Reports said Xi had a team to manage his public relation affairs, a first for a Chinese president.
But unlike the worship surrounding Mao decades ago, propagandists have tried to present a softer image of the party leader. To cultivate perceptions of Xi's charisma, state-run media have released a steady drip of personal details about him, from his family life to memories of his early days and hobbies.
He has been credited with a vigorous campaign to stamp out corruption, sweeping free-market reforms and a people-oriented policy. He also bolstered his credentials as a world leader during the recent summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Beijing.
Xi has shown his admiration for Mao's personality and a proclivity for reviving Maoist policies and tactics, such his "mass line" rectification campaign.
Xi had consolidated power more quickly than any Chinese leader in decades and become the most powerful leader after Mao, which some analysts argue would help him to steer China in the years ahead. The overdriven public relations campaign appears to underscore a profound shift in the nature of Chinese politics that runs counter to a party consensus to say farewell to the personality cult.
There is concern in political circles that any attempt to dismantle the long-established system of collective rule could risk dividing the leadership and rock a boat that has been sailing relatively smoothly since the demise of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
