Former president Jiang Zemin’s son endorses ‘Chinese Dream’

The son of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin mentioned Xi Jinping’s concept of a “Chinese Dream” during a rare high-profile speech on Monday, an act interpreted by some as an attempt to rally support for China’s new leader.

“In order to accomplish the Chinese Dream, China needs to adopt a new national strategy that relies on innovation to propel developments,” said Jiang Mianheng, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai branch, in a speech on the first day of term at the newly established ShanghaiTech University, reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to a group of over 300 graduate students and professors, Jiang also called on students to make achieving the Chinese dream a life-long mission.

The “Chinese Dream” is a term coined by Xi’s administration that is officially defined as a dream “to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.

But critics say Xi has failed to explain how to put the dream into practice and that it could result in aggressive nationalist foreign policy in the future.

Jiang Mianheng, 62, is the elder son of Jiang Zemin who was president of China between 1993 and 2003. Some online users see Jiang’s remarks as being supportive of Xi’s administration, as senior Chinese officials often like to send veiled messages in their speeches to endorse or denounce their political rivals.