Xi Jinping’s message to Macau

XI Jinping’s visit to Macau to host the swearing- in ceremony of the MSAR’s new government attested again to his popularity in China. According to a recent survey cited by the Washington Post, he may even be the most popular political leader in the world.
The Chinese president ranked first amongst ten leaders studied by Japanese firm GMO’s survey, coming ahead of India’s new prime minister Narendra Modi and German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Of course that popularity can be partly explained by geopolitics, as Anthony Saich, of the Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance, told the Washington paper. According to Saich, citizens in democratic countries, where politics is more contested and the press is free, tend to be more critical of their leaders and policies than in, “those nations where politics is less contested.”

(My column this week, read more here)