Party of One

Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and the Superpower Future of China shatters the many myths and caricatures that shroud one of the world's most secretive political organisations and its leader. Many observers misread Xi's intentions during his early years in power, projecting onto him their own hopes that he would emerge as a liberal-minded reformer who steers China toward more political openness, rule of law, and pro-market economics - and overlooking how he has advanced his career by masking his beliefs under a cloak of strategic ambiguity.

Combining narrative drama and incisive analysis, Party of One explains how Xi has shaken up the world's most populous nation with hard-edged authoritarianism, and set this rising superpower on a collision course with Western liberal democracies. Chun Han Wong draws on his years of first-hand reporting across China - spanning conversations with Party insiders and grassroots members, insights from scholars and diplomats who've studied and interacted closely with the Party bureaucracy, as well as analyses of official speeches and documents - to piece together a broad, digestible account of how Xi inspired fear and fervor in his Party, his nation, and beyond.

An authoritative, clear-minded study . . . A penetrating and timely unraveling of the personality and impact of a strongman president Kirkus (starred review)
More than a decade into the era of Xi Jinping, readers ask, 'Why are there so few penetrating books on China's leader?' The answer is that the Communist Party deems even Xi's birth date too sensitive to disclose. But now, the skilled and energetic journalist Chun Han Wong has drawn on an impressive range of reporting and sources to craft a superb, readable, illuminating portrait of the man and his times. A must-read for China veterans and amateurs alike -- Evan Osnos
Party of One brims with insights into the multitude of contradictions that make up Xi's China. It's a captivating read for anyone seeking to more deeply understand China in the Xi Jinping era. Bonnie Glaser
"In a crowded marketplace of books about Xi Jinping's China, Party of One stands head and shoulders above its competitors. Chun Han Wong has combined rigorous investigative skills with a forensic grasp of an opaque political system to produce an enthralling portrait of the leader, and the party, that sits atop the world's emerging superpower." Richard McGregor, author of 'The Party' and 'Asia's Reckoning'
Meticulously researched... Wong is a sharp observer of soft authoritarian power and the apparatus of the absolutist state -- Michael Sheridan Sunday Times
Compelling and informative... Wong's thoughtful book is a useful gateway into [Xi Jinping's] mind -- Rana Mitter Literary Review

Wong has been a reporter with The Wall Street Journal since 2010. He has chronicled Xi Jinping's campaign to accrue personal power and enforce Party control-from crackdowns on corruption, dissent and independent scholarship, and efforts to enforce the Party's narratives in online spaces, businesses, schools and even private homes. In August 2019, after the Chinese government refused to renew Chun Han's press credentials, he moved to the Journal's bureau in Hong Kong, where he has continued covering Chinese politics, examining Xi's hard-nosed strategy for crushing dissent in the former British colony, his increasingly coercive efforts to reel in the island democracy of Taiwan, as well as the domestic and diplomatic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic that first emerged in central China. Chun Han was born and raised in Singapore and is a native speaker in English and Mandarin Chinese.

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