Recently, exiled Chinese scholar Yuan Hongbing, a former law professor at Peking University, gave an exclusive interview in Taiwan, where he recounted his drinking encounters from the past with Xi Jinping. Yuan had previously detailed this experience in New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) program Elite Forum on June 2013.
Xi Jinping served as the Vice Mayor of Xiamen City, Fujian Province from 1985 to 1988. During that time, he flew from Xiamen to Beijing about every two weeks – sometimes even weekly – to build political connections. He usually visited Hu Deping (eldest son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Hu Yaobang). Xi was a heavy drinker but Hu was not. So Hu introduced Xi to Yuan Hongbing, and from there the two developed a drinking companionship that lasted more than eight months.
Yuan said Xi had a peculiar trait: during the first half of a drinking session, Xi would say almost nothing – coming off as simple, reserved, and inexpressive. But once he’d drunk over half a bottle of Moutai (the best Chinese wine), he would open up and speak at length. Two politically related remarks left the deepest impression on Yuan.
First case: Yuan and many intellectuals held the view that China’s large population was a burden to its economic development. Xi disagreed and said, “Yuan Hongbing, you’re wrong. China’s population isn’t too big – it’s too small. China needs 4 billion people to manage the world. To realize global communism, we need people to govern.” Yuan reflected that this mindset was understandable, as Xi’s ideology was formed during the Cultural Revolution and deeply shaped by Mao Zedong’s ideas.
Second case: Xi, Yuan, and Bai Enpei (then CCP Party Secretary of the Yan’an Prefectural Committee in Shaanxi Province and later the Party Secretary of Yunnan Province and sentenced to death with reprieve under Xi’s anti-corruption campaign) once drank together while Bai was attending training at the Central Party School in Beijing. The topic of the Korean War’s Battle of Chosin Reservoir came up. Bai criticized China’s Ninth Corps’ commanders for sending 150,000 soldiers to a freezing battlefield without adequate winter gear, resulting in two-thirds of the unit being killed or severely frostbitten. Bai called it a crime and said Mao Zedong should be held accountable, and Song Shilun (the commanding general) should be harshly punished.
Xi Jinping suddenly erupted in anger. He rebuked Bai, saying the battle was “a tremendous strategic victory,” and that the sacrifice was necessary. Xi insisted that Song Shilun should not only be absolved but honored as a hero. The two argued heatedly and even came to blows – Bai Enpei sustained some injuries in the scuffle.
Yuan Hongbing concluded that this incident revealed something about Xi’s psychological makeup: in Xi’s mind, the loss of life – no matter how great – is secondary. What truly matters to him is the realization of a dictator’s idealized vision of political and military power.
Source: NTDTV, May 11, 2025
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2025/05/10/a103984479.html