This story is also available in Mandarin.

In 2012, when Xi Jinping assumed leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, many anticipated that he would be a weak leader, dealing with internal disputes following the imprisonment of former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai and rumors of a coup in Beijing.

However, Xi has been likened to the late supreme leader Mao Zedong more than any other leader since Mao’s death in 1976, due to his cult of personality, abolishment of presidential term limits, and intolerance of public criticism or protest, including in Hong Kong.

Internationally, Xi’s handling of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely criticized and has severely damaged his reputation among Chinese citizens. The three-year lockdown period led to severe restrictions, including people being sealed in their homes and forcibly taken to quarantine camps.

The harsh COVID-19 regulations ended in late 2022 after nationwide protests known as the “white paper” movement. However, a mass exodus, known as the “run” movement, was already underway. Refugees, dissidents, corporate executives, and middle-class families were willing to journey through Central America’s rainforests to escape life in China, aiming to seek political asylum in the United States.

One migrant, a banned author, shared his experience of leaving China for Ecuador and Colombia, then trekking through the rainforest to the U.S. His journey was fraught with danger, including robbery and physical hardship.

There is also growing concern that Xi is moving away from the investor-friendly policies of late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping. Under Xi’s rule, the government has driven away foreign investors and cracked down on the private sector in the name of national security.

Under Xi’s leadership, China has seen an increase in censorship, the mass incarceration of Uyghurs, and the suppression of Tibetans’ culture. Surveillance cameras have been installed in schools, and the “Great Firewall” of internet censorship has been upgraded.

Despite his authoritarian rule, Xi is one of the most ridiculed leaders in recent Chinese history, according to exiled author Murong Xuecun. Xi has over 200 nicknames, many of which are now banned from China’s internet.

Internationally, Xi has adopted a more aggressive foreign policy, with military operations in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, and nationalist rhetoric around Beijing’s claim on Taiwan. There are also concerns that Xi may be preparing for a military invasion of Taiwan.

Despite these actions, many believe that Xi lacks the support of China’s military, pointing to haphazard military spending and lack of support from China’s generals as proof.