Kevin Rudd
speaker
641 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 14 Jul
Kevin Rudd’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.
Appearances
His father, Xi Zhongxun, is a fascinating figure in modern Chinese politics.
So in the period of the party's crucible, which was when they had to retreat to a place called Yan'an in northwestern China, where they hold up effectively for the better part of 10 or 15 years, that's when Xi Zhongxun comes to the fore as a trusted military lieutenant in Mao's system.
But Xi Jinping also runs through a period whereby he is repeatedly criticized and in fact purged by Mao, including during the Cultural Revolution, 66 to 76.
And as we know from our study of human psychology, particularly in authoritarian states, such experiences of
purges from the party center can either have one of two consequences.
One, it makes you even more loyal to the party because you have recognized your errors through this process of criticism and self-criticism.
Or the second is you turn absolutely hostile to the party as an abuse of Leninist power.
Xi Jinping's father was very much in the first category.
In fact, he reminds me of that last scene in Orville's novel with Winston, where he realizes, as he disappears into oblivion, that he loved Big Brother all along, and the party always comes first.
That's where Shi Zhongxun fits, despite being purged, always coming back to the party because the party knows best.
A true Leninist.
And has physically suffered.
Sent down to the countryside and lived in quite impoverished circumstances for several years.
Xi Jinping was.
My analysis is that Xi Jinping, like his father, Xi Zhongxun, concluded ultimately that the party knows best and that the party ultimately has the nation's interests at heart.
It's not to say that the party is infallible, they will make mistakes, but in the full sweep of history, that we owe our loyalty to the party.
And you're right, most Americans would say this is just nuts.
In fact, all Australians will think it was completely nutso, simply not within our realm of lived experience if you'd been treated that way.
But there's something about Leninist induction which creates these veins of steel in these folks.
And Xi Jinping is of that ilk.
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