Home Asia Chinaโ€™s First Lady Peng Liyuan Bidding For A Bigger Role?

Chinaโ€™s First Lady Peng Liyuan Bidding For A Bigger Role?

By the usual standards of Chinese media, reporting or any writing on President Xi Jinping is nothing short of slavish, reflecting his power and authority. Now it seems, some of that coverage is spilling over to his wife Peng Liyuan. On Xiโ€™s return from a three-nation swing through France, Serbia and Hungary, local media quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as undescoring that โ€œFirst Lady Diplomacy was the highlight of the visitโ€.

In fact, a cursory reading of articles in the Chinese media gave the impression she was getting equal billing with her husband. A Xinhua report A CGTN report on the first coupleโ€™s visit to Hungary was headlined โ€œViktor Orban and wife hold farewell for Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan in Budapestโ€; another during their France visit carried the headline โ€œPeng Liyuan, French first lady visit Orsay Museumโ€; a similar headline heralded her arrival along with her husband in the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Is Xi laying the ground for expanding his wifeโ€™s role in the government and party? According to RFI quoting Hong Kongโ€™s Sing Tao Daily, the first lady is being groomed to serve as a full-time member of the Central Military Commissionโ€™s cadre evaluation panel. It is also claimed that the six month delay in convening the 6th Plenum of the Communist Party in July, could be linked to Xiโ€™s intention to have Peng Liyuan join the Politburo.

But it is the military role that bears scrutiny. Peng was serving in the rank of major-general in 2017 when she quit as head of the PLA Academ of Arts. Since then her specific military role has remained unclear. However, recent images circulating on Chinese social media platforms show her engaged in military-related activities. One caption says, โ€œPeng Liyuan, a full-time member of the Central Military Commission Cadre Evaluation Committee, visits the school to research the development of high-level talent.โ€

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It gives the impression that Peng might have been appointed to the committee, though no official confirmation has been made. That also suggests such manoeuvres are complex even for as powerful a pesonage as Xi Jinping, and it has to be thought through and carefully implemented. Even a high-ranking official like Cai Qi, who is the fifth ranking member of the Politburo standing committee, took time to rise.

On Weibo, Chinaโ€™s equivalent of X, comments from โ€œLittle Pinksโ€ (loyalists of the regime) are increasingly featuring Peng Liyuan. Their posts frequently use the term โ€œOur First Lady Diplomacy,โ€ suggesting a key role for her in enhancing Chinaโ€™s diplomatic efforts. The enthusiastic support from these young nationalists highlights Peng Liyuanโ€™s increasing influence and popularity as she accompanies President Xi Jinping on international visits.

โ€œPeopleโ€™s Digestโ€ described her as โ€œChinaโ€™s new business card,โ€ lauding her โ€œtulip diplomacyโ€ with the Queen of the Netherlands as fragrant and charming. Wang Yiโ€™s endorsement, emphasising her โ€œsoft power,โ€ is also notable. China Daily highlighted her ability to act as a bridge between cultures and underscored her call while in Europe, for โ€œClose friendship between peoplesโ€.

Can Pengโ€™s rise be compared to that of Mao Zedongโ€™s fourth wife Jiang Qing, who in 1969, entered the Politburo? Prior to that, she was seen as Maoโ€™s personal emisary in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, was active in the realm of arts and culture particularly when pushing her husbandโ€™s cult of personality. She used her proximity to him to organise the Gang of Four that controlled several of Chinaโ€™s political institutions, but within months of Maoโ€™s death in 1976, was arrested and disappeared from sight.