The Party's Interests Come First

China's leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the most powerful individuals in the world—and one of the least understood. Much can be learned, however, about both Xi Jinping and the nature of the party he leads from the memory and legacy of his father, the revolutionary Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002). The elder Xi served the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for more than seven decades. He worked at the right hand of prominent leaders Zhou Enlai and Hu Yaobang. He helped build the Communist base area that saved Mao Zedong in 1935, and he initiated the Special Economic Zones that launched China into the reform era after Mao's death. He led the Party's United Front efforts toward Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Taiwanese. And though in 1989 he initially sought to avoid violence, he ultimately supported the Party's crackdown on the Tiananmen protesters.

The Party's Interests Come First is the first biography of Xi Zhongxun written in English. This biography is at once a sweeping story of the Chinese revolution and the first several decades of the People's Republic of China and a deeply personal story about making sense of one's own identity within a larger political context. Drawing on an array of new documents, interviews, diaries, and periodicals, Joseph Torigian vividly tells the life story of Xi Zhongxun, a man who spent his entire life struggling to balance his own feelings with the Party's demands. Through the eyes of Xi Jinping's father, Torigian reveals the extraordinary organizational, ideological, and coercive power of the CCP—and the terrible cost in human suffering that comes with it.

"The Party's Interests Come Firstprovides a fascinating study of one man's life and legacy inside a political organization that often seemed to subsume individuals but was also constantly reshaped by their influence and the repercussions of their actions."—Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, The Wandering Life

"Joseph Torigian... contributes greatly to our understanding of China. The book, deeply researched, tells the story of a man torn between his humanity and his loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, offering insights into the party's workings and the human suffering that shaped his son's governing style and conception of power."—Li Yuan, New York Times

"The book is valuable not only for its portrait of its subject [Xi Zhongxun]—who was a major figure in the party's history in his own right—but also for its insights into his progeny [Xi Jinping], now the supreme leader. The worldview [Xi Jinping] learned from his father will affect not only 1.4bn Chinese people, but the whole of humanity."—The Economist

"Riveting.... What is striking about The Party's Interests Come First is the book's emphasis on understanding the emotional life of the elder Xi (in addition to its extensive archival research), and how a lifetime of enduring immense psychological pain and personal tragedy shaped the father's political convictions and may have sharpened those of his son [Xi Jinping.]"—Emily Feng, NPR

"Sweeping and scrupulous" —John Batchelor, The John Batchelor Show

"Fascinating.... One of the easiest to read, most gripping doorstoppers I've ever had the pleasure of reading." —Jeremy Goldkorn, ChinaFile

"A towering achievement and required reading for those interested in China. Through exhaustive research and forensic detail, Joseph Torigian tells the gripping story of the man whose son now leads China and the party he helped build. Fascinating, revealing, and easily one of the best books on China in years." —Rush Doshi, Georgetown University

"A fascinating dive into the contradictions and internal struggles that defined the life of one of the Chinese Communist Party's leading figures. Rich in detail and light on grand pronouncements, Torigian's book illuminates the complexity and tension inherent in Chinese leaders' efforts to define and remain loyal to the party against stiff and constantly changing political winds." —Jessica Chen Weiss, Johns Hopkins University

"In China today, people often ask the question: how could Xi Zhongxun have had a son like this? The son in question is China's current president and Communist Party boss, Xi Jinping. Joseph Torigian's biography of Xi Zhongxun addresses this question only in its final chapter, but his rich and densely documented study of the father's life and career from the 1930s through the Tiananmen incident of 1989 is important in its own right—as an account of Xi Zhongxun's unshakable dedication to the Party and the revolution. Xi paid an enormous personal and political price for this dedication, but he remained loyal to the end. Torigian's fine study pays careful attention to Xi's personal and political life, and to the complex and ever-changing dynamics of politics in China's capital, adding important new texture to our understanding of China's political elite under Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and now Xi Jinping." —Joseph W. Esherick, University of California, San Diego

"Joseph Torigian's trademark indefatigable pursuit of detailed information illuminates Xi Zhongxun's experience in working under Mao and Deng in a party culture that leadership should vest in a 'core leader' who would have to be obeyed, and where no significant force stood up to either of them. This mammoth study provides much to reflect on continuities from Mao to Xi Jinping through Deng." —Frederick C. Teiwes, University of Sydney

"This brilliant biography of Xi Zhongxun, revolutionary politician and father of China's current leader, reveals the human dramas and intrigue behind the curtain in Chinese politics. Joseph Torigian is a prodigious researcher whose interviews with the Dalai Lama and others are worth the price of the book. A vividly written page-turner and a major scholarly accomplishment." —Susan Shirk, University of California, San Diego