As a child, Xi saw his father, Xi Zhongxun, purged from the senior ranks of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over his support for a historical novel

Kevin Rudd's book On Xi Jinping is based on his doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford , which he began in 2017 at the age of 59 .

Rudd has been prime minister of Australia twice, as well as foreign minister, and is currently serving as the country’s ambassador to the US .

Rudd argues that Xi has “moved Chinese politics to the left, and also to the Leninist economy”.

Xi is undeniably a Leninist , however, who subscribes to the former Soviet leader’s view of the need to subordinate power to a rigidly disciplined vanguard party to lead the “dictatorship of the proletariat” When Xi assumed power in 2012 , he was dismayed by a “lack of belief” among party members.

He has enshrined his ideology formally known as “ Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era ” in the constitution.

The question is whether mounting challenges at home and growing uncertainty overseas will cause Xi to reconsider his objectives such as seizing Taiwan or if he will be seduced instead by the great changes” he sees under way in the world.

In that, determination may lie the seeds of his own downfall, with the consequences to be felt far beyond China 's borders.