By falsifying history, China’s leaders risk repeating past mistakes

leaders the past few days have been frantic with diplomacy—a flurry of meetings in Rome and Glasgow to discuss everything from covid-19 to climate change. Conspicuously absent, however, has been China’s president, Xi Jinping. Since the early days of the pandemic, he has shunned face-to-face contact with the outside world. Just at the moment, he seems to welcome time at home to ponder. A big meeting will soon begin in Beijing. Top of its agenda will be a topic that Mr Xi sees as crucial: the party’s own history. Odd as it may seem, Mr Xi feels a pressing need to put his stamp on the past. The conclave between November 8th and 11th, to be attended by about 370 of the country’s most powerful people, will pass a resolution evaluating the party’s record since it was founded 100 years ago. The aim will be to demonstrate Mr Xi’s power by massaging the facts in his favour. He will become only the third leader since Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong to arrange such an exercise. Mr Xi wants to show that he is just as important as they were. It will be a clear signal that Mr Xi’s brand of authoritarianism—the most ruthless since the Mao era—.