Part 4/11:
Fast forward to 2012, with Xi Jinping rising to power, China took a more assertive and strategic stance. Xi, a committed Marxist-Leninist, launched a comprehensive plan known as "national rejuvenation." Far from a patriotic call to restore China’s greatness, this strategy aims explicitly at global dominance. Xi envisions China as a nation reclaiming its historic preeminence, viewing itself as a superior civilization that sits between heaven and earth—a "middle kingdom" seeking global hegemony.