The second volume of his book "The Governance of China" contains a detailed passage in which he claims to be well-versed in western political philosophy:
"I have read many classics of philosophy and social sciences. Among them are Politica by Plato, Politics by Aristotle, Utopia by Thomas More, City of the Sun by Tommaso Campanella, Two Treatises of Government by John Locke, The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu, The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, Elements of the Philosophy of Right by George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, On War by Clausewitz, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, An Essay on the Principle of Population by Malthus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by Keynes, Theory of Economic Development by Joseph Schumpeter, Economics by Paul Samuelson, Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, and Economic Growth of Nations by Simon Kuznets. My impression is that they are unexceptionally the product of their times and the result of pondering over and delving into prominent conflicts of a given society at a given time."
-Xi Jinping, The Governance of China, Volume II, p. 371,
-From the speech "Develop Philosophy and Social Sciences with Chinese Features",
-Given at the Seminar on Philosophy and Social Sciences on May 17, 2016.
t. own paper copies of both volumes
Unlike the both of you, however, I actually believe both the above and the Faust story, though it is obviously played-up by the media. Walking a few miles to get a book is not some far-fetched ridiculous thing like Kim Il Sung being born under a double rainbow while every sparrow's farts were sweet-smelling, or Kim Jong Il regularly scoring holes-in-one while golfing, etc.
True, and it's also exactly why he's in power.
Just for that, another tariff.
