Chinese President Xi Wants The Chinese Military To Address Him As 'Chairman'

Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews troops stationed in Hong Kong on June 30. (Photo by Nozomu Ogawa)

Nikkei Asian Review: Xi tells his troops: 'Call me chairman'

By resurrecting Mao's old title, China's leader wants to show his rivals who's boss

TOKYO -- In a surprise gambit, Chinese President Xi Jinping has broken with a long-standing military tradition in a bid to strengthen his political position ahead of the Communist Party's leadership reshuffle later this year.

It happened when Xi, who doubles as the party's general secretary, paid a high-profile visit to Hong Kong for a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule.

On the eve of the July 1 handover anniversary ceremony, he attended a military parade to review the 3,100 Chinese troops stationed in Hong Kong. Although the military event drew little attention, a significant thing happened there.

Apparently at Xi's behest, the troops referred to him as "zhuxi" instead of "shouzhang," the title usually used during such inspections.

Shouzhang is a generic Chinese term used to refer to a leader or commander, but zhuxi -- or chairman -- is a term usually used specifically to refer to the top leader of the state and the country's powerful Central Military Commission.

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Update #1: China's president has troops declare loyalty: Call me 'chairman' (Defense News)
Update #2: Hong Kong's Military Parade: From 'Greetings Leader' To 'Greetings Chairman' (The Diplomat)
Update #3: ‘Hello, chairman’: Hong Kong PLA troops break tradition with new greeting for President Xi Jinping (South China Morning Post)

WNU editor: It gets even better, some in the Chinese media are addressing him as "Chairman of the World" .... Hail to chairman of the world Xi as Uncle Sam loses his mojo (Rowan Callick, The Australian).