"Professor Bo Zhiyue is the doyen of Sinologists specializing in elite politics. This book offers fascinating first-hand accounts of the inner workings of the higher echelons of the Chinese Communist Party. With unique insight and perspicacity, Professor Bo offers us glimpses of the factional intrigue and Machiavellian skullduggery behind President Xi Jinping's dramatic bid to become 'Mao Zedong of the 21st Century'."

Dr Willy Lam
Center for China Studies and Department of History
Chinese University of Hong Kong

"As one of the most astute China watchers and prominent scholars of the CCP's elite politics, Bo Zhiyue offers in the book 53 observations of the most recent political development in China under Xi Jinping. The essays are concise and piercingly insightful, giving the author's take on events that signify underlying trends in current Chinese politics. Bo discusses the anti-corruption campaign, elite dynamics, economic development, Greater China and foreign affairs, rising political stars, and China's future, subjects that are the core concerns for anyone interested in Chinese politics. By encapsulating historical perspective, in-depth analysis, and sensitivity to current events in powerful and concise essays, the book makes the most efficient reading for understanding the complexity of current Chinese politics."

Yu-Shan Wu
Institute of Political Science
Academia Sinica, Taiwan, Republic of China

China watching is anything but being boring because Chinese politics is filled with dramas almost on a daily basis. In the past three years since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese political drama has unfolded with a lot of twists and turns.

Based on a series of articles published on the Diplomat, this volume offers snapshots of different episodes of the political drama from December 2014 to January 2016, focusing mostly on the main character of the show — President Xi Jinping and serving as an appetizer for those who are hungry about Chinese elite politics.