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After [[PLA]] tanks crushed the dreams of liberal democracy sprouting in [[China]], [[CCP]] leadership began searching desperately for a new political model on which to secure the regime. They soon turned to Wang Huning.  When Wang won national acclaim by leading a university debate team to victory in an international competition in Singapore in 1993, he caught the attention of [[Jiang Zemin]], who had become party leader after the [[Tiananmen massacre]]. Wang, having defeated National Taiwan University by arguing that human nature is inherently evil, foreshadowed that, “While Western modern civilization can bring material prosperity, it doesn’t necessarily lead to improvement in character.” Jiang plucked him from the university and, at the age of 40, he was granted a leadership position in the CCP’s secretive Central Policy Research Office, putting him on an inside track into the highest echelons of power.<ref>https://palladiummag.com/2021/10/11/the-triumph-and-terror-of-wang-huning/</ref>

After [[PLA]] tanks crushed the dreams of liberal democracy sprouting in [[China]], [[CCP]] leadership began searching desperately for a new political model on which to secure the regime. They soon turned to Wang Huning.  When Wang won national acclaim by leading a university debate team to victory in an international competition in Singapore in 1993, he caught the attention of [[Jiang Zemin]], who had become party leader after the [[Tiananmen massacre]]. Wang, having defeated National Taiwan University by arguing that human nature is inherently evil, foreshadowed that, “While Western modern civilization can bring material prosperity, it doesn’t necessarily lead to improvement in character.” Jiang plucked him from the university and, at the age of 40, he was granted a leadership position in the CCP’s secretive Central Policy Research Office, putting him on an inside track into the highest echelons of power.<ref>https://palladiummag.com/2021/10/11/the-triumph-and-terror-of-wang-huning/</ref>

[[File:Deng successors.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Wang Huning served all three of [[China under Deng and successors|Deng successors]], Xi, Hu, and Jiang.]]

[[File:Deng successors.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Wang Huning served all three of [[China under Deng and successors|Deng successors]], Xi, Hu, and Jiang.]]

What is singularly remarkable about Wang is that he’s managed to serve in this role of court philosopher to not just one, but all three of the [[PRC]]'s previous top leaders, including as the pen behind Jiang Zemin’s signature “Three Represents” policy and [[Hu Jintao]]’s "Scientific Development View" and Xi Jinping's "[[Xi Jinping Thought|Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era]]."  In the brutally cutthroat world of CCP factional politics, this is an unprecedented feat. Wang was recruited into the party by Jiang’s “Shanghai Gang,”<ref>https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/shanghai-gang-seeks-xi-jinping-ouster</ref> a rival faction that [[Xi Jinping]] worked to ruthlessly purge after coming to power in 2012

What is singularly remarkable about Wang is that he’s managed to serve in this role of court philosopher to not just one, but all three of the [[PRC]]'s previous top leaders, including as the pen behind Jiang Zemin’s signature “Three Represents” policy, [[Hu Jintao]]’s "Harmonious Development of Economy," an integral part of Hu's "Scientific Development View,"<ref>https://www.dissertationtopic.net/doc/2054050</ref> and Xi Jinping's "[[Xi Jinping Thought|Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era]]."  In the brutally cutthroat world of CCP factional politics, this is an unprecedented feat. Wang was recruited into the party by Jiang’s “Shanghai Gang,”<ref>https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/shanghai-gang-seeks-xi-jinping-ouster</ref> a rival faction that [[Xi Jinping]] worked to ruthlessly purge after coming to power in 2012

A member of the CCP’s seven-man [[Politburo Standing Committee]] (ranked 5th), he is the party’s top ideological theorist, quietly credited as being the “ideas man” behind each of Xi’s signature political concepts, including the “China Dream,” the anti-corruption campaign, the [[Belt and Road Initiative]], a more assertive [[foreign policy]].

A member of the CCP’s seven-man [[Politburo Standing Committee]] (ranked 5th), he is the party’s top ideological theorist, quietly credited as being the “ideas man” behind each of Xi’s signature political concepts, including the “China Dream,” the anti-corruption campaign, the [[Belt and Road Initiative]], a more assertive [[foreign policy]].