“Chinese President and Communist Party General-Secretary Xi Jinping continues to consolidate power and has reached new status, adopting the title ‘helmsman,’ a descriptor not used since Mao Zedong and denoting ultimate authority, according to U.S. intelligence officials. Army Lt. Gen. Scott D. Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said Mr. Xi’s increased power will fuel the Chinese military’s drive to create forces more powerful than those of the United States in the coming years. ‘I think Xi is firmly in control of the party, of the military and every aspect of Chinese society,’ Gen. Berrier told the Senate Armed Services Committee in testimony late last week. The most famous sobriquet of Mao, founder of the Chinese Communist Party and hero of the Chinese Revolution, was ‘Great Helmsman.’ Mr. Xi’s use of the term highlights what analysts say is his plan to consolidate his rule under an extreme Chinese version of communism.”
“Xi claims ultimate authority,” The Washington Times, May 3, 2021