Ummm, 100% of votes went to one person and the elderly potential political adversary was led out against his will by the leader's security on live TV as part of the "election".

https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/hu-jintao-dragged-out-...

I mean King Henry VIII had parliament ratify his changes to the English church so that he could remarry 5 times.

I agree that Chinese elections don't matter. And you won't replace the general secretary in short notice, unlike the US President who changes every couple years. But Xi doesn't rule China alone, the CCP does. And by manipulating the reputation of CCP members you can influence who gets into positions of power and who stays irrelevant, just like in a democracy

I will totally agree that there is infighting (esp with the military) within the CCP, but as others have noted it's much more centralized that the last 50 years. That doesn't mean there aren't attempts (within and without) to influence public perception and control narrative (weibo douyin wechat) with news articles, individual bans, and 五毛.

It's just that Xi (and Putin to a slightly lesser degree) have isolated themselves so much that even the US political establishment has little idea what they want or plan to do. I'm not sure even the political establishment within China knows much better.

> But Xi doesn't rule China alone, the CCP does

Xi has consolidated power in himself to an extent not seen since Mao, maybe Stalin. Xi controls the CCP and has no rivals alive (anymore.)

> But Xi doesn't rule China alone, the CCP does.

Xi has more power than the CCP.

That's simply not how political power works.

It’s naive to think Xi is not powerful. If he had less power than the CCP he would have been removed for all the disastrous decisions he’s made with covid and other aspects of the economy.

It's naive to think that Xi is more powerful than the politicians who give him that power. I think you are severely misunderstanding how political power works.

One man just does not get political power without the support of powerful people around him. Even kings and emperors work the same way.

lol how do you think one man has so power. He has surrounded himself with people he trusts. And killed off any threat to himself.

Even so, he needs support from the party, who is stronger than the person they appoint to be leader.