Joseph Torigian, the author of a much-acclaimed recent biography of Xi Jinping’s father, Xi Zhongxun, published with Stanford University Press, will present his book and engage in a discussion with the audience. The book has been praised as being not just about party history and the life of Xi Zhongxun, but also “about the politically explosive nature of competing versions of the past” (Tyler Cowen). The evening  with the author offers a unique opportunity to dive into a little known side of Xi Jinping’s biography – a hugely sensitive topic for the Chinese Party-State, but also to understand better some of the continuing constraints and parameters of current Chinese politics. Torigian is also the author of “Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao” (Yale University Press, 2022).

Book: "The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping" (Stanford University Press, 2025)