Lecture | Book talk
Book talk: The Party’s Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian
- Date
- Monday 13 October 2025
- Time
- Explanation
- The book talk will be followed by a networking reception
- Address
-
Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague - Room
- 3.60
We are very excited to announce that Joseph Torigian will be joining us on 13 October to talk about his latest book: The Party’s Interests Come First – The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the most powerful individuals in the world—and one of the least understood. Much can be learned, however, about both Xi Jinping and the nature of the party he leads from the memory and legacy of his father, the revolutionary Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002).
How Xi Jinping’s upbringing has affected his political beliefs, is revealed by Joseph Torigian in his new book ‘The Party’s Interests Come First’ – the first biography of Xi Zhongxun ever written in English.
Join us for Torigian’s book talk on 13 October and learn more about this recent part of China’s political history. The session will have contributions from LeidenAsiaCentre’s prof.dr. Frank Pieke as a discussant.
The book talk will be followed by a networking reception.
About the book
‘The Party’s Interests Come First’ is a sweeping account of the Chinese revolution and the early decades of the People’s Republic of China, as well as a deeply personal exploration of identity within a larger political context. Drawing on an array of new documents, interviews, diaries, and periodicals, Joseph Torigian vividly tells the life story of Xi Zhongxun, a man who spent his entire life struggling to balance his own feelings with the Party’s demands. Through the eyes of Xi Jinping’s father, Torigian reveals the extraordinary organizational, ideological, and coercive power of the CCP—and the terrible cost in human suffering that comes with it.
About the writer
Dr. Joseph Torigian is associate professor at American University in D.C. and is currently working as a research fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. He has a background in several fields an disciplines, including international relations, security studies, comparative politics, history, and Chinese and Russian studies.
