At the invitation of the Lithuanian Institute of History, Dr. Joseph Torigian, an associate professor at American University (Washington), who researches regimes in China and Russia, is coming to Vilnius. On November 17, the scholar will give a public lecture entitled "The Party's Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping“)."

In 2025, the researcher published a book with the same title. „The Party’s Interests Come First“ is the first biography of Xi Zhongxun written in English. This biography is at once a sweeping story of the Chinese revolution and the first several decades of the People’s Republic of China, and a deeply personal story about making sense of one’s own identity within a larger political context. Drawing on an array of new documents, interviews, diaries, and periodicals, J. Torigian 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. 

The lecture will take place on November 17 at 5 p.m. at the Lithuanian Institute of History (Tilto g. 17, Vilnius).