In attempting to maintain a “zero-Covid” policy, 5.5 percent economic growth, and his own stranglehold on power, Chinese president Xi Jinping is turning from a leader to a political gambler.
By: Jianli Yang, Yan Yu | Jun 03, 2022
On April 29, at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Committee Politburo, Chinese president Xi Jinping stressed—once again—the country’s need to maintain its “zero-Covid” policy while continuing to pursue its 5.5 percent annual economic growth target. There would be no compromise.
Xi’s top political priorities are to maintain both his present power and his prospects for achieving permanent rule, the latter anticipated at the 20th CCP National Congress in October. On the basis of any objective standard, the two goals appear to be in sharp conflict. Moreover, Xi has recently shown not just obstinacy but paranoia, two further obstacles to achieving his simultaneous goals. This does not mean he has abandoned either one; it just means that Xi is becoming less a dictator than a political gambler.
No CCP leader since Mao Zedong has singlehandedly created so much turmoil and so many crises as Xi Jinping—including the continued deterioration of relations between China and the West, the humanitarian catastrophe spawned by the CCP’s draconian Covid-19 control measures, and the country’s severe economic stagnation. Unsurprisingly, Xi’s international reputation is in decline. Although independent public opinion polls are not feasible in China, it appears that Xi’s support is also declining within the CCP and the Chinese public… [Continue Reading]
Source: https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/from-dictatorship-to-gamesmanship-in-china/