South China Morning Post (November 25)
“China’s restrained stance on the increasingly violent Hong Kong protests is burnishing its image as a responsible stakeholder in the international system…. While China cannot afford Hong Kong to become the next Tiananmen, it can well afford to see the city recede into global economic irrelevance. What does not matter economically hardly matters politically.”
Tags: China, Economically, Hong Kong, Irrelevance, Politically, Protests, Responsible, Stakeholder, Stance, Tiananmen, Violent
New York Times (December 27)
A quarter century ago Tiananmen appeared to signal the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Today, “the world’s largest political organization, with 86 million members, seems as robust as ever.” Despite this seeming success, the CCP remains riddled with contradictions and insecurity over everything from protests to environmental catastrophe, a housing bubble and slowing growth. “The dark side of the Chinese dream — the negative fantasy that haunts China’s psyche — explains why Mr. Xi, the strongest Chinese leader since Deng, is so skittish, so ready to jump at shadows.”
Tags: China, Communist party, Contradictions, Deng, Environment, Growth, Housing bubble, Insecurity, Protests, Robust, Tiananmen, Xi
The Economist (May 31)
It has been 25 years since China stepped back from the abyss that was Tiananmen. This led to China’s longest stretch of stability “since the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911.” Nonetheless, “it is still wise to be cautious about the cohesion of Chinese politics.” While there is no immediate cause for alarm, “political risk is as important to bear in mind as the wobbles that are causing growing numbers of observers to worry about China’s economy.”
Tags: Cautious, China, Cohesion, Collapse, Economy, Politics, Qing dynasty, Risk, Stability, Tiananmen
