Bloomberg (May 12)
“Xi Jinping’s decision to stand his ground against Donald Trump could hardly have gone any better for the Chinese leader…. The Trump administration’s retreat from sky-high tariffs wouldn’t have occurred if China hadn’t responded so forcefully, not only with retaliatory duties but also export controls and other steps.”
Tags: China, Decision, Duties, Export controls, Forcefully, Leader, Responded, Retaliatory, Retreat, Sky-high tariffs, Trump, U.S., Xi
Wall Street Journal (March 21)
“At this point you have to ask: Is China’s economy real anymore?” While recent “economic news out of Beijing sounds so good,” it is driven by non-sustainable “subsidies for upgrades of business and household equipment.” Mr. Xi has fallen “back on the export dependence that so irritates trading partners while leaving China’s economy as vulnerable as ever to foreign protectionism.”
Tags: Beijing, Business, China, Economy, Equipment, Export dependence, Household, Irritates, Protectionism, Subsidies, Sustainable, Trading partners, Upgrades, Vulnerable, Xi
Barron’s (January 26)
“A chilling effect has spread throughout the Communist Party ranks as President Xi Jinping intensifies his crackdown on corruption. Those fears are beginning to extend into China’s business world” where the private sector is increasingly “nervous because of the size and scope of Xi’s campaign to rid insubordination or perceived enemies throughout the government and public sector.” In 2024, the campaign’s scope expanded by roughly 46%, with authorities disciplining 889,000 people, “the highest annual total since the party began releasing such data nearly 20 years ago.”
Tags: Authorities, Chilling, China, Communist party, Corruption, Crackdown, Disciplining, Enemies, Fears, Government, Insubordination, Nervous, Private-sector, Xi
Foreign Affairs (April 24)
Assuming Peak China has arrived is “both ill advised and premature.” Chinese President Xi Jinping “still believes China is rising, and he is acting accordingly.” He remains determined to achieve his “China Dream” by 2049. In fact, Xi and most Chinese elites “believe it is the United States that is in terminal decline. For them, even if China is slowing down, the power gap between the countries is still narrowing in China’s favor.”
Tags: 2049, Dream, Elites, Ill advised, Narrowing, Peak China, Power gap, Premature, Rising, Slowing down, Terminal decline, U.S., Xi
The Economist (March 6)
“So far the signals” from China’s annual meeting of the National People’s Congress “are not reassuring. They suggest that China lacks a robust plan to deal with its economic slump and that some of its targets are drifting from reality. Power is concentrating even further in the hands of President Xi Jinping.”
Tags: Annual meeting, China, Concentrating, Economic slump, Lacks, National People's Congress, Power, Reality, Reassuring, Robust plan, Signals, Targets, Xi
Wall Street Journal (March 5)
“It is the end of the Chinese growth miracle as we know it, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping seems fine with that. The question now is whether he can steer the country onto a new course— and keep the rest of China on board.”
The Week (January 5)
Taiwan’s January 13 presidential election “will have major implications for domestic and global politics.” Current president Tsai Ing-wen is limited to two terms and must step down. Current favorite Vice President Lai Ching-te is likely to continue cozy relations with the U.S., further distancing Taipei and Beijing. His victory might “rankle Xi’s government and increase pressure in the form of military activities around the island.”
Tags: Beijing, Favorite, Implications, January 13, Lai, Military activities, Politics, Presidential election, Pressure, Rankle, Successor, Taiwan, Tsai, U.S., Victory, VP, Xi
Washington Post (October 29)
“China’s conduct in recent days in the South China Sea seems neither accidental nor unintentional.” President Xi Jinping may be trying to divert “his people’s attention from growing domestic problems — a faltering economy and a leadership crisis.” Regardless of China’s motives, “it’s imperative that the administration send constant reminders to Beijing and to America’s allies in the region that the United States is a Pacific power and can deal with multiple crises at once.”
Tags: Accidental, Allies, Attention, China, Conduct, Divert, Domestic problems, Faltering economy, Leadership crisis, Motives, Reminders, South China Sea, U.S., Unintentional, Xi
Washington Post (July 1)
July 1 “used to be a day of celebration in the city. Now, it has morphed into a morbid reminder of Hong Kong’s tragic decline under the ever-worsening repression brought on by Beijing.” Hong Kong’s tragedy has great bearing for Taiwan. It “proves that Beijing’s proposal of ‘one country, two systems’ is a delusion — and that any promises Xi makes regarding Taiwan’s continued autonomy under reunification are worthless.”
Tags: Autonomy, Beijing, Celebration, Decline, Delusion, Hong Kong, July 1, Morbid reminder, Promises, Repression, Reunification, Taiwan, Tragedy, Worsening, Xi
Wall Street Journal (March 18)
“Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin is the latest marker of the deep ties between Beijing and Moscow as the war in Ukraine continues into its second year.” As Xi advances “an increasingly assertive diplomacy” to “pursue… his country’s rightful place as a great power…. China’s relationship with Russia is especially important.”
Tags: Assertive, Beijing, China, Deep ties, Diplomacy, Great power, Moscow, Putin, Relationship, Russia, Ukraine, Visit, War, Xi
