Spectre
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I think China had the potential to accomplish this with Hu Jintao's "peaceful rise" rhetoric, but Xi has turned out to be not so clever, and destroyed all of the good will that was built up. The Shanghai faction appears to more clever vis-a-vis international opinion, but they appear to be out of favor at the moment. Xi's "Chinese Dream" is essentially the polar opposite, promising greater glory to China at the expense of China's neighbors.
Agreed, the failure on the reform front is quite disappointing. Let's look at it from a different angle. The only major reform that Xi carried out, the anti-corruption drive, just so happens to have simultaneously served the purpose of purging his political rivals. Imagine that. Meanwhile, the real reforms that are needed to ensure China's prosperity (transparency, corporate governance reform, financial liberalization, etc.) are delayed or reversed. What is left is China's debt-fueled growth model, which is neither original nor sustainable enough to cultivate admiration by others.
What China needs is a vision and a model that inspire other countries to be like China. China's rapid economic growth formed a solid foundation for that, but there are not many in the global demos who say to themselves, "I would love to live in a middle-income society that prohibits free speech, jails dissidents, is rife with corruption, and constantly threatens its neighbors." Not to mention the thinly-veiled racial supremacist tones behind Xi's nationalist appeal. Xi will be in power for several more years, so it looks like soft-power will not be a tool available to China.
Sir, you paint a grim picture.
Do opponents to Xi have any influence inside CCP or have all been purged or tamed? Any chance for a coup by concerns affected by Xi's heavy handedness?
I guess the military leadership of PLA would also have a significant voice in decision making but expect them to further endorse Xi's policy.
It would be nice to have some information about dynamics in politburo but as things stands the next few years would lead to erosion of goodwill and increased suspicion of China in Global community.
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