: Opinion: Economy is Xi’s vulnerability #IndiaNEWS #News By Tony Walker Xi Jinping’s clean sweep in elevating trusted allies to the commanding heights of the Chinese Communist Party is a political

@IndiaNEWS

Posted in: #IndiaNEWS

Opinion: Economy is Xi’s vulnerability #IndiaNEWS #News
By Tony Walker
Xi Jinping’s clean sweep in elevating trusted allies to the commanding heights of the Chinese Communist Party is a political outcome that has implications beyond China’s borders. Xi sits virtually unchallenged, for the time being, at the apex of a political organisation that oversees a country with the world’s second largest economy, a rapidly modernising military and, perhaps most importantly, global ambitions to match its growing economic and military strength.
In a ritual that would not have been out of place in a traditional Peking opera, the 69-year-old Xi led his new team of seven members of the ruling Standing Committee of the Politburo (SCP) onto the stage in front of the world’s media. All of those who are to serve on China’s ruling body are Xi loyalists. All six have worked with him over many years. Most significant is Li Qiang, the Shanghai party secretary. He will replace Premier Li Keqiang, who is being bundled into retirement.
The new SCP reflects the further ascendancy of a harder line Xi faction in the Chinese leadership and a setback for the party’s liberalising wing. This is a seminal moment in China political history with unpredictable consequences.
Xi in Charge
No-one observing deliberations of the 20th National Party Congress could be left in doubt that China under Xi will continue to assert itself forcefully in what he calls “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation�.
“At present, momentous changes of a like not seen in a century are accelerating across the world
a significant shift in the international power balance presenting China with strategic opportunities. � This was hardly a subtle reference to Chinese perceptions of a superpower rival beset with challenges at home and abroad against a background of a disrupted global environment. The Ukraine crisis is merely one example of a global order that is fragmenting.
In a “work report� delivered every five years at the most important political gathering on China’s calendar, it would be surprising if a Chinese leader did not avail himself of the opportunity to assert his country’s global ambitions. However, Xi’s assertiveness – in contrast to his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao – is unsettling for China’s regional neighbours, including Australia, and for a US-led western alliance more generally.
The Chinese thrust into the western Pacific in a region long-regarded as free of big power tensions is one example. China’s aggressive push into the South China Sea, sometimes referred to in propaganda as a “Chinese lake�, is another. Still another is Beijing’s sabre-rattling towards Taiwan.

Intraday stocks under 50 NSE India Twitter of India

Vote Up Vote Down

Login to post a comment!