China: Xi Jinping's 2021 Countdown

2017 will be remembered as the year of the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, a key moment in the regime’s history. On October 18, the party emphasized “the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation” under the leadership of a much strengthened General Secretary. Although Xi Jinping had been in power for the previous five years, no one had been able, back in 2012, to anticipate the kind of leader he was going to become. We now know better.

Xi’s term was not characterized by political or economic liberalization. It was rather focused on the consolidation of the party’s power around nationalist and patriotic ideas, with the help of the “anti-corruption campaign”, and also the use of international affairs for domestic ends. Indeed, in the eyes of Chinese leaders, foreign policy must serve the party’s goals.

Those who have been watching China closely for the past three decades had not envisioned such a fast-rising and intensely assertive power, only a few years after the start of the 21st century. China’s zeal, at such high speed, has astounded everyone.