OPINION: Xi Jinping is poised to become one of the most powerful people in history. But his domestic policies and prickly relations with much of the world are not sustainable.
At the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Congress, which begins on Sunday, President Xi Jinping will become one of the most powerful people who has ever lived. He will be installed for a third term as the Party’s general secretary, and perhaps for life.
China’s open-door reform in 1978 was the most important event of the second half of the 20th century. Some historians believe China’s leaders, as good Marxists, acted on a belief even back then that US capitalist power would soon peak and it was the opportune time to exploit its technology and markets to make China strong.Whatever the reason, they have got much of what they wanted. America remains the biggest economy, but China has rapidly become the second-biggest.
Many of Xi’s initiatives are not going well. Fortress-building in the South China Sea simply woke up Washington’s hawks. Massive Belt-and-Road investment has stalled. And China is hitting its limitations. It could get old without getting rich, with its working-age population declining by a third in this century, while America’s, India’s keep rising.
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