Xi Prepares to Eat Economic Bitterness

Excerpt

Chinese President Xi Jinping always knew it was a matter of when, not if, China’s economic miracle would reach its zenith. Anticipating today’s economic storm, Xi spent many years battening down the hatches and laying the ideological groundwork for his boldest gambit yet: transforming China from an export-dependent, debt-saddled behemoth into a resilient, self-reliant powerhouse. Now, Xi’s moment to implement his vision has arrived—albeit more quickly than he likely expected.

In the West, where democracies demand leaders prioritize near-term economic results, Xi’s restrained response to China’s current crisis might seem perplexing. Yet Xi’s focus on what he has called “comprehensive national security” prioritizes the strategic autonomy of the Chinese state over economic growth, with the former increasingly viewed in Beijing as a precondition for the latter.

Craig Singleton is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and deputy director of FDD’s China Program. For more analysis from Craig and the China Program, please subscribe HERE. Follow Craig on X @CraigMSingleton. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.