President Xi is engaged in yet another CPC purge – 44th round since coming to power in 2012. He is creating another set of yes men by discarding old loyalists like Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, He Weidon, who has been part of the so-called Fujian clique.
While there is no worthwhile opposition as yet, he needs talking points as the economy is in tailspin. The large-scale PLA drills around Taiwan is Xi way of claiming that he is the master of the day. Trump tariff tantrums cannot wish away US dependence on America built Chinese supply line.
Yet this theatre of the absurd is no consolation to Xi. He is fixated as much on his home front as on China’s role internationally. His Achilles heel is rampant corruption. Local dailies are full of stories about corruption and scams based on regional purges. Many provinces are in debt trap and are warding of attention by talking up GDP.
Xi’ has not yet found a magic wand despite a decade-long crusade against corruption. No surprise the Chinese economic data is always suspect.
So much so, the bonhomie witnessed during Muhammad Yunus’s visit to Beijing was largely transactional. He followed the Pakistani script of keeping India contained. It is a strategy that aligns with the Chinese, who had aided and abetted insurgent groups in India’s north east particularly during the East Pakistan interregnum.
