The word is out. The problem China is facing is not institutional. It is not even due to the closed and opaque functioning of the CCP – the secretive behemoth known as the Chinese Communist Party. It is due only to one individual, branded by me as Xitler, and otherwise known as Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the CCP, and ex-officio the President of China
There have been many egotistical maniacs in history. All of them had one common trait – they thought they were the chosen people of God, some even thought that they were God. Hitler apparently was one such. Closer to our times, we saw the North Korean dictators behaving like the chosen people.
China was an oligarchy. Mao was the Supreme Leader, and so was Deng Xiaoping. Mao killed 70 million Chinese in his 2 flawed experiments – The Great Leap Forward, and The cultural Revolution. His experiments failed with much pain for the population. His attempt to replace the ancient culture of China with the demonic Communist doctrine also came a cropper.
Deng, on the other hand, turned out to be much wiser. He abandoned the basic economic doctrine of Communism with a single sentence – ‘It is glorious to be rich’, supplemented by the more celebrated ‘it does not matter whether the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice’. He also abandoned the attempts to wash and wish away the ancient China culture with its deep roots in Confucianism, with its attendant supremacism.
The authoritarian capitalism route taken by Deng led to the formation of a middle class that demanded freedoms. It led to the Tianmen Square, and a realisation by the oligarchy that they needed to regulate the coming economic prosperity very closely.
Xi Jinping or Xitler is an evolution of the two hybrids, without the commonsense of either Mao or Deng. He is a classical dynast, son of a high ranking CPC official, and has no roots in the masses of China. The problem with the dynasts everywhere is that they take a larger than life view of themselves. So the rise of Xitler brought with it the following:
- Formulation of the 2035 and 2049 Doctrines that envisage super-power status for China;
- Perfection of the South China Sea strategy;
- Take over of Senkaku islands from Japan, Taiwan, and what it calls South Tibet (Arunachal);
- Take over of the lands lost to the Soviet Union in 1860, and linking up of Tibet with Gilgit-Baltistan through the Shyok Valley.
The assumption that Xitler made was that since China had inveigled West into transferring its manufacturing capacity to China because of its greed and its insufficient commitment to democracy and labour rights in their own countries, it could go on stealing their intellectual property and supplant even the technological edge over a period of time because of the authoritarian control it enjoyed over its own labour force, which could be directed into areas of high technology through central guidance.
Xitler also made a fatal mistake by anointing himself the Supreme Leader for life. This made even the oligarchy hostile.
Finally, Xitler thought he could make his move, and could intimidate the world. It has had just the opposite effect. His OBOR has turned the smaller countries against him, and his territory grabbing finally turned the USA, India and the European Union against him.
His arrogant handling of Covid-19 pitted him against the entire world as it collapsed the world economy, affecting China equally as its economy is largely export driven. Coupled with the reckless internal borrowing by the Chinese govt, large sections of economy are teetering on the brink of a collapse even as the lack of transparency in the economy prevents any market driven solution to be found.
Then he tried to cover up China’s criticism by muscle flexing, using nationalism as the last card of the brigand. China has boundaries with 14 countries, but has claims in 20 countries. It appears as if the ancient history stops at the exact points when China’s boundaries were at their farthest, completely discounting even later claims.
Galwan ended his dreams, and began his nightmare.
With the victory at Galwan, India shed its customary caution, and went hammer and tong at the economic mercantilism practised by China, and set an example before the world. Banning of 59 Chinese apps by India was followed by USA and UK banning Huawei and ZTE from their 5G trials. Even Australia refused to be intimidated. Finally, USA sent its largest aircraft carriers and bombers into the South China Sea, making China quail at the prospect of a two-front war, instead of being able to threaten India with a two-front war.
Who could have accomplished this impossible diplomatic feat except a most incompetent ruler. That’s our Xitler.
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