Wednesday
In 2019, the CCP spent more on internal security than it spent on defence. Are they worried about an uprising? Judging by the articles below, they should be.
Xi, being an intelligent bureaucrat, will be convinced that the answer to all problems is more State control. In that, he will be wrong, which means that China is in big trouble.
China launches price controls of food staples like wheat, corn and pork. Centralized control of the markets will make the problem worse, not better.
This is the major town in the Uyghur area of China. Maybe, possibly, that is just a coincidence. I wonder how close we are to the break-up of China – again? Will it be like the USSR, which seemed as solid as a rock, right up to the moment in 1989 that it all fell apart almost overnight?
One central committee, with one all-powerful president, should alarm anyone who understands how markets function. Deng Xiaoping was a Zealot in the mould of Xi, but Deng understood the virtue of the market being as free as possible. Xi does not. Deng freed up the markets and created the modern day prosperity in much of China. Xi is undoing that. The collapse of an economy happens far quicker than its construction.
It will be interesting to see where China is 12 months from now. Will it attempt to invade Vietnam or Taiwan to deflect attention from its woes? There is no guarantee of success with either.