Comment by shortrounddev2

7 months ago

I think China is increasingly driven by the ego of Xi Jinping and not the internal machinations of party politics.

15 comments

shortrounddev2

Reply
ethbr1  7 months ago

He is 71 and getting older.

A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you've had absolute power for a decade and aren't overly concerned about consequences in 20 years.

  • vkou  7 months ago

    A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you realize that your metric for 'crazy' and 'not crazy' is less about gauging the mental state of the person making those decisions, and more about how much/little they upset Western interests.

    • ethbr1  7 months ago

      Invading sovereign nations is pretty crazy. (Said to castigate both western and non-western countries)

      Sometimes the standards of human decency are global.

      2 replies →

  • dangus  7 months ago

    I think it's a mistake to give in to the temptation to jump to the conclusion that China is a tunnel-vision cult of personality everything-the-crazy-dictator-wants-he-gets government.

    The Chinese government under Xi has a well-established track record of long-term planning that has done nothing but elevated China's status and leverage in the world.

    It really couldn't be further from (e.g.) Putin's style of governance.

    • ethbr1  7 months ago

      Sidelining potential political competitors and/or forcing them out of the public sphere doesn't inspire confidence in Xi's ability to resist using power conveniently.

      > The Chinese government under Xi has a well-established track record of long-term planning that has done nothing but elevated China's status and leverage in the world.

      Some of its neighbors in the South China Sea would beg to differ.

      E.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V80MGYrWWaM&t=80s

      3 replies →