“A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx.”

-Ronald Reagan

Introduction

When Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, he saw the private sector as a threat to his rule and revived the planned economy of Mao. Under the guise of fighting corruption, he plundered assets from private companies and entrepreneurs. Since being in power he has strengthened government control over the economy and reversed the trend toward reform and opening the economy.

China’s economic growth has been on a downward trajectory under Xi and debt has skyrocketed. The massive real estate bubble is starting to collapse. Capital is fleeing China.

Xi Jinping Consolidates Power

At the October 2022 Chinese Communist Party Congress, China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) amended its constitution cementing Xi’s power by giving him an unprecedented third term as party general secretary.

New revisions to the constitution define Xi as the “core” leader of the party and made his ideas the guiding principles of China’s future development.

Xi embarked on a final round of purges ahead of the CCP Congress, wielding his long-running “anti-corruption campaign.”

Xi vowed to root out dishonest officials when he became leader a decade ago. Since then, this thinly veiled political tool has been used to eliminate more than 1.5 million rivals. These purges have ensured Xi’s absolute control over personnel and policy.

Amendments to the CCP charter have transformed the ruling party into a “gang” led by Xi. The amendments task the party’s 90 million members with “safeguarding” his position as “core” leader.

Xi Embraces Marxism

Xi said in his marathon speech at the CCP Congress, “Our central task will be to lead the Chinese people to realize the goal of building China into a great modern socialist country.”

The last Chinese leader to be obsessed with ideology was party founder Mao, who led the country into bankruptcy.

Deng, who succeeded Mao after his death in 1976, ended the founder’s ideological obsession. Deng practiced a reform policy and opened the economy to massive foreign investment. Deng’s successors followed his lead, embracing a foreign policy that maximized China’s participation in a global economy.

Xi, a devoted student of Mao, has brought that to a crashing halt with a new form of Marxism nationalism.

Chinese People Denounce Government Policies

A nationwide surge of protests suggests that Xi’s next years in power could be more contested.

Hundreds of thousands protested in November 2022 against his “zero-Covid” policies and at university campuses, students chanted for an end to censorship.

In the largest anti-government outburst since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, a new generation has discovered their voices.

Ever since the infamous massacre at Tiananmen Square, the CCP and the people have had a deal. The CCP would make the people prosperous and the people would let the CCP get on with running the country. The people feel this deal is void as under the COVID lockdown the economy has collapsed.

Conclusion

With Xi’s stunning shift back into Maoist totalitarianism, China is destined to become an economic mess.

From GDP averaging 10 percent a year for over 20 years, China’s growth has descended sharply. This year GDP is expected to be 3.2 percent.

The Hang Seng index is off 35 percent this year as news of the newly-empowered Xi has scared investors.

It is clear, with the senior officials who have backed market reform and opening the economy no longer on Xi’s team, that China’s bold experiment with open markets and capitalism has ended.

China’s economic ills are a direct result of Xi’s reversion to Marxism.

Photo by CafeCredit.com

Visit http://www.actforamerica.org