China’s rotting core

Officials are going missing, the youth are unhappy and the economy is slowing, welcome to Xi Jinping’s China.

For the longest time, people thought China under Xi was going well. The economy was growing and corruption seemed to be reducing. But now, things are taking an uneasy turn.

Foreign and defence ministers disappearing, both of whom were picked by Xi for their loyalty, alongside former rivals dying suspiciously evokes feelings of chaos and paranoia. 

The rise of provincial bureaucrats whose sole credential is loyalty to Xi may be taken as nepotism if it wasn’t for the fact that some of them, such as former Ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang, had disappeared without a trace. After their disappearances, as in the case of Gang, lurid details about supposed transgressions emerged. 

Then add in the complaints from Chinese financiers and businesspeople that they are required to learn Xi Jinping Thought and study it thoroughly or face consequences, and further questions are raised. Especially when one considers that the country’s leading investment bank has banned negative macroeconomic or market commentary and one wonders what is being hidden.

All of this creates the impression that something is terribly rotten in China’s core and this could have terrifying consequences for the world.