China more concerned about foreigner's description of its leader, less about challenges: Report
C
hina's "fragility" and "global authoritarian aspirations" have been revealed following the emphatic complaint registered by Beijing after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "dictator" in a recent interview, reported the Hill.
Beijing's response to the "dictator" comment was no more a semantic complaint, but a paradoxical revelation of both China's fragility and its global authoritarian aspirations, reported The Hill citing author Glenn Chafetz.
Chafetz enumerates the challenges faced by China including, a slowing economy, unsustainable debt, a housing glut, endemic corruption, a shrinking and unbalanced population, massive youth unemployment and lethal levels of pollution.
The author said one would imagine that the Chinese Communist Party would be less bothered about a foreigner's description of its leader and more concerned with its challenges. The report goes on to say that these developments do not threaten the CCP's legitimacy, but words do.
Chafetz has over 30 years of experience in government, academia, and the private sector. He works at the nexus of foreign policy, trade, and technology.
Moreover, Beijing reacted so harshly to Baerbock's speech because, to the CCP, contradicting the party line anywhere challenges the legitimacy of its rule, the Hill report said.
China is hardly unique among dictatorships in its hypersensitivity to perceived criticism, however, it differs in terms of scale, economic power and ambition.
Additionally, it wants to control speech everywhere, reported The Hill.
"No doubt Vladimir Putin would operate in the same way if he could, but Russia lacks China's market power and budget; Kim Jong-Un and the Iranian mullahs clearly bristle at any criticism from abroad, but can't do much about it. China differs because it can and does," Chafetz wrote for The Hill.
Beijing will go to any length to repress foreign speech including, trade boycotts, punitive tariffs, fines, raids and investigations of foreign company offices in China, cancellation of visas, lawsuits, cyber-attacks, online harassment, exit bans, arrests, detention and long prison terms.
They use these weapons because they work or have worked in many instances, reported The Hill.
China stands aloof in the scope of the threats it imagines. There is nothing precise which can offend China and the regime leaves that issue purposely vague. Although, practically, the definition is elastic. Any kind of criticism poses a threat.
Earlier in July, the CCP banned any information in a business foreign IPO prospectus that could "discredit" China.
"In the same month, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, Beijing's puppet leader, vowed to hunt eight Hong Kong citizens for protesting the end of freedom of speech," Chafetz stated.
In August, Chinese authorities instructed economists in China, including citizens and foreigners to not discuss youth unemployment, deflation or other signs of economic weakness, reported The Hill.
And, of course, the German foreign minister's accurate characterization of Xi Jinping elicited official condemnation and name calling.
Moreover, CCP's institutionalized and prickly paranoia poses three harms to regime effectiveness; reality distortion, resource depletion, and negative reaction.
While explaining it, reality distortion skews decision-making. The CCP cannot solve problems that it denies exist. One might argue that Xi is well aware of the problems he faces, but this is unlikely.
"No one inside China risks telling the emperor that he is naked for fear of giving offense and suffering dire consequences. Furthermore, foreigners who ask the wrong questions, or simply do normal financial due diligence, are branded as spies," Chafetz wrote.
Noting the second harm, resource depletion, he said that even with China's means, tracking and reacting to every perceived insult all the time and everywhere require resources that would be better spent on more productive pursuits, such as the aforementioned economic problems.
Moreover, without a prioritization of threat, Chinese authorities condemn themselves to a game of perpetual insult "whack-a-mole," according to The Hill.
Lastly, CCP's way of negatively reacting and aggressively responding to what the democratic world considers normal economic, social and political discourse provokes reactions that unify antagonists and start the cycle anew.
"The CCP's paranoid lashing out may seem appropriate and effective inside China, but outside it is now proving counterproductive," The Hill stated citing Chafetz.
Similarly, the US Secretary of Commerce called China "uninvestable".
Companies across the world have started exploring alternatives to China as a supplier and market, as South Korea and Japan has strengthened mutual ties and Germany and the UK have become increasingly wary of Beijing.
China has achieved nothing with his aggressive fragility, it has successfully bullied people, companies and foreign governments for years, The Hill reported.
According to Chafetz, "The trend is now going the other way, which will only reinforce China's paranoia and insecurity, and making the country more dangerous as it takes greater risks to prevent additional perceived losses."
It has been feared that risk-tolerant China might trigger some in the West to seek to propitiate Beijing by tempering their criticisms.
Notably, this is a moral hazard that rewards and encourages China's bullying, reported The Hill.
The best the democratic world could do is to continue to speak the truth and force China to recognize that its dictatorship stops at its borders.
✔️ China more concerned about foreigner's description of its leader, less about challenges: Report
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