FT columnist Martin Wolf warns us of the danger of China’s return to strongman rule, even though the framework “strange though it may sound (and indeed is) — communist capitalism”.
Mr Xi has discarded the attempt by Deng Xiaoping to institutionalise checks on the power of China’s leaders — itself a reaction to the wild excesses of the era of Mao Zedong. What is re-emerging is strongman rule — a concentration of power in the hands of one man. It now looks a bit like “Putinism with Chinese characteristics”.
Martin Wolf, “Xi’s power grab means China is vulnerable to the whims of one man“, Financial Times, 28 February 2018 (gated paywall).
Tags: China