15

China’s zero-Covid catastrophe threatens Xi’s dream of becoming a new emperor

 2 years ago
source link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-zero-covid-catastrophe-threatens-145716851.html
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
neoserver,ios ssh client

China’s zero-Covid catastrophe threatens Xi’s dream of becoming a new emperor

Tim Wallace
Fri, June 3, 2022, 11:57 PM·17 min read
Xi Jingping - Li Xueren/ Xinhua
Xi Jingping - Li Xueren/ Xinhua

Even at the age of 91, George Soros has patience. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the billionaire investor and philanthropist waited in the wings, in a dimly lit room normally used to store ski equipment, before delivering his grim message. Guests at Soros’s dinner last month were allowed to finish their elegant starters before he emerged to tell them we may be on the brink of a Third World War.

One crucial member of his intended audience was far away, however.

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chairman of the Central Military Commission and President of the People's Republic of China, gave Davos a miss this year. The 68-year-old stayed at home - as he has since a state visit to Myanmar on January 17, 2020 - to oversee China’s battle to deliver “zero Covid”.

Soros, an avowed anti-communist since escaping Hungary in 1947, claimed to have seen through Xi’s dedication to his eradication of a disease that his country has been accused of creating - whether by negligence or design.

“He never told the Chinese people that they had been inoculated with a vaccine that was designed for the original Wuhan variant and offers very little protection against new variants,” said Soros.

“Xi can’t afford to come clean because he is at a very delicate moment in his career. His second term in office expires in the fall of 2022 and he wants to be appointed to an unprecedented third term, eventually making him ruler for life.

“Everything must be subordinated to this goal.”

Yet this very determination to cling on at all costs could be Xi’s undoing, he warned, as lockdowns devastate the economy and embarrass China on the world stage.

“Contrary to general expectations, Xi Jinping may not get his coveted third term because of the mistakes he has made,” he says.

“But even if he does, the Politburo may not give him a free hand to select the members of the next Politburo. That would greatly reduce his power and influence and make it less likely that he will become ruler for life.”


report

Recommend

About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK