More and more system-disrupting factors are appearing in China, the turning point is imminent.
Political institutions should be designed in such a way that bad rulers can do as little damage as possible. We have Karl Popper to thank for this knowledge, which only appears trivial at first glance. At the same time, the philosopher warned against rulers who claim not only to carry out the will of the people, but also claim to know what is best for the people.
These ideas arose during World War II. But they could hardly be more up-to-date – and they perhaps best capture the events that the astonished world public is currently observing in China.
Because Xi Jinping is such a ruler in Popper’s sense. One whose omnipotence is only surpassed by his hubris. One who holds the three most important political offices: President, General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission – theoretically until his death.
But it is possible that the mighty ruler of the Middle Kingdom has now exceeded. The recent revolts of the ruled bear witness to this. The increasing economic setbacks in the second largest economy in the world also testify to this: a renewed slump in exports, and even a recession no longer seems to be out of the question. And a hasty course adjustment in the controversial zero-Covid strategy, which had the status of state dogma, is evidence of this.
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Protesters who publicly question the Communist Party’s monopoly on power and call for the overthrow of the chairman – the last time that happened was in the spring of 1989 on Tiananmen Square.
>>Read also: Ten-point plan: This is how China relaxes the strict zero-Covid measures
Even if the rulers have regained control of the streets (for the time being) thanks to their efficient and digitally sophisticated repression apparatus – just that the pressure from the streets could force Xi to make concessions in the zero-Covid strategy seemed hardly imaginable until recently. The uprisings are unmistakable proof that the Chinese are not the weak subjects they are often mistaken for.
Xi further cemented his power at the last General Assembly of the Communist Party.
(Photo: AP)
The insurgents call their project “DIN-A4-Revolution”, a white sheet of paper stands as a symbol for the seemingly totalitarian censorship by the KP. Once revolts have a name, it is difficult to bring them under control, no matter how consistent the removal of traces on the Internet or a massive police presence on the streets. Especially not when the foundations of an informal pact between the people and the state begin to crumble. Absolute power for the state, security and prosperity for the people – that was the deal.
>>Read also: China bids farewell to Jiang Zemin – Xi pays tribute to “great statesman”
The state no longer delivers: the arbitrariness in Covid politics affects the sense of security, the economic crisis signals counteract the promise of prosperity. In other words, the power of the state finds its limits where the narrative of the Politburo deviates too far from lived reality.
With amazement and sometimes even envy, the western world has looked at this country over the past few decades, which has experienced a breathtaking rise – economically and, as a result, also politically. A rise that, according to western readings and also western arrogance, should actually not have been possible. Freedom was considered a necessary prerequisite for creativity and thus also for economic success. Autocratic and now increasingly totalitarian China has long contradicted this dogma.
It seems like a historical joke that it is precisely the arrogance of the Chinese leadership elite that ultimately calls to mind the greatest strength of open societies: the ability to self-correct. The arrogance of Chinese characteristics is manifested before the entire world public in an absurd experiment called Zero-Covid, against any scientific evidence, against the consensus of the global scientific community.
In China, there have been tough protests against the government’s zero-Covid measures in recent weeks.
(Photo: IMAGO/Kyodo News)
System Xi did not intend for the Great Chairman to err. It should now dawn on even the last Chinese that Xi has put the People’s Republic in an impossible position. If China’s leadership lifted all Covid measures immediately, they would quickly have an even bigger problem: the health system would collapse and countless people would die. After all, the population is not vaccinated with Western and much more effective vaccines and is therefore hardly protected against the virus.
Right from the start, Xi stylized the fight against the corona virus as a system competition with the West – and lost in the end. After initial successes, the leadership moved faster and faster, more radically and also more paranoidly in a direction that was obviously the wrong one.
Xi’s belief in his own infallibility has exposed the limitations of his system to the world. Incidentally, the same applies to its economic policy, which is increasingly imbued with a Marxist-Leninist spirit.
What Xi is also hiding here: China’s economic miracle was not based on red ideology, but on the fact that Mao’s successor Deng Xiaoping banned it from the history books four decades ago.
However, there is no reason for malice or satisfaction on the part of the West. Because it is not yet clear what he has to fear more: a weak or a strong China. Not least because autocrats often tend to whitewash internal political tensions with foreign policy adventures. And that’s not just a threatening realization for Taiwan.
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