4 ms·
Xi Jinping’s Endgame: A China Prepared for Conflict with the U.S.
- BMc2020 4y agoThese efforts became even more U.S.-focused after a May 2020 speech in which Matt Pottinger, then a senior National Security Council official, traced the history of China’s democratic movement and suggested Chinese citizens should hold their leaders accountable. Mr. Xi saw the speech—delivered in Mandarin—as a challenge to his rule, because it was aimed at everyday Chinese people rather than its leaders, according to people familiar with the matter. “The Communist Party has always feared three things: frank talk about Chinese history, the idea of Chinese citizens enjoying basic political rights and attempts by U.S. officials to engage directly with Chinese citizens. My speech touched on all three themes, which explains the panic Beijing still feels from what were fairly modest words,” said Mr. Pottinger, who is now chairman of the China program at the nonprofit Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Chinese citizens are now regularly warned about spies and told not to be guilty of “America worship” or “kneeling before America.” Such calls have expanded in recent months to target those adopting an English first name and questioning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- sam345 4y agohttps://archive.ph/qeLbc https://archive.ph/qeLbc. Unpaywalled