With India holding the G20 presidency, 2023 is set to become an important year where Geopolitics and Geo-economics will intertwine with diplomacy. However the most crucial focus ought to be given to Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) China – with its Covid-19 tragedy and a weakened President Xi Jinping.
After almost 3 years Covid-19 still manages to haunt the communist nation and the total blame goes to CCP’s careless policies ranging from its unscientific Zero Covid Policy, which prevented the Chinese citizens from building natural immunity, to its stringent lockdowns which led to violent nationwide protests, on a scale not seen since the Cultural Revolution.
Although CCP has been successfully concealing data over the number of deaths from Covid-19, researchers believe millions could die due to the virus in coming months. A ripple over effect of this hit the economic affairs with the Chinese economy spiralling downwards with an unprecedented velocity. The collapse of the real estate sector further fuelled a slow recovery. At a time like this China also managed to indulge in a trade war with the US and most Western Nations are now attempting to decouple their economy from that of China’s.
So, China is in a state of total chaos and if that wasn’t enough the CCP also tried to unilaterally change the status quo at the Indo-China border claiming parts of India and Tibet as its own. This all boils down to the fact that Xi’s position has weakened badly. Although there were always reports about inter-party conflicts but it has now become a question of paramount importance whether Xi Jinping will be able to tighten his grip over all these domestic and international problems, some of which came naturally to him and some of which he invited to himself.
Another piercing question is Chinese invasion of Taiwan. It is clear that crippled with numerous problems at home, the CCP cannot afford another crisis let alone a war. Therefore, it is best for Xi Jinping to act carefully and save his dying population, thaw relations with global leaders and stop obsessing over the dreams of a Chinese reunification and ultimately becoming a world hegemon.