John Bolton on the ‘economic difficulties’ facing China
China’s slowing economic growth as a result of Xi Jinping’s policies could expose “natural divisions” within the country prompting resistance to the CCP, former White House official John Bolton told Daily Express US.
Ambassador Bolton – who served as National Security Advisor under former president Donald Trump – said that numerous factors are hurting China’s economy, including a declining workforce and aging population due to Beijing’s infamous One Child Policy.
However, Xi’s takeover of the system has the potential to wreck the second-largest economy in the world and expose deep divisions in the country – something which could potentially threaten the CCP’s iron fist on power.
Mr. Bolton said: “Xi Jinping and the Communist Party have re-centralized control over the economy in a way not seen since the time of Mao Zedong. They did it deliberately even knowing, acknowledging in fact, that they risked a slower rate of economic growth because they wanted political control.
“All of that may now be coming home to roost, in part because of COVID. Honestly, we don’t really know the full impact of COVID inside China. I suspect it’s worse than we have been told.”
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According to Mr. Bolton, the people of China have traded economic political freedom for economic stability. If the government fails to uphold its end of the deal it could mean an “existential crisis” for the CCP.
He added: “If [the economic situation in China] continues to get more serious then, I think, the natural divisions that exist inside China and have for thousands of years begin to re-emerge.
“The narrative of the Beijing governments is ‘it’s all one big country and everything’s just fine’. It’s never been that way.
“Tibet doesn’t want to be part of China. Xinjiang doesn’t want to be part of China. Much of Inner Mongolia doesn’t want to be part of China. Manchuria has had a long and different history. The Taiwanese don’t want to be part of Greater China.
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“Hong Kong thought they were doing fine under the One Country Two Systems Approach until Beijing shut that down.”
He also pointed to a historical “North-South” divide within China as well as the “huge economic disparity” between the prosperous coast and the relatively poor interior of the country.
These deep divisions mean Xi is sitting on a potential powder keg for the CCP, according to Mr. Bolton.
He said: “China’s got a lot of internal problems it doesn’t like to acknowledge. But you never know in history what’s going to create a really existential crisis for the regime.
“But as economic growth declines, I think you can say, with some assurance, that the likelihood or the potential for challenges to the regime will rise.”
Shocking reports have emerged out of China suggesting one in five young people in the country may be unemployed.
Some of the country’s largest property firms appear to be approaching bankruptcy and China’s economic recovery post-COVID has been much slower than expected.
Economic disaster in China would likely test Xi’s iron grip on political power and present ever-increasing challenges to the CCP’s authority.
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