Minxin Pei
China’s Coming Upheaval
Competition, the Coronavirus, and the Weakness of Xi Jinping
Foreign Affairs, 2020
What's inside?
Is China repeating the Soviet Union’s mistakes?
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Observers of US-China relations are often reluctant to compare China to the former Soviet Union, citing China’s strong interconnectedness and the historically pragmatic nature of the Chinese government, especially with regard to economic policy, as key differences. Yet President Xi Jinping’s moves to increase his power within the Chinese Communist Party and his ideological rigidity have made China look more Soviet-like than it has for decades. Will the country repeat the Soviet Union’s mistakes? In this essay, political expert Minxin Pei argues that China is on a trajectory to do just that.
Summary
About the Author
Minxin Pei is a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.
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