China probably withstood the chaos of 2020 better than any other major power. In the coming months, its leader, Xi Jinping, seems ready to take advantage, taking over the new Biden government and projecting a confident Communist Party in its centennial year.
Xi and his lieutenants have adopted a cheerful tone in recent weeks, touting their declared success last year in containing the coronavirus and eliminating rural poverty. They portrayed China as a responsible power, offering stable leadership amid a global economic downturn and growing geopolitical tensions that they attribute to the belligerence of the United States. Signs of a healthy recovery in the world’s second largest economy gave Xi a stronger hand in negotiations with countries still struggling with the pandemic and its economic consequences.
Although President-elect Joe Biden has signaled plans to join multilateral efforts to verify China on issues ranging from trade to human rights, Xi has sought to offset any pressure from the United States with his own diplomatic victories. Since Biden’s electoral victory in November, China has signed a new 15-country trade pact with Asia-Pacific and struck an investment deal with the European Union – primary concerns of the new Biden government.
Even so, China faces important challenges at home and abroad. Many nations are becoming concerned about the superpower’s aggressive foreign policy. Its investment pact with Europe has not yet been ratified. And it must overcome the long-term economic consequences of the pandemic and the growing doubts about the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, which officials hope can win global hearts and minds.
Beijing showed no signs of retreating. In a reflection of their confidence, the Xi government has asserted control over its country’s periphery, launching mass arrests of opposition figures in Hong Kong this month, while carrying out high-frequency warplane missions near the island- Taiwan’s democracy, which Beijing claims to be its territory.