For Xi Jinping, loyalty trumps ability
China’s president has assembled a top team of yes-men
The day after President Xi Jinping was granted a precedent-trampling third term as chief of the Communist Party on October 23rd, state media had nothing but praise for him. China was embarking on a “new journey”, said the papers, one “full of glory and dreams”. Alas, the journey has got off to a rough start. On October 24th global financial markets were full of worry and disappointment. Foreign investors dumped China’s shares and its currency.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Team of loyalists”
From the October 29th 2022 edition
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