China has probably withstood the chaos of 2020 better than any other major power. In the coming months, its leader, Xi Jinping, seems ready to express his advantage, taking over the new Biden administration and projecting a confident communist party in its centennial year.
Mr. Xi and his lieutenants have set a lively tone in recent weeks, trumpeting their successful confession last year in containing the coronavirus and eradicating rural poverty. They described China as a responsible power, providing steady leadership amid a global economic downturn and growing geopolitical tensions blamed on US belligerence. The signs of a healthy recovery in the world’s second largest economy have given Mr Xi a stronger hand in relations with countries still struggling with the pandemic and its economic consequences.
While President-elect Joe Biden signaled plans to rally multilateral efforts to check China on trade-related human rights issues, Mr Xi tried to offset any US pressure with his own diplomatic victories. Since Mr Biden’s election victory in November, China has anchored a new 15-nation Asia-Pacific trade pact and concluded an investment agreement with the European Union – major concerns for the future Biden administration.
However, China faces significant challenges both at home and abroad. Many nations are concerned about the aggressive foreign policy of the superpower. Its investment pact with Europe has not yet been ratified. And it must overcome the long-term economic consequences of the pandemic and growing doubts about the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, which officials hoped could win global hearts and minds.
Beijing has shown no signs of backing down. Reflecting his confidence, Mr Xi’s administration has asserted control over the outskirts of his country, launching mass arrests of opposition figures in Hong Kong this month as high-flying warplanes fly near the island’s democracy. Taiwan, which Beijing claims to be a territory.