Undoubtedly, China withstood the chaos of 2020 better than any other great power. In the coming months, its leader, Xi Jinping, seems willing to press for his advantage, taking over the new Biden administration and projecting a secure communist party on its centenary.
Xi and his lieutenants have set a strong tone in recent weeks, trumpeting their professed success last year in containing the coronavirus and eradicating rural poverty. They have represented China as a responsible power, offering steady leadership amid a global economic downturn and growing geopolitical tensions blamed on American belligerence. Signs of a healthy recovery in the world’s second-largest economy have given Xi a stronger blow in dealing with countries still struggling with the pandemic and its economic consequences.
While President-elect Joe Biden has signaled plans to rally multilateral efforts to check China on issues ranging from trade to human rights, Xi has tried to offset any pressure from the United States with his own diplomatic victories. Since Biden’s election victory in November, China has anchored a new 15-nation Asia-Pacific trade pact and established an investment agreement with the European Union, the Biden administration’s overriding concerns.
However, China faces major challenges at home and abroad. Many nations are wary of 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 widen doubts about the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines that officials have hoped could win the hearts and minds of the world.
Beijing has shown no signs of retreating. As a reflection of his confidence, the administration of Mr. Xi has claimed control along the outskirts of his country, launching mass arrests of opposition figures in Hong Kong this month while flying high-frequency warplane departures near the democratic island of Taiwan. , which Beijing claims as its territory.