Betwixt heaven and earth, where the ruler is a godlike figure. Xi, the ruler of China, holds the current title and has been in command for a few decades.
Notable for its ability to make a silk road out of a camel’s hump, the kingdom’s subalterns have a global renown for their economy and Its forecasting. Years of double-digit growth from abysmal lows under Mao, when nearly 80 million died for crimes against the state (starvation), have brought the kingdom from such lowly depths to the status of economic superpower.
Yet all may not be as illustrated in the guidebooks. According to Gregory Slayton, a former U S Consul, 50 million housing units remain unoccupied. Unemployment approaches 5% overall and 17% for the young. Strikes have been reported in dozens of towns and cities. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) has been distancing itself from the ageing ruler, whose health is reported to be poor. Cronies in his inner circle are being put out and Wang Yang, a ‘moderate’ is being eyed by the West as a replacement. The CCP Plenary Session is in August and many would like to see his resignation or removal.
Challenges over equitable tariffs with the U S are of great concern within the kingdom. $50 Trillion in foreign and domestic debt overhangs a staggering economy. The Belt and Road Initiative, meant to unite all the 3rdworld economies under Chinese leadership – and debt – is faltering as more than a dozen nations default.
Purges are rife. Xi’s father’s mausoleum is larger than Mao’s and has been ‘un-named’. The Party press runs scathing stories about Xi each week, unheard of except when an undercurrent of rebellion runs deep. Xi’s security detail has been cut in half.
These worries have been discussed and forgotten a dozen times by Western cognoscenti in the past. Yet, with the global outbreak of peace, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities and new peace accords between Pakistan and India, as well as that between Congo and Rwanda, do these events exemplify the spread of this dangerous peace contagion.
Will these cognoscenti be soon found on the unemployment line writing articles such as the one from Mr. Slayton? Only time will tell. But what a fitting tribute to the U S as hegemonic dictator of the planet, spreading peace and prosperity…who would of thought…
Eat wisely
Sleep well
Love with Abandon!