Pressures Faced by Chinese Administration

Why in news?

Chinese administration is facing international pressures due to various issues.

What happens in Hong Kong?

• In early 2019 Chinese government introduced a bill authorising extraditions to mainland China, which seriously affected the sentiments of Hong Kong citizens.
• This led to a nationwide protest where many protestors were detained.
• Though the extradition bill has been withdrawn, the demands of protesters in Hong Kong have grown to include genuine universal suffrage and an inquiry into allegations of police brutality.
• In a stunning rebuke to the Communist Party’s handling of the Hong Kong crisis, pro-democracy forces made massive gains in local elections held recently.
• 17 of the 18 district councils are now controlled by pro-democracy councillors.
• The election saw an unprecedented voter turnout of more than 71%.

How china treats the Uighur Muslims?

• The Uighurs are mostly Muslims, and number about 11 million in north western part of China’s Xinjiang region.
• They see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations, and their language is similar to Turkish.
• In recent decades, there is a mass migration of Han Chinese (China's ethnic majority) to Xinjiang, and the Uighurs feel their culture and livelihoods are under threat.
• A massive trove of classified Chinese government documents was leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, showcased a granular narrative of how China is carrying out the mass detention of Muslim Uighurs.
• It pointed out People could be sent to the government’s “deradicalisation camps” for showing any signs of extremism, with the government deciding what was “extremism” - sporting beards, fasting during Ramzan, dressing differently from the majority, sending Eid greetings, praying “too often”, giving up smoking and drinking, or not knowing Mandarin.
• What is even more of an eye-opener is that Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide had been instrumental in facilitating the mass detention.

How china aggressively influence other nations?

• The Chinese economy is not doing well, there is growing internal criticism of Mr. Xi’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative and the costs China is having to bear for a grandiose project, driven more by Mr. Xi’s vanity than by sound economic logic.
• China’s aggressive influence operations in other countries are also generating strong backlash, with new revelations coming out every few months.
• Most recently, the Australian media has reported on an alleged Chinese plot to plant a spy in the Australian Parliament which has been termed as “deeply disturbing” by the Australian Prime Minister and is being investigated now by the nation’s domestic spy agency.
• This along with reports that a Chinese spy has applied for asylum in Australia after providing information about Chinese operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia and suggesting that he was “personally involved” in espionage work has damaged an already battered Chinese global image.

What are the pressures on Xi’s administration? 

• The challenges for the Communist Party of China and Chinese President Xi Jinping are mounting by the day.
• Rise of pro-democracy is particularly problematic for Mr. Xi as he held the Hong Kong portfolio on the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee before he became China’s de facto emperor.
• He seems to have an implicit faith in his unyielding tough stance, and as he has centralised power to an unprecedented level, there is no one else to share any blame for the policies enunciated by Mr. Xi.
• For Mr. Xi, this growing global backlash has enormous costs back home, there are no good options for him in Hong Kong.
• If he continues his hard-line approach, he will make the ground situation worse in Hong Kong but making concessions also is not a very viable option for him as it is not readily evident how far the demands might go.
• Mr. Xi’s reputation as a leader who will lead China’s emergence as a major power in the 21st century might also come under a cloud in so far as mainland Chinese is concerned.
• The delicate balance that the Communist Party has managed to evolve in the politics of China can be frayed if ordinary Chinese believe their leadership is incapable of managing turmoil.
• There is also a chance of internecine rivalries within the Communist Party flaring up as Mr. Xi’s policies take a hit.
• Xi has made a lot of enemies in his drive to emerge as the supreme leader and he has been ruthless with his opponents.

What lies ahead?

• As pressures mount on Xi Jinping and the Communist Party, there are dangers that Beijing might want to divert attention from its own internal failures by lashing out at the world.
• New Delhi should guard against any Chinese misadventures even as it prepares itself to deal with negative externalities emerging out of the multiple crises brewing in Beijing.