Xi Is Forgetting the Very Thing That Made China Great Again
The economy only began to excel when the party’s cadres released their grip from the nation’s throat. Beijing should not take a backward step now.
Xi Jinping is pushing China back toward the era of big government.
Photographer: Chan Long Hei/BloombergAs any unfortunate investor in Chinese stocks already knows, the state is striking back. Perhaps the leaders of the Communist Party believe they are righting wrongs and solving problems. But their new intrusions also betray a bit of amnesia. They seem to have forgotten what really made China great again — not the state, but its absence. Until party boss Xi Jinping remembers that, he’s putting the economy’s future at risk.
The recent regulatory crackdown that’s so roiled markets is typical of Xi’s economic vision. The Chinese economy certainly needs smarter, more consistent regulation. But whether directed at data security or education, the incoming rules have taken on an anti-capitalist edge, replete with vague and threatening pronouncements and attacks that appear aimed at specific businesses that give off a whiff of impending, arbitrary punishment.