Exposed Xi Jinping yet to approve PLA Deaths in Galwan

Xi Jinping yet to approve PLA Galwan Death Tally

The South China Morning Post reported this today

A source close to the PLA told the South China Morning Post that Beijing was “very sensitive” about military casualties, saying all numbers had to be approved by President Xi Jinping, who heads the Central Military Commission, before being released.

It also added

Beijing was also concerned as to how the clash might be seen by Washington ahead of a key meeting between China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday in Hawaii, the person said, on condition of anonymity.

While civilian approval is needed in all countries, democracies are generally more transparent in revealing numbers of death far more quickly than dictatorships which tend to operate in a non-transparent way. In China, the communists know that China’s success is not because of them but a host of other factors (Like access to affluent market, adequate availability of petrol etc) and China would have been successful 20-30 years earlier (Just like Korea and Japan) if not for the Communist experiments like Great Leap Forward and Cultural revolution that led to 60 million + deaths. This is the reason why China is underperforming under President Xi as external factors are not as favourable as they were between 1989 and 2012. So Xi wants to control the narrative to look strong amongst his people. As we mentioned earlier, while China’s per capita grew 200% between 2006 and 2012, Under Xi, it grew just 50% in the first 6 years.

Xi Jinping has concentrated powers onto himself

That said, President Xi is regarded as the most powerful leader of China since 1949 after the Communists took over China. In 2018, the communist controlled parliament (National People’s Congress) removed the two-term limit on the presidency, allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power for life. Two delegates voted against the change and three abstained, out of 2,964 votes. China had imposed a two-term limit on its president since the 1990s.

The Chinese President is desperate and unpredictable. India should be very mindful of that.

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