360b / Shutterstock.com

 
China analyst Masaru Soma reports on the behind the scenes of China’s leadership.
By looking into the power balance, we can see where international politics is headed.

Xi Jinping Plays Kim’s Guardian

The Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore on 12th June is back on again. And we can see the honeymooning between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping has been continuing.

The displays are ostentatious. In March Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing, China. Only 40 days later in May, he visited the Chinese city of Dalian, again to meet with Xi Jinping.

It looks like Xi is advising Kim about Trump’s character and how to go about negotiating with him at the Trump-Kim Summit. There have even been suggestions that Xi should accompany Kim to the Summit as his guardian.

The Merits of the “North Korea Card”

This close relationship would have been unthinkable a few months back.

Until the end of last year North Korea had been criticizing China for being a “servant to America”. Both countries had hinted at the possibility of a military clash by conducting military practices near their national border.

However, once news reached them that Trump had accepted Kim’s request for a Summit, the Xi-Kim relationship took a dramatic turn. Kim’s fear that the summit may end badly for him and Trump could order a military strike on North Korea brought him closer to the Chinese leader.

For Xi, having the ‘North Korea card’ close at hand is a huge domestic and diplomatic advantage. If trade frictions with the U.S. were to get worse and Trump were to increase tariffs against Chinese products, China’s economy would be finished. This would mean chaos in domestic politics and a potential rise in opposition against the Communist Party. If something like the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre were to happen again, the one-party rule would lose its grip.

Xi can use the ‘North Korea card’ to restrain the U.S.

24 Anti-Xi Wall Newspapers

Behind Xi’s decision is the reality that the Chinese intelligentsia is becoming more and more critical of the Xi dictatorship.

The U.S. non-profit corporation Radio Free Asia reported that on the 4th of May, when Xi attended the Peking University’s 120th anniversary celebration, twenty-four wall newspapers that severely criticized Xi were put up in another part of the campus.

The headline read, “Leaders Must Uphold Party Constitution, Defend State Constitution, Enact the Tenure System, and Forbid The Cult of Personality”.

The article read as follows:

By maintaining the cult of personality Mao Zedong led countless Chinese citizens into public upheaval many times. At the same time he destroyed systems like the people’s democracy and inner-party democracy.

This had a huge impact on the philosophy of science and academic research. State discipline turned into excrement and plunged the whole of society into fear. The people lost their hope, and millions died of starvation. By the time of Mao Zedong’s death the economy had all but collapsed.

Like Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping is trying to spread the cult of personality. History is about to repeat itself and re-enter the tragic times of the Mao era. Just like during the Cultural Revolution, this country is about to split into pieces. People beware.

 
This is the first time that we know of where a brazenly anti-Xi wall newspaper made an appearance.

Wang Dan, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement and a former student leader at the Tiananmen Square protest says, “For 30 years the Chinese authorities have suppressed China’s democracy movement. But now that Xi is altering the Constitution, society is beginning to show its displeasure. This could turn into a huge energy for the democratization of China”.

Establishing a Long-term Government

As the situation now stands, China is taking advantage of the loosening tension in the Korean Peninsula. Xi will clearly play a huge part in the future of East Asia.

Xi is trying to join the Summit to show the international community his importance in the North Korea problem, which will consequently regain him support in China. This is also reflected in his sudden change to a friendly stance towards Japan.

Xi has embarked on his plan to establish himself in a long-term government.

Caption: 8th May, Kim and Xi meet in Dalian, China.

Key points in this article:

• Xi and Kim are honeymooning. They have met twice in 6 weeks.
• Anti-Xi wall newspaper appears in Peking University illustrating growing anti-dictatorship sentiment.
• Xi is trying to use North Korea to display his leadership capabilities to his country.