Beijing has stopped keeping a regular schedule for convening two of its most important decisionmaking bodies in a change highlighting the increasing unpredictability of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) rule, an official familiar with the matter said.
Xi’s fickle governance could spark unrest in China, which increases the risk of war for Taiwan, the official said earlier this week on condition of anonymity.
The Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission (CCDR), a group Xi personally controls, has steered China’s social and economic policy since its founding in 2013 by the third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, he said.
Photo: Reuters
For nearly a decade, this body regularly held meetings every two months, but the pattern was broken with its meeting in September last year, which was not followed by another one until late April this year, he said.
After that, the group held its most recent meeting on July 11, showing that the scheduling of commission meetings has lost all rhyme or reason, he said.
The CCP’s Politburo, nominally a superior agency to the CCDR, was not immune to this trend and increasingly convened at irregular times following Xi’s ascension to the presidency for life, he said.
Consisting of a standing committee of seven people and 17 other members in various subordinate commissions, the Politburo exercises authority in matters concerning Chinese politics, macroeconomics and the top appointments, he said.
By tradition, the Politburo convenes once a month to perform its functions, but this is no longer true, which hints at the decline of the institutions and the arbitrary nature of Xi’s reign, he said.
Xi seems to convene the Politburo at whim as his personal authority increasingly superseded the party’s institutionalized decisionmaking processes, he said.
These developments will have far-reaching consequences for China, as foreign firms are likely to balk at the risks of doing business in a volatile and unpredictable state, the official said, adding that Taiwanese investors are becoming pessimistic about the market.
Xi’s erratic decisionmaking, efforts to build a digital totalitarian state and an economy increasingly hobbled by foreign capital flight significantly increase the risks of domestic instability, the official said.
As Beijing could resort to war to divert public attention from an internal crisis, Taiwan should do everything possible to boost its defense, he said.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
INCENTIVES: The province’s ‘21 measures’ include enhanced agricultural loans for Taiwanese farmers, and rent waivers and housing subsidies for Taiwanese start-ups China’s Fujian Province on Monday began implementing 15 economic measures targeting Taiwanese in its latest bid to fan pro-Beijing sentiment ahead of the Jan. 13 elections. Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency said the policies were part of “21 measures” unveiled in September by China for Fujian’s “integrated cross-strait development demonstration zone.” The partially implemented measures, which were created with input from Beijing, include reducing the wait time for Taiwanese applying for a visa from 20 days to five days and free public transit for Taiwanese older than 65, it said. Residents of Taiwan were granted use of the “all provincial Taiwanese entrepreneur compatriot
Tokyo has requested regions in southern Japan to accommodate people evacuated from Okinawa Prefecture in case of a war in the Taiwan Strait, Kyodo news agency reported on Monday. If a conflict breaks out across the Strait, people on the Sakishima Islands, which lie between Taiwan proper and Okinawa’s main island, would have to be evacuated from the prefecture, the news agency reported. An estimated 120,000 people would need to be moved, including 110,000 citizens and 10,000 tourists, it said. Niitani Koushi, who is in charge of crisis management at the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat, visited Yamaguchi Prefecture at the southern end of Japan’s