As PRC survives Soviet Union, Xi Jinping warns of 'storm waves'

Chinese state media also highlighted National Day celebrations UNITED STATES, Japanand the UNITED KINGDOM. Top officials and leaders from around the world congratulated China on the anniversarywith the notable exception of the United States Department of Statewhich is traditionally the case. Senior US officials did attend a reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, where they offered their congratulations.

On the continent, the national week is also a major consumer holiday. State media headlines boast register a trip And box office revenue. Patriotic blockbusters are standard holiday fare, but public enthusiasm because they may be in decline. The expected madness comes against a backdrop of serious economic difficulties, slightly tempered by a resurgent stock marketcourtesy of historic stimulus measures taken last week in Beijing. At Reuters, Sophie Yu and Casey Hall reported that there will be an increase in travel but tourists will be more cost conscious than in past years:

“It would be a good result if tourism spending remained stable compared to last year,” said Liu Simin, head of the tourism branch of the Beijing-based China Society for Futures Studies research institute. “People are more willing to travel when the economy is good, but when there is no economic growth, there is no tourism growth. »

[…] “There is no toll during the holidays, so we will drive instead of taking the train. » [Wang Xin, a 45-year-old office worker in Beijing] said. “It's better not to spend money unnecessarily when the economy is like this. A lot of people lose their jobs, and at my age, if that happened to me, I wouldn't be able to find another one.

[…] Data from travel platform Flight Master shows domestic airfare prices are expected to be 21% cheaper than the same time last year, while international economy class airfares will be 25% lower than those of 2023 and 7% lower than those of 2019.

He predicts that the international destinations of choice for outbound travelers will continue to be Asian hubs in the near term, such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. [Source]

The demise of the former Soviet Union, a long-standing concern of Chinese leaders and scholars, was not mentioned in the media hype. Former benefactor of the PRC, then rival and finally ally, the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, 74 years after its founding. The PRC has now survived. Chinese academics and politicians have closely studied the lessons of the collapse of the USSRseeking to avoid a similar fate. The Economist argued that Xi attributes the failure of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to a lack of ideological and organizational discipline, a conclusion that shaped his leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.:

Mr. Xi also continued to use the term special challenges. This was the subject of a classified speech he delivered in January 2023 to the party's Central Committee. Part of it was published in March this year. As the party grows, some may form small cliques or factions or engage in behavior that undermines the party's unity and fighting strength, he said. A fortress is more easily breached from the inside. The only ones who can defeat us are ourselves. Most analysts agree that there are no obvious divisions within the party today, but their possible re-emergence clearly worries him.

In August, Mr. Xi brought up Soviet history again. The occasion was the 120th anniversary of the birth of Deng Xiaoping, who launched China's reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s. He praised Deng for his resolute opposition to China's unrest in 1989, against the backdrop of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and dramatic changes in Eastern Europe. He quoted Deng as saying: No one can crush us.

[…] Mr. Xi seems more obsessed with the Soviet party's loss of ideological and organizational discipline. This is evident in the enormous efforts he has made to rebuild the party from the grassroots, to strengthen its presence in private businesses and to impose total obedience to his orders among party members. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Deng and his immediate successors abandoned any talk of political reform, but still tolerated limited experiments, such as allowing small NGOs to help victims of injustice. Mr. Xi has crushed civil society. Chinese academics make it clear why, saying that Western-backed NGOs played a role in pushing the Soviet party over the edge. [Source]