Entering this current public health crisis, China was already in trouble: Its economy was on a path to long term stagnation. Contrary to conventional wisdom, its response to the 2008 financial crisis put it in deeper economic trouble as it accumulated more debt on a massive scale. Xi Jinping ended all hope of economic reform, as he deeply centralized control over the Communist Party of China (CCP). Meanwhile, Xi articulated the most ambitious Chinese goals for global leadership in the CCP’s history. But large ambitions without the means to pay for them cannot be realized. Xi was setting himself up for failure, and many Chinese elites began to grumble about his arrogance and incompetence.
