Friso Stevens in the East Asia Forum on the Chinese Communist Party
China-watchers are still grappling with the wide-ranging implications of the Hong Kong national security law. Has Beijing really abrogated the legally-binding Sino-British Joint Declaration after just 23 of the agreed-upon 50 years?
Friso Stevens, External PhD candidate at the Institute of Security and Global of Leiden University, has published an article in East Asia Forum (ANU) on the drivers of the Chinese Communist Party's hardened foreign policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Friso advances that macro and socio-economic causes, and the risk of losing face, lie at the heart of China's 'wolf worrier' diplomacy.
Economy
China has had spectacular economic growth over the past 40 years. That the annual growth of China’s GDP has fallen from an average of 13 per cent before the 2008 financial crisis to around 6 per cent is also well charted. Less well known is that the successful formula responsible for China’s economic miracle has run its course, potentially cutting short the country’s long-touted period of strategic opportunity. According to a 2018 People’s Daily editorial, China is now at a critical historical juncture in bringing about what the CCP terms the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ and make China into a moderately prosperous society by 2021 and a high-income ‘prosperous and strong’ country by 2049.
Read the full article on the website of the East Asia Forum.