- Security trumps economy under Xi
- Taiwan main focus of the PLA
- Electric VW rival from China
- Germany posts trade deficit with China
- EU-China human rights dialogue criticized
- Chinese UN delegation downplays human rights situation
- Sanctions against US arms companies
- Heads: Journalist Haifen Nan
What is the Chinese national goal? For the many decades since Deng Xiaoping, economic advancement has been the highest priority. Under Xi Jinping, things are different, even if it is not always so clearly stated. His agenda is dominated by what is known as “security” in political jargon: strengthening the armed forces, secret services and police, and independence in the energy and economy sectors. All this improves the ability to endure a real conflict, analyzes Christiane Kuehl. Security trumps everything.
Logically, this leads to a second question: What is the goal of the People’s Liberation Army? Before Xi Jinping took office, it had a defensive focus: It was supposed to offer potential attackers a viable deterrent. Today it is different, reports Michael Radunski from an event of the Global China Conversations of the IfW Kiel. The primary objective is now the conquest of Taiwan. This fits logically with Xi’s increasingly offensive policy.
On the offensive is also state-owned company SAIC, albeit in a much more positive area. With the MG4, it offers customers an excellently designed EV; at least that’s what the testers from the German Automobile Association (ADAC) say. It is also cheaper than the competition from VW. So the SAIC offensive is not such positive news for Volkswagen.
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk
Feature
Military and police take priority in the state
Military and territorial security has always been part of China’s “core interests”. This was recently demonstrated in the skies over the Americas, where several units of what appears to be a larger fleet of spy balloons appeared. As is well known, the USA shot down one of them. For a long time, Beijing has also been modernizing its armed forces with an annually growing military budget – always with an eye on Taiwan, the South China Sea and the regional supremacy of the USA.
Under head of state and party leader Xi Jinping, however, national security is now permeating all political domains for the first time. “In the past ten years, Xi Jinping has made national security a key issue,” Merics researchers Katja Drinhausen and Helena Legarda wrote in a recent study.
Long-planned: Xi’s security strategy for China
In 2013, Xi, who had just taken office, established a National Security Commission modeled after the US National Security Council. In 2014, Xi presented his concept of “Comprehensive National Security”. It encompasses 16 security fields, ranging from political, military and economic security to biosecurity, technology and space security.
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