On December 31, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered his annual televised fresh time target, and critics have been quick to offer their interpretations. Some have questioned Xi’s passing mention of Taiwan’s hazard of the Chinese reunification. People have focused on Xi’s remarks about China’s business, framing them as a fearful effect to Donald Trump’s election as US leader.
However, these addresses miss the bigger picture. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP)’s ) grip on power is becoming more and more insecure, according to Xi’s new year address. This uncertainty is obvious in how Xi’s feedback, supported by the group’s control of Taiwanese media, attempted to tease the Chinese people.
The main focus of Xi’s speech was on China’s economic victory. He stressed that the Chinese economy is thriving, and explained that China’s total GDP is soon expected to surpass 130 trillion yuan ($ 17.7 trillion ). Over the past twelve months, GDP has increased by 4.9 %, or equivalent.
This has been taken a step further by studies on Xi’s speech in the Chinese internet. China Daily, the official CCP-owned paper that is often used to connect the group’s location to the Chinese people, praised Xi’s “heartening conversation” and stressed the hugeness of China’s “remarkable” growth rate. Other developed economy struggled to regular levels of 1.5 %, according to an article published on January 1.
The reality that China’s economic growth has slowed, falling from 5.2 % in 2023, is not included in the good economic criticism of Xi’s target. Although the growth rate of 4.9 % is amazing in comparison to other developed nations, it is unsatisfactory given the pace of Chinese economic progress. In the 2000s, China’s GDP increased by about 13 %, surpassing its annual growth rates of over 10 %.
One time ago, in his 2024 handle, Xi acknowledged the problems facing the Chinese market. He promised financial reforms that would reduce youth unemployment, promote job creation, and boost growth. However, despite these initiatives, China’s economic growth continues to decrease and youth unemployment remains high.
Gaslighting the Taiwanese citizens
It may be difficult to comprehend why Xi and the CCP acknowledged financial problems when China’s expansion rate was higher and celebrated financial success when progress had slowed. But it makes sense when considered through the glass of “goal-shifting” – an action that goes beyond the good flip governments put on their country’s economic efficiency.
Goal-shifting is a form of social gaslighting, in which an established purpose is” shifted” to one that is easier to achieve. This results in a presentation of an undesirable outcome as an accomplishment by the new goal’s normal by the original goal’s standard.
If we take China’s 2024 GDP growth of 4.9 % as the results, it can be viewed negatively in comparison with China’s 5.2 % rise in 2023. China’s 2024 expansion rate can be described as “remarkable” in the context of China shifting the purpose to China having higher GDP growth than other developed markets, a miracle that was never really in doubt.
The CCP appears to be using its influence and control to highlight the financial information of Xi’s speech in Chinese internet. By undermining China’s financial objectives and downplaying the struggling economy, it is gaslighting the Taiwanese people. The CCP is framing the comparative strength of Taiwanese development as a result of the party’s financial management at the same time.
The CCP has relied on the twin pillars of populism and finance to defend the validity of its state since the 1980s. Financially, its validity was upheld by decades of high rise, which has lifted more than 800 million people in China out of poverty. But, with rise slowing over the past century, the CCP has pivoted towards a reliance on populism.
The CCP and China’s patriotic activity have a symbiotic relationship. Republican tasks like those involving historical societies, patriotic statues, and museums are supported by the CCP. Nationalist organizations have a vested interest in backing the CCP as a result.
But, this connection is harmful to the CCP in the long term. The CCP may impose restrictions on republican organizations without jeopardizing its own nationalist standing. Republican groups have acted in ways that go against the CCP’s desires, including starting cyberattacks both domestically and internationally.
The twin-pillar type the CCP has relied on for centuries is faltering. In his earlier new year target, Xi took the extraordinary step of acknowledging China’s financial challenges. The CCP attempted to use the financial foundation by betting on a reverse of economic wealth in 2024, afraid to mix nationalist sentiment. This turnaround failed to materialize.
The CCP has become extremely insecure, but Xi’s 2025 new year target adjusted the objectives for judging China’s financial performance. Meanwhile, the party encouraged reporting that supported Xi’s address, spinning China’s slowing growth and worsening economic woes as a “remarkable” economic achievement.
At the University of Essex, Lewis Eves lectures on government and international relations.
This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.