Skip to main content
China's President Xi Jinping has quietly reassigned a controversial minister in a sign he realizes that his policies aren't working.
Commentary

China’s Xi reassigns press minister in admission of failed policies

Peter Zeihan Geopolitical Strategist
Share

In a sign that Beijing might be softening its stance towards the west, a controversial China ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, has been moved to a lower-profile department. Epitomizing China’s “Wolf Warrior” approach to diplomacy, Zhao built a large following on Twitter and Chinese social media employing a combative defense of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s hardline policies. Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan sees this “reassigning” of Zhao as an indication that Xi realizes his policies are failing.

Excerpted from Peter’s Jan. 10 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

If we were to take the age-old saying of “s*** hitting the fan” and apply it to China…we would need a wind turbine and a few acres of cattle pastures.

To put it nicely, China’s outlook is…grim. They’re facing demographic dissolution, a dying tech industry and a risk exposed energy sector, and we’re barely scratching the surface. They are the single-most internationally exposed country in our collapsing world.

So how does a country like that continue on? The short answer is CHANGE and perhaps a little collaboration with the USA. To that tune, President Xi may have just given us a sign that he gets it.

Hey everybody, Peter Zane here coming to you from my parents backyard in Marshalltown, Iowa. Today we’re going to talk about some of the things that are in motion apparently in the Chinese system. Now, for those of you who have been following me for a while, you know that I am not very bullish on China, it’s facing that demographic collapse. It’s far faster than that just complete demographic dissolution, and economic collapse that goes along with that within the decade, assuming that they’re no other problems. The United States is put in a series of technological restrictions and basically kill the entire tech sector. Their energy sector is completely dependent upon the ability to access the Middle East, which is an area that can’t reach in force. Their trade system and their economic structures and their employment structures are utterly dependent upon the US Navy making it safe for their civilian vessels to hit the world over. They are arguably the most internationally exposed country in the world. And on top of that their financial sector and their agricultural sectors are absolute messes, things that make Enron look really well run. This is a country that is not going to last a whole lot longer. And in that environment. The question is how do the Chinese prepare for the economic and if they want to politically continue? To this point, their solution has been absolutely ramped, rabid, foaming at the mouth, nationalism, convincing their people that it doesn’t matter if you can feed your kids, it doesn’t matter if you have your job. Your Han Chinese and Chairman xi is your leader. And that’s enough. And to that end, Chinese propaganda has gone from the aggressive to the absolutely hateful. The person who has probably played the biggest role from an international point of view in this is a guy by the name of Satoshi Alon, who has been the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And he is kind of the the poster child for what the Chinese call warrior wolf diplomacy, which is an unapologetic altra nationalist, very hate and invective filled approach to dealing with the rest of the world. So this is the guy who was popularized art that shows Australian soldiers with their knees on Third World children. This is the guy who insists that COVID started at Fort Dietrich in the United States and was then spread to the world as a way to wipe out non white people. That sort of thing. He’s a real piece of work, and he’s a general asshat. Anyway, as long as he was at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was the voice of China on the international stage was on the first week of January, he was transferred very quietly away from the MFA. And he is now a small wig at the Department of ocean and boundary affairs, which is about like getting taken from being the spokesman of God, and all of a sudden, now you’re responsible for what would be a great example here. You’re in charge of border patrol in northern Idaho, it’s difficult to imagine someone falling so far so fast. Now, the challenge we have in interpreting this is that no one really knows what she is thinking because she is in such a tight cult of personality, that he doesn’t really confide in anyone. And it’s very difficult for Intel to penetrate that sort of environment. But we know that Zhao was one of G’s favorites. And so for GE to be not just demoted, but put into a complete cubby hole in the middle of nowhere in terms of the bureaucracy is an indication that GE knows that this strategy has utterly failed. There is no version of China that survives this unless it finds a way to work with the United States in a constructive way. And one that basically gives the United States everything from a strategic point of view that it wants. The United States is the only country that even theoretically has the tools that could help China survive what’s coming. And having somebody whose job it is to throw gravel into the gears of the diplomatic relationship, obviously, is not helping at all. But to have him so dramatically demoted, indicates that perhaps just perhaps just may be kind of sorta, she is realizing that the end is approaching and he really needs to change diplomatic gears if there’s any hope for China’s surviving the rest of this decade. So it’s very prospective at this point, but if there was one person who needed to move in order to make a new approach happen, it was Yao, and now he’s gone. Okay, that’s it for me. Until next time.

More from Peter Zeihan

Latest Commentary

We know it is important to hear from a diverse range of observers on the complex topics we face and believe our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions.

The commentaries published in this section are solely those of the contributors and do not reflect the views of Straight Arrow News.


Latest Opinions

In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum. We hope these different voices will help you reach your own conclusions.

The opinions published in this section are solely those of the contributors and do not reflect the views of Straight Arrow News.

Weekly Voices

Left Opinion Right Opinion
Tuesday
Left Opinion Right Opinion
Wednesday
Left Opinion Right Opinion
Thursday
Left Opinion Right Opinion
Friday
Left Opinion Right Opinion