Xi Jinping can blame his centralisation of power for a rotten 2019 – and maybe an even worse 2020
China’s strongman leader can’t seem to catch a break. From the trade war with the United States to the crisis in Hong Kong to international criticism of his human rights record, President Xi Jinping suffered major setbacks in 2019, and his prospects for 2020 appear even worse.
China could have ended the trade war with the US last May, thereby giving its
flagging economy a significant boost. Yet, at the last minute, Chinese leaders
backtracked on a number of issues that American negotiators had considered settled. With the US also incurring high costs from the trade war, President Donald Trump was furious, and took his revenge.
