Journalist Ian Johnson returns to China and finds a country in stagnation, with a focus on control and security. He explores dissent and the underground historians battling for China's future. The podcast also explores China's deviation from successful policies, the fallout of its zero COVID policy, youth unemployment, counterhistorians challenging China's narrative, and the need for alternative perspectives in the China debate.
China's leader, Xi Jinping, is overly focused on control and security at any cost, leading to a sense of stagnation and turning inward in the country.
China's departure from the policies that contributed to its previous success, including touching personal lives, supporting the private sector, and focusing on the economy, is a significant factor in its current economic challenges.
China's zero-COVID policies and their subsequent mishandling have resulted in discontent, protests, and lasting questions about the government's decision-making and competence.
Deep dives
China Heading Down a Dead-End Path
The podcast episode highlights the growing concerns about China's current trajectory, with the host expressing a sentiment that China has changed for the worse. The expulsion of American journalists and the return of Ian Johnson to China sparked a study of the country's state, revealing a sense of stagnation and turning inward. The leader, Xi Jinping, is seen as overly focused on control and security at any cost. However, hidden beneath the surface, there may be more dissent than is often perceived.
Xi's Age of Stagnation
Ian Johnson's essay titled 'Xi's Age of Stagnation' delves deeper into the notion of stagnation and how it has seeped into various aspects of Chinese society and governance. He highlights how Xi Jinping's pursuit of control has diverged from the policies that contributed to China's previous success, abandoning the touch on personal lives, economy, and support for private enterprise. This departure is seen as a significant contributing factor to the problems China is facing now, particularly in terms of economic growth and rising unemployment.
China's Economic Challenges and Transition
The podcast episode sheds light on China's economic challenges and its transition to a high-tech economy. It explores how the Chinese government justifies the slower economic growth and high youth unemployment as part of a transition towards a more advanced economy. However, skepticism prevails as the government's approach of picking winners and sectors to drive growth, rather than allowing market forces, raises doubts about the viability of this model. Experts, Chinese and foreign economists included, do not believe it is a sustainable strategy.
Signs of Dissatisfaction and Fallout from COVID Policies
The podcast episode discusses the discontent and fallout resulting from China's zero-COVID policies and their sudden abandonment. The Chinese people's acceptance of initial harsh measures turned to frustration and criticism as they witnessed the mishandling of the pandemic. The government's failure to prevent a new wave of cases and the lack of preparedness prompted protests and questions about the government's wisdom and competence. The episode provides personal accounts of the impact of COVID policies on individuals and highlights the lasting scar on the population's perception of the government's decision-making.
The Counterhistorians and China's Underground History
The essay "Sparks" and the author's book, both discussed in the podcast episode, introduce the concept of counterhistorians in China. These individuals, including public intellectuals and writers, aim to document and chronicle China's whitewashed history. By challenging the Communist Party's narrative and offering alternative perspectives, they seek to foster a more open and tolerant society. The essay emphasizes the importance of engaging with these underground historians and providing them a platform to share their ideas, in order to better understand the nuances of modern Chinese society.
In March 2020, as COVID-19 spread across the globe, the Chinese government expelled a handful of U.S. journalists from China. The move came weeks after the Trump administration curtailed the number of Chinese citizens who could work in the United States for state-run Chinese news organizations. Among the journalists forced to leave China was Ian Johnson, who had been living there for 20 years.
This spring, Johnson finally returned to China. While he was there, he spoke to a cross section of Chinese people—not only scholars and officials but also small business owners, bus drivers, students, and nuns. Some were people he’d known for years.
What he found was grim—a country in a state of stagnation and turning inward. Its leader, Xi Jinping, seemed so intent on control and so obsessed with security that no price was too high. Yet, under the surface, Johnson found there may be more dissent than most observers realize—a phenomenon he explores in his new book, Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future.
