Xi’s US policy comes under the lens, two generals ask for a re-think

New Delhi, Aug 07: While India reiterated that there shall be no de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control unless China disengages, reports indicate that there may be some re-work on in Beijing.

There are concerns being raised that Beijing's approach may be taking it towards isolation. Richard McGregor, China scholar at the Lowy Institute and author of 'The Party and Backlash' says that while liberal scholars have been critical of President Xi Jinping's assertive foreign policy, a couple of discordant voices from known hardliners and hawks in the Chinese military circles could signal a debate in the otherwise closed Chinese leadership circles.

He further wrote in the article in the Nikkei Asian Review that Colonel Zhou Bo, an occasional spokesperson for the CCP brass, writing in the South China Morning Post in July, depicted the confrontation with the US as mere headwinds to China's peaceful development. Quoting Zhou, he said that the most profound change the world is experiencing is that China is growing ever stronger.

McGregor also points to another article by Dai Xu, a PLA general, who is most of China's most powerful men titled, "Four Unexpected Things and Ten New Understandings About the United States." He says that China is taking stock of its relative weakness compared to the US and is behaving accordingly.

Dai further wrote that China has provided assistance to so many countries, benefiting them in so many ways, but at this critical moment, none of them has taken any unified action with China.

McGregor writes warning that China should never knock on America's door and make a loud announcement that I shall surpass you, replace you and the be the world's number one. He says that Dai seems to concede that China has gotten ahead of itself, but also adds that these dissonant notes may not make much of a difference in Xi's thinking.

General Dai further says that China and US have had a very close trade relationship, but the Trump administration has now branded Beijing as a trade terrorist. He also says that the US has been united at the domestic front, but adds that China needs to understand that China is not a paper tiger, but a real tiger that kills people.

An article in the South China Morning Post in May this year, while quoting Major General Qiao Liang said that Beijing should not consider the pandemic as an opportunity to take back Taiwan by force. He said that this could be used by the US and its allies to impose sanctions on China and this would stop Beijing from importing resources for its industry.