Marking the 100 years of the ruling communist party, China on Thursday warned that foreign powers will “get their heads bashed” if they attempt to bully or influence the country. The warning was issued by President Xi Jinping. This comes at a time when China’s relation with major powers, including the US and neighbouring India, is deteriorating. Since the Galwan incident in eastern Ladakh, in which soldiers from both the sides were killed in a deadly clash, the relation between India and China continues to remain tense.
China also faces criticism over alleged human rights abuse and its crackdown in Hong Kong and Xianjiang region against the Uyghur Muslims. President Jinping has used the 100-year anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to send a message to the world that China and the CPC are determined to march ahead and are hardly worried about criticism from the West. The ‘opening and reform’ movement that was started in 1979 by the CPC has turned China into an economic powerhouse. Its standing in the world having risen in seemingly every dimension, China now ranks as arguably one of the world’s two superpowers, alongside the United States – a development unimaginable 30 years ago, when communism crumbled across eastern Europe, culminating in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Xi Jinping, the president since 2012, has not only consolidated power and obliterated any hints of dissent within the CPC, he’s also invested aggressively in military spending and taken a confrontational posture against countries deemed to be a threat to China. He has consolidated power. India will have to learn ways to deal with a belligerent leader.