Xi Jinping’s dream of a Chinese military-industrial complex
When the Chinese Communist party leadership gathered in Beijing for its quinquennial congress last October, the media spotlight was firmly on President Xi Jinping securing a precedent-shattering third term as China’s unchallenged leader.
Overlooked by many at the time was the rise of a new group of political leaders in the top echelons of power whose background diverges from the usual careers in provincial government or Communist party administration. Instead, they all have deep experience in China’s military-industrial complex.
Their swift advancement is part of Xi’s efforts to reinvigorate China’s long-running project of “military-civil fusion”, a policy that seeks to harness new technologies from the private sector for the benefit of the country’s rapidly modernising military.… Seguir leyendo »