‘Xi Jinping Has Used Pandemic to consolidate Power’

NEW DELHI: Manoj Kewalramani has lived and worked in China and has a working knowledge of Mandarin. He leveraged that expertise and building on his research at the Takshashila Institution, has come out with his first book on China. With the pandemic as context, and relying on official China government documents, he analyses how the Communist Party after some initial fumbles was able to emerge on top of the crisis.

Speaking on Books Corner, Kewalramani argues that President Xi Jinping has been able to consolidate his position further during the pandemic. He says Xi can be expected to continue as general secretary of the party or even step aside to control the reins of power from behind. No change in foreign policy is expected, so ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy will continue as will the hardline posture towards India.