Why China Is Entering a Dangerous Moment

Founded on 1 October 1949, the People’s Republic of China has entered a new age, as Xi centralizes power in his own hands and abandons the ideological openness of the reform era. Under Xi, regime stability trumps all — and the PRC is weaker and less stable as a result.

As the PRC marks its 75th anniversary, where will China go next? In a special release of a new essay in the October issue of the Journal of Democracy, Carl Minzner, a top expert on Chinese law and governance, explains why China is entering a dangerous new chapter.

And for more on China under Xi Jinping, read the following Journal essays, free for a limited time.

China: Totalitarianism’s Long Shadow

China’s fast economic rise has not dented its dictatorship, but Xi Jinping’s neo-Stalinist strategy has unleashed new challenges and tensions for the Communist Party’s long-term prospects for survival.

Minxin Pei

China’s Threat to Global Democracy

The Chinese Communist Party is deadly serious about its authoritarian designs, and it is bent on promoting them. It is time for the world’s democracies to get serious, too.

Michael Beckley and Hal Brands

How Resilient Is the CCP?

Xi Jinping undercut China’s political norms to cement his own power and brand of rule. But in so doing the “Chairman of Everything” has introduced new vulnerabilities for the regime.

Yuen Yuen Ang

How Beijing Runs the Show in Hollywood

China’s ability to shape the global entertainment industry extends well beyond films, and it no longer rests solely on the allure of big markets. Beijing is exerting newfound leverage that is making giant U.S. media companies do its bidding.

Aynne Kokas

China at the UN: Choking Civil Society

Beijing is using red tape, procedural rules, and a little help from its authoritarian allies to strangle NGOs seeking to participate in the world body.

Rana Siu Inboden

30 Years After Tiananmen: Memory in the Era of Xi Jinping

Xi reads Tiananmen as a cautionary tale, and he has sought to centralize power and reverse years of ideological atrophy. By controlling the past, he is trying to determine how the Chinese will view their present and future.

Glenn Tiffert

The Road to Digital Unfreedom: President Xi’s Surveillance State

Chinese authorities are wielding facial-recognition software, big-data?analytics, and other digital technologies to control China’s citizens by?monitoring and assessing their activities, both online and off.

Xiao Qiang

China’s Changing of the Guard: Authoritarian Resilience

Successful institutionalization will help the regime survive the pressures of advanced modernization and integration with the global economy.

Andrew J. Nathan

China After the Reform Era

The post–post-Mao era has now begun. The reforms that brought economic?growth and greater openness to China are being unwound, while an assertive?new leader strikes off in a populist and nationalist direction.

Carl Minzner