On September 10, 2021, Nikkei Asia published an op-ed by Asia Security Initiative senior fellow Dexter Tiff Roberts titled, “Lacking a better game plan, Beijing will pick off more industries.” The article explores Beijing’s “squeeze” on technology sectors and highlights China’s growing economic vulnerabilities. Roberts argues that “this is bad news for Beijing’s plan to rely on domestic spending as the new driver of economic growth under what the leadership calls its dual circulation strategy.”
Without a strategy to move to a more sustainable economic model and with the wealth gap becoming ever more apparent, the Communist Party is left vulnerable. This will reinforce the authorities’ inclination to identify ever more companies as suspect and then crack down on perceived misbehavior in the name of advancing the interests of the Chinese people.
