Dictatorships are Dysfunctional

Consider this to be a sequel to my earlier article titled ‘Dictatorships are Bad’. The current scenario unfolding in China is proof if any was needed.  It is a prime example of how a well running economy can be ruined by dictatorial whims and fancies.

Chinese leadership had the impertinence to celebrate victory over covid as early as 2021 when the rest of the world was under lockdowns. Dictatorships are often seen to celebrate victories prematurely. This time around it has backfired viciously.

The irresponsible behavior by the CCP and the top Chinese leadership is now threatening to plunge the world into another pandemic, with new virus variants. When the original virus was detected in Wuhan, in China, the whistle blowers were silenced immediately by the CCP. The world does not yet know how humans came into contact with this virus which was found in bats.

The current wave sweeping China is even worse in that, there is no reliable data coming out which puts a figure on the infections. Nobody knows if there are any genome sequencing labs working in China which are giving out reliable data about the mutations the virus is undergoing.

While the economic consequences of this latest disaster are still sometime away, the countries around the world are now gearing up for new waves of the pandemic. The purely dictatorial behaviour was evident when the virus came out of Wuhan. The CCP did not allow any news of these infections to be disseminated to the world. The classical dictatorial logic is that a powerful government led by a cult personality like Xi Jinping cannot make mistakes.  So, news about the virus was quashed at the peril of causing a disease which later killed millions and brought the world’s economy to its knees.

The mistake is being repeated by the dictator. Xi was forced to relax his draconian zero covid policy due to protests by the people who saw a complete collapse of the economy. When people came out on the streets demanding Xi to step down, alarm bells started ringing in Beijing. The zero covid policy was relaxed in a knee jerk reaction. However, the policy had kept the virus from spreading among the population.

China’s vaccines were never effective despite getting WHO approval almost immediately. The Chinese people as a result, have no immunity, either natural, through infection, or through the vaccine. Thus, now the pigeons have come home to roost. The virus is back in China with a vengeance.

Things have gone south for China and the world since Xi Jinping came to power. The leaders like Deng Xiaoping and Hu Jintao were patient leaders. They believed in not overplaying their hand, prematurely. Xi inherited a fast-growing economy from his predecessor and changed the script altogether. He assumed China had arrived on the world stage and began an aggressive diplomatic campaign with China’s neighbours to claim their territories. China under Xi also claimed the entire South China Sea which is actually disputed.

Xi also initiated the Belt and Road project to increase connectivity and trade with the world.

China gave many loans to countries under this scheme which were at best economically unviable. The result is that the countries are now saddled with huge debts. Case in point, the Humbantota port in Sri Lanka.

Today one man in China controls everything. For such a huge and diverse country like China, a single dictator taking all the decisions is nothing short of a disaster. Xi has purged the political opposition within the CCP to, such an extent under the garb of corruption, that there are now only yes men left in his administration who report to him. It seems Xi does not get correct information on which to base his judgments, for whatever they are worth. The result is that administrative decisions have gone haywire in China. The zero covid policy has resulted in causing stress in almost all sectors in China. Real Estate, Railways, Manufacturing being the prominent ones.

China’s one child policy which was instituted to control the population in the 1970s has proven to be very effective, so much so that, the country’s workforce will reduce by more than 60 percent in the next decade.

It is now amply clear that democracies with all their inherent faults, function more efficiently than any dictatorship led by a single person or party.

Xi’s decision not to import more effective vaccines from other countries reeks of personal ego. His autocratic rule and the mismanagement of the covid situation has sparked protests throughout the country. People are demanding an end to one party rule and Xi’s dictatorship.

It could be said that Xi Jinping has come to power in China to preside over its downfall. By this logic, the sooner he goes the better for China and its people.