Xi Jinping is Exploiting Global Distractions to Consolidate Power at Home and Advance Aggression Abroad
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/simontisdall. "President Xi nevers wastes a good crisis. As Iran, Ukraine and Palestine distract the world, he tightens his grip | Simon Tisdall | The Guardian." August 8, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that while everyone is distracted by wars in Iran, Ukraine, and Gaza, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is quietly cracking down harder on ethnic minorities at home and becoming more aggressive on the world stage. He warns that Xi is exploiting Trump's retreat from global leadership to expand China's power, and that the West needs to wake up before Xi becomes an outright enemy rather than just a rival.
Conclusion
While the world's attention is diverted by crises in Iran, Ukraine, and Palestine, Xi Jinping is dangerously tightening authoritarian control domestically and aggressively pursuing global dominance, and the West must recognize this threat rather than remaining fatalistic and passive.
Premises
- Xi's new 'ethnic unity' law imposes forced assimilation on 125 million ethnic minorities, suppressing their languages, customs, and identities in ways that constitute severe human rights violations.
- Western governments have responded to China's domestic repression (in Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and against religious groups) with muted criticism or fatalistic silence, treating China as too powerful to influence.
- Xi is pursuing an ambitious international legacy agenda, including eventual takeover of Taiwan and establishing China as the dominant global power over the US.
- China has escalated aggressive actions abroad: provoking Japan and the Philippines, intimidating Taiwan, arming Iran with missiles, materially assisting Russia's war in Ukraine, and deploying trade weapons like rare earth export restrictions.
- Trump's dismantling of the post-1945 global order, disdain for international law, and strained alliances have created a power vacuum that Xi is exploiting.
- China appears to be outmaneuvering the US diplomatically and technologically, including gaining leverage in AI partnerships with 28 countries, suggesting Xi is winning the broader geopolitical competition.
- Internal party purges and consolidation of loyalty ahead of the 2027 party congress indicate Xi is solidifying unassailable authoritarian control.
Assumptions
- The West retains meaningful capacity to influence or constrain China's behavior if it chooses to act rather than remain passive.
- China's domestic repression and international assertiveness are causally linked to the same underlying strategic ambition (Xi's personal legacy and power consolidation).
- The comparison between China's treatment of ethnic minorities and a hypothetical UK suppressing Scottish/Welsh identity is analogically valid and illuminating.
- Xi's foreign policy moves (arming Iran, aiding Russia, pressuring Taiwan) are coordinated expressions of a unified strategy rather than opportunistic, disconnected responses.
- Trump's global retrenchment directly enables Chinese expansionism, implying a zero-sum relationship between US disengagement and Chinese gain.
- Autocratic consolidation of power domestically necessarily correlates with more aggressive international behavior.