China, as we knew it, is no more.
The country with a quickly growing economy and slowly opening society is gone. In its place is a withering economy and an increasingly authoritarian government controlled by one man: President Xi Jinping.
This new China is more dangerous than the old one. Its teetering property sector and aging population threatens to drag down the entire global economy. Xi’s willingness to attack industries and box out foreign investments poses a threat to the world’s financial stability. And the country’s strengthened military and desire for reunification with Taiwan is a threat to geopolitical stability.
There was once a time when the promise of China’s market may have been enough for American and European companies and governments to look past everything from government surveillance and overreach to intellectual property theft — but that time is over. In the Western capitals and boardrooms, it appears the horror of Beijing’s transformation has finally settled in, and the lure of China’s economic future is fading.