As evidenced by the widespread opposition to the CCP’s ‘Zero Covid’ policy and the protests that took place across the country, Xi Jinping, who was elected as the CCP’s leader for an unprecedented third term may opt for Taiwan as an emotive card to sway Chinese public opinion and maintain his position in Chinese politics, according to Indo Pacific Centre for Strategic Communications.
As China is not in a ‘good condition’ politically, economically, or socially due to widespread protests over its zero-Covid policy in major cities, military experts claimed that the Chinese leadership can use Taiwan as an emotive card to influence public opinion in China and prevent the CPC from becoming unpopular, as seen by the widespread opposition to the CPC’s ‘Zero Covid’ policies and protests across the nation. The CPC has become less appealing to many individuals, particularly farmers and urban workers due to authoritarian rule in the country, the think-tank claimed. Since then, there has been a significant shift in the Chinese people’s perception of the CPC-led government, it said, adding that they appear to have lost faith in the Communist government, particularly during the Covid period.
However, some experts claimed that it is not easy to launch military aggression against Taiwan, given its geographical position and the backing it gets from the US, the think-tank further reported. Over the weekend, thousands of people in Shanghai, China’s biggest city and financial centre, protested against the government’s strict Covid-19 measures and denounced the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ‘authoritarian rule’, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).