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snip.
‘The system is built on credit’
Speaking at a Hoover Institution panel on China, Soros said the victory of open societies “can’t be taken for granted” in a world teetering on the edge of military aggression in Ukraine and Taiwan.
However, Xi Jinping’s attempt to impose “total control” on China through a strategy of city-wide lockdowns, could jeopardise his chances of staying in power, Soros claimed, because they are “unlikely to work against a variant as infectious as Omicron”.
Despite Xi’s firm control over the military and his tools of repression and surveillance, Soros said that it should not be assumed, given strong internal opposition, that the president will stay in power. He rules by “intimidation” and “nobody dares to tell him what he doesn’t want to hear”, he said.
The Soros comments appeared timed to coincide with the run-up to the Winter Olympics, although several countries – including the US and UK – will not be sending any diplomats in protest at human rights abuses in Xinjiang and elsewhere. ‘Stop nagging!’: Why China’s young adults are resisting marriage and babies Read more
Soros also argued that the world’s second-biggest economy has become too dependent on using “unsustainable” property development to power growth since Xi took power in 2013.
The sector that accounts for about 30% ofChinese economic output was faltering with high-profile failures such as Evergrande spreading throughout the industry, leaving “people’s confidence shaken” and the economy struggling, he said.
Add in the disruption caused by trying to stamp out every case of the Covid-19, and a falling population that will lead to labour shortages, and China’s economic growth could not be taken for granted.
“The model on which the real estate boom is based is unsustainable. People buying apartments have to start paying for them even before they are built. So, the system is built on credit. Local governments derive most of their revenues from selling land at ever-rising prices.
The fall in prices already under way in many parts of China “will turn many of those who invested the bulk of their savings in real estate against Xi”, Soros claimed.
Guess Mr X told Mr S to pound sand.
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