Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad—putting it at odds with its neighbors and the United States. But eventually, a new generation of leaders will replace Xi, and they may well turn the country into “a softer incarnation of its current self,” writes China scholar Rana Mitter in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs.
The direction China chooses could shape the future of international relations. “As long as a plausible case can be made that China is a military threat, Beijing gives the Western world an argument that can be used against it,” notes Mitter. But if Beijing moderates its authoritarianism and takes “a less confrontational and militarist posture,” he argues, “a version of China could emerge with which the West and the wider world can coexist.”
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