Copyright Benzinga
As U.S.-China trade tensions continue to escalate amid President Donald Trump’s threat to add another 100% tariff on imports from the nation starting Nov. 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping is facing a rare challenge at home, according to political scientist Gordon Chang. ‘Unprecedented’ Turmoil Within The Communist Party Chang said that during the Chinese Communist Party’s fourth plenum which is currently underway, and is scheduled to run for four days, ending this Thursday, “everybody is looking at leadership changes,” while speaking on Fox Business’ Mornings With Maria on Monday. He called the situation “unprecedented,” citing a purge of nine senior military officers, including Xi’s top loyalist, General He Weidong. “He is going to be expelled from the party,” Chang said on the General, adding that amidst this turmoil, Xi himself “could be removed or he could emerge stronger.” See Also: Scott Bessent’s ‘Constructive’ Call Sets Up US–China Negotiations When asked if the meeting could effectively become “a referendum on Xi Jinping's power,” Chang agreed, pointing to widespread frustration across China's political and military ranks. “Xi Jinping, especially after COVID is being blamed for accelerating a lot of China’s ills,” he said, adding that “there’s unhappiness throughout society and the Communist Party and the Chinese military.” This comes amid Trump’s tariffs, which Chang said was “certainly not sustainable for China,” because “China has never been more trade dependent in its history.” According to Chang, even Xi’s survival in the midst of this crisis may not be a show of strength. “What would be more extraordinary than Xi Jinping being deposed,” he said, would be him “remaining after this record of failure.” China’s Growth Falters, But Experts Divided On Impact of Tariffs China’s gross domestic product grew just 4.8% during the third quarter, down from 5.2% during the second quarter, which marks the nation’s slowest pace of expansion since the third quarter of 2024. This has primarily been attributed to the impact of Trump’s tariffs. However, even though tariffs have impacted electronics manufacturing and a few other industries, the nation’s exports as a whole have held strong, with Chinese companies moving their sales to other global markets. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman contradicted Chang’s views last week, saying that “the Chinese appear to know what they’re doing.” Krugman warned that “America is more vulnerable to a rupture than China,” adding that “the U.S. economy is dependent on China for critical inputs, above all those rare earths.” He also said that China, on the other hand, can just stimulate domestic demand" to blunt the impact of lost exports. Read More: China’s Rare Earth Policy Could ‘Backfire’, Warn Analysts While Highlighting Options Available To Trump: Beijing ‘May Find Itself Cut Off…’ Photo Courtesy: Alessia Pierdomenico on Shutterstock.com
