A news report on China’s President Xi Jinping is displayed on a screen in Beijing in March.
Photographer: Na Bian/BloombergTrump’s China Attacks Are Unleashing Wave of Nationalist Support for Xi
Even critics of the Chinese leader want him to stand firm in the face of an unprecedented economic attack.
Xi Jinping has faced growing skepticism and discontent within China due to strict Covid lockdowns, a slowing economy and attacks on entrepreneurs. Now Donald Trump has handed him a gift to rally support at home: an external enemy.
While the Communist Party’s pervasive censorship and meme-generating propaganda machine makes it difficult to assess public opinion, authorities in Beijing can’t always control the message. That was seen vividly in late 2022 when rare simultaneous street protests broke out against Xi’s pandemic policies, prompting the Chinese leader to abruptly end the world’s strictest virus-containment measures.