Much of the world looked on with consternation as Xi Jinping began his third term as president of China and leader of the Chinese Communist Party in October. Xi’s ironclad grasp on power has crucial implications for how the CCP will respond to critical domestic challenges, which in turn will affect China’s foreign policy.
China’s challenges at home and abroad have grown more pronounced in recent years—so much so that a longstanding debate over China’s intentions increasingly coexists with one over its trajectory: Is it on a path to global preeminence, or is it near the zenith of its power and perhaps even on the verge of systemic decline?
On the sidelines of last week’s G-20 leaders’ summit, Argentina and China struck a deal to increase their currency swap program. By doing so, however, China is playing to the worst economic instincts of Argentina’s Peronist government, for which every economic problem can be solved by simply throwing yet another currency plan at it.
