That may seem like good news, from an American perspective. But it’s not entirely reassuring. As China’s problems really take hold in the coming years, the future will come to look darker and darker for Beijing. The twin specters of economic decay and geopolitical encirclement will stalk CCP officials remorselessly. And that’s when we should get really worried. What happens when a country that wants the world concludes that it might not be able to get it peacefully? The answer, history suggests, is nothing good.
