China in the COVID world: continued challenges for a rising power

• NDC Policy Brief 20-20: China in the COVID world: continued challenges for a rising power, by Bates Gill*

It is frequently noted that the Chinese word for
“crisis” (??, weiji ) combines characters connoting “threat” on the one hand and “opportunity”
on the other. This bit of linguistic trivia can be overdrawn. For China and the COVID-19 crisis, however,
it rings true: the pandemic and its aftermath have generated dangerous problems for the Chinese leadership
while also opening enticing opportunities.

As China and the world look to emerge from the
COVID-19 calamity, enormous questions arise. How
will the crisis affect the rise of the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) and the expansive ambitions of Chinese
leader Xi Jinping and of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? Will the COVID crisis prove a threat to the
“China Dream” or an opportunity to achieve it?1