Chinese President Xi Jinping during the closing session of the National People’s Congress, Beijing, March 2023. Noel Celis / Pool / Reuters 

 Foreign Affairs: Xi Jinping Says He Is Preparing China for War  

The World Should Take Him Seriously 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping says he is preparing for war. At the annual meeting of China’s parliament and its top political advisory body in March, Xi wove the theme of war readiness through four separate speeches, in one instance telling his generals to “dare to fight.” His government also announced a 7.2 percent increase in China’s defense budget, which has doubled over the last decade, as well as plans to make the country less dependent on foreign grain imports. And in recent months, Beijing has unveiled new military readiness laws, new air-raid shelters in cities across the strait from Taiwan, and new “National Defense Mobilization” offices countrywide. 

It is too early to say for certain what these developments mean. Conflict is not certain or imminent. But something has changed in Beijing that policymakers and business leaders worldwide cannot afford to ignore. If Xi says he is readying for war, it would be foolish not to take him at his word.  

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WNU Editor: To be fair. Chinese President Xi has been telling China to prepare for war for a very long time. From 2021 …. Xi Jinping orders China’s military to be ready for war ‘at any time’ (American Military News). 

But the mood in China is different this time. The U.S. and China have always had their differences, but House Speaker Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan last year was IMHO the straw that “broke the camel’s back”. And what is worse is that I sense the lines of communication between Beijing and Washington are now being shut down, and the rhetoric only becoming more hostile and confrontational.