The Chinese military is expanding disputed islands under its control in the South China Sea, alarming its neighbors. How worried should the world be that supreme leader Xi Jinping is making China into an expansionary power? The history of the People’s Republic offers some useful clues.
Leadership transitions within the Communist Party have often been settled by internal power struggles. And even after one man emerges on top, he still has to jockey to move opponents out of important positions and install his own allies. The domestic turmoil repeatedly spilled over into foreign conflict, and that may be happening again today.
The first border clashes between China and India took place in August 1959. That coincided with Defense Minister Peng Dehuai’s open challenge to Mao Zedong over the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the effectiveness of his People’s War military strategies. Soon afterward, Peng was stripped of his military rank and his Party membership.
Read Full Article HERE