China expert Gordon Chang is best known for his book “The Coming Collapse of China,” which he wrote in 2001.
In it, he predicted that the collapse of the Chinese economy and the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party would happen within 10 years.
What he predicted is now four years overdue, but Chang continues to provide us with an uncensored, behind-the-scenes view of the Chinese political economy. The core arguments he made in the book are more valid than ever, and in 2015, Chang predicted the continued pressure on the Chinese currency as well as rising capital outflows, topics that remain with us until today.
Epoch Times spoke to Chang about a superficially stable China in 2017 and what is causing the real friction under the surface.
Epoch Times: China managed to stabilize its economy in 2016. Will the regime be able to continue that in 2017?
Gordon Chang: China looks strong, but it’s actually weak. It has passed the point of no return.
[The regime leadership] has put in an enormous amount of debt, and they did stabilize the economy. The manufacturing sector is a beneficiary; we are starting to see some inflation. But the cost of this is enormous. It’s the old tactics of using debt to generate growth. It shows desperation more than anything.
There are some things that China should do regarding reform in 2017, but they won’t get it done because of the political imperative. This year, we have the [19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China] in the fall, where they will either announce a new leader, or Xi Jinping will remain in control. That is a critical one.
