As the rest of the world struggles with their economies amid measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, China seems to be doing much better. While life is not the same as before COVID-19, factories are reopening and people are getting back to work. So much so that Chinese factories can produce enough things to raise its exports to level higher than before COVID-19. Well, a significant portion of those exports are for medical equipment and related products due to demand arising from COVID-19. Still, it is like after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. While the rest of the world struggled with a recession, China managed to stay in the black back then, and seems to be doing so now too.
Why?
I think it is because the entire legitimacy of government in China stems from the concept of the Mandate of Heaven. The people in power are placed there by Heaven because they benefit the rest of society. When those in power are unable to do so, Heaven removes them and replaces them with someone else. In Imperial China, this was a bit more challenging since power is handed down within the family dynasty, which means power can get passed down to people within the family that are incapable of bringing the same benefits to society. And that is why dynasties failed and got replaced.
In China today, it is different because power not longer gets passed down within the family. The "dynastic family" today is the entire CCP, which is much bigger, and therefore has more potential for developing capable candidates for future party leadership. So as long as the CCP continues to develop capable potential leaders, it will continue to have people in power who can bring benefit to society. This will allow them to retain the Mandate of Heaven within the party, providing them with capacity for leadership development. This can become a virtuous cycle if done right.
It is the broad concept of the Mandate of Heaven. Those who serve society will receive the Mandate of Heaven; those who do not will have the Mandate given to someone else who will. While it is a simple concept, this simple concept is very ingrained in the Chinese identity, and thus, as long as the CCP continues to deliver economic success, it will remain in power.
I think it serves as insight on how to deal with China on the international stage. China's actions will be rooted in its internal policies for bringing economic well-being to its people. Its external actions outside its borders will be based on this basic internal goal. Once we understand the basic motivation behind China's actions, we can then work out our own strategies on how best to get China to act in ways favorable to ourselves.
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