"Now that the protesters appear determined to test the limits of Beijing’s tolerance, the stakes are even higher. Facing increasingly radicalised demonstrators, Beijing’s strategy of “waiting out the protest” may no longer be tenable. It must either make concessions or take decisive action to end the protests," says Minxin Pei in an Op-Ed for the Financial Times on unrest in Hong Kong and what it means for Chinese president Xi Jinping.
"Also at stake," he says, "Are Chinese President Xi Jinping’s political fortunes. This crisis is the first real test of his leadership."
Pei is the Tom and Margot Pritzker '72 Professor of Government, George R. Roberts Fellow and Director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies.
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