Has Xi Jinping outsmarted his rivals?

The Global Story

2026-01-13

27 分钟
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How will China respond to a new era of US assertiveness? Could the spectacular events of Trump’s second term change President Xi Jinping’s calculations about whether to flex China’s muscles in Taiwan? All this week, we are teaming up with our sister podcasts to explore how power and influence around the world is shifting. We’re exploring who has a sphere of influence and who finds themselves in one. Today we’re joined by Mariko Oi, host of Asia Specific from the BBC World Service, and the BBC’s China correspondent, Laura Bicker. Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Valerio Esposito Executive producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: China’s President Xi Jinping. Maxim Shemetov/Pool/Reuters
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  • are completely optional conflicts created by the character of the president.

  • The die is cast by who he is and he sees himself as without any kind of restraints on his power.

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  • Before Xi Jinping became the leader of China,

  • there was this saying there, hide your strength and bide your time.

  • It was a mantra for how the People's Republic should approach military and foreign policy.

  • And then Xi came to power and China started to show its strength.

  • We saw that back in September when Xi held an enormous military parade in Beijing and in China's calm reaction to U.S.

  • tariffs.

  • But militarily, he's biding his time over Taiwan, for example.

  • The contrast with his opposite number in Washington could hardly be more striking.

  • Breaking news this morning.

  • President Trump says the U.S.

  • carried out large-scale strikes on Venezuela overnight.

  • We are going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not, if we don't do it, Russia.

  • or China will take over Greenland.

  • Commander-in-Chief said, quote,