India has to cope with an alliance of Iron Brothers.

"Not since Mao Zedong has China been in the grip of one man as it is today with Xi Jinping," wrote S Deb. "After all, there are over 22 million CCTVs already operating across the country with the world's most advanced face-recognition software, every social media post is being monitored, thousands of human rights activists and political dissidents are in prison or have disappeared, and a social credit system is set to be rolled out countrywide next year to create a nation of no-free-will zombies." Xi Jinping assumed total command over the Peoples' Liberation Army. He was elevated to the status of 'core leader' which makes him equal to Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. At the same time, he is revered as 'Mighty Uncle Xi', a title given to emperors in the past. Xi has made himself chief of every important institution, collecting at least a dozen titles along the way. Fourteen thoughts of his have been incorporated in the Chinese Constitution, somewhat like Mao's Little Red Book. There is even a course on the thoughts of Xi and a certificate is provided for a fee of $49. What has all this to do with us in India? As a member of the UN Security Council, China repeatedly blocks attempts at identifying Masood Azhar as a terrorist, despite Azhar masterminding numerous terrorist attacks on Indian soil. China wants to protect its investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in which it has invested billions of dollars. It wants to protect its 'Iron Brother' Pakistan from sanctions which maybe levied if it is seen to be assisting terrorism. China has imprisoned over 1 million Muslim Uighurs in internment camps to indoctrinate them in its Communist ideology and does not want to be targeted by terrorists. However, dissent maybe brewing. In 1996, "48,121 labour disputes were accepted for arbitration", by 2015, "the number of cases had risen 17 times to 813,859". "But the most significant case was perhaps that of Jasic Technology Co Ltd in Shenzhen, where, in August 2018 hundreds of students from more than a dozen prestigious universities (supported by tens of thousands of students across the country) turned up to show solidarity with workers protesting non-payment of social security benefits, and trying to establish an independent trade union." Xi Jinping's support of state-owned industries over private enterprises is not going to help its economic slowdown, wrote D Fickling. In 2012, the private sector received 52% of bank loans while the state-owned enterprises got 32%, but by 2016, the state-owned companies got 80% of bank loans, while private companies received just 11%. China threatens its neighbors with its military power, wrote Prof B Chellaney, and now the US under Trump is refusing to accept its deceptions on trade. A crisis takes a long time to develop but can precipitate suddenly, just as the sub-prime crisis was precipitated by the sudden collapse of Lehman Brothers. A collapse of China will be great for the world and fantastic for India. We wait.