Are paranoia and suspicion the new logic? The Communist Party of China greatly relies on universal influences after the Cultural Revolution weakened China and made them extremely poor. The Communists in Beijing believed that if they adopted “foreign culture” and “eclectic influence,” they would catch up with the rest of the world economically. This is all rooted from general secretary Xi Jinping, in efforts to make China prosperous by 2021. This paranoia has led Jinping to the repression of Uighur minority, the devastation of the Muslim community, and the greatest political purge China has ever seen which has led to 170 ministers being sacked or jailed. This allowed loyalists to take their places to justify Jinping’s belief that he will gain complete control over the party. Jinping’s writings from 2017 can also trace this paranoia, he wrote “If we don’t take strict precautions and correct them in time… small problems will grow into big ones.”

China has blamed the U.S. on multiple accounts for influencing protests, instigating defiance, and efforts in regime changes. All of this is purely “manifestation of paranoia.” They have an obsession with using fear to keep the Chinese dream of building an empire like the Middle Kingdom empire alive. An analyst from China, Samantha Hoffman, says at the US Congressional testimony in 2018 “the party uses anxiety to shore up loyalty… Anxiety is a tool. Whether it is real or manufactured.”

Social media has also been a factor that has brought down leaders in Egypt and Libya so that the Chinese Communist Party leadership has sought to manipulate it to implement fear and anxiety towards other countries. They have even gone far enough to remove any talk of politics from television so that the citizens do not stray from Xi Jinping’s beliefs. Television viewers were shown shows such as “My Favorite Martian” and “Man from Atlantis” but they seemingly lost the laugh tracks so that the information seemed vain and unbelievable. This allowed China to shift focus from American influence to crazy conspiracies and vice versa. This was all to gain power over the people and over other countries. It does not stop here because after the pandemic, China is said to have acted drastically towards the neighboring regions thinking it will help in their rise since many of these regions rely on Beijing economically. It has offended regions such as Australia to the point where Australia’s Prime Minister banned all foreign donations. Beijing’s recent war on India is from the paranoia that India was trying to create territorial gains and leverage China’s vulnerability. These acts from mere “hysterical paranoia” and conspiracy have resulted in devastation and violence from the Chinese Communist Party.