Xi Jinping tells national security team to prepare for 'worst-case scenario'


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told his national security team Tuesday that they should prepare for a "worst-case scenario," saying that internal and external threats to the country had increased.
Xi, who spoke during a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party's National Security Commission, said the "complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we now face have increased significantly," according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. The country must "adhere to bottom-line thinking and worst-case scenario thinking, and get ready to undergo the major tests of high winds and rough waves, and even perilous, stormy seas," Xi added.
The Chinese president, who won an unprecedented third term as his country's leader this past March, has been open about the perceived challenges he believes China faces, particularly from the United States. Xi pressed his officials to fast-track the implementation of a national security monitoring system, as well as enhanced national security education and AI security.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Since taking power, the strongman, described by some as a dictator, has angled national security as one of China's foremost issues, turning it "into a key paradigm that permeates all aspects of China's governance," according to the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
As the rivalry between China and the United States continues to build, both nations have increased their national security efforts. The U.S. has sanctioned a number of Chinese tech companies, while Xi has directly blamed the United States for leading the "Western suppression" of China.
While Xi talks about the "worst-case scenario," it is unclear what this could exactly be referring to. It could "include a nuclear war, a devastating war that ruins China's coastal economic belts, [or] Western sanctions on China's energy, finance, and food supply," Xie Maosong, a senior fellow at Beijing's Taihe Institute, told the South China Morning Post.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Justin Klawans is a staff writer at The Week. Based in Chicago, he was previously a breaking news reporter for Newsweek, writing breaking news and features for verticals including politics, U.S. and global affairs, business, crime, sports, and more. His reporting has been cited on many online platforms, in addition to CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
He is also passionate about entertainment and sports news, and has covered film, television, and casting news as a freelancer for outlets like Collider and United Press International, as well as Chicago sports news for Fansided.
-
10 things you need to know today: September 24, 2023
Daily Briefing Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian population to leave region amid fears of persecution, Atlantic coast remains under flood warnings from Ophelia, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 23, 2023
Daily Briefing Sen. Bob Menendez rejects calls to resign following indictment, Ukraine launches missile attack on occupied Crimean city, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 17, 2023
Daily Briefing Texas AG Ken Paxton acquitted in impeachment trial, Kim Jong Un returning to North Korea after rare foreign trip to Russia, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 16, 2023
Daily Briefing Ripple effects seen throughout auto industry as UAW strikes, Lee expected to bring flooding and storm winds to New England, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 10, 2023
Daily Briefing Aftershock strikes Morocco as death toll rises, approval of new Covid shots likely coming within days, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
10 things you need to know today: September 9, 2023
Daily Briefing More than 1,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco, G20 countries to unveil rail and ports corridor linking Middle East and Europe, and more
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published