Could a Post-Xi China Warm Up to the US? Don't Count on It.
Plus, Iran puts big bucks behind bounty on Trump's head
Xi deficiency: There are rumors that Chinese ruler Xi Jinping is on the verge of losing power. While the Hudson Institute's Mike Watson is skeptical of them—Xi's downfall, he notes, "has been proclaimed prematurely many times"—the "rumored coup brings attention to one of the most important questions facing this nation: Is the source of America's problem with China a deep-seated one that transcends individual personalities, or is it all the fault of this one man?"
Those in the former camp believe "America's main problem is that the Chinese Communist Party is, well, Communist. They point out that the party has kept a firm hold of its economy and society, which is textbook Leninism." Others feel Xi "is personally responsible for the friction between Washington and Beijing. From their perspective, the Sino-American relationship has often been a rocky one. But they believe that a brighter future was still visible before Xi." Both camps agree "that a wildcard, such as the emergence of a Chinese Gorbachev, could lead to a more peaceful outcome." How likely is that? Not very, according to Watson, who says the conditions are "not right for a second Gorbachev."
"In the middle of the 1980s, the Soviet Politburo could see its massive rust belt was nearing collapse and its empire was falling behind the United States," writes Watson. Xi, on the other hand, "does not appear on the defense right now. The Israeli-American bombing campaign in Iran dealt a heavy blow to the Beijing-led axis of authoritarians, but China is reportedly restocking Tehran's missile arsenal. … Far from backing down, Xi is leaning in."
Watson concludes: "China is a powerful country with millions of talented people, and it would prefer to shape the global environment to suit its preferences. America’s interests and values are different, though. That contradiction will long outlast Xi, and so will the resulting competition."
READ MORE: Waiting for China’s Gorbachev? Don’t Hold Your Breath.
Bold strategy, Khamenei: When Tucker Carlson interviewed Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president dismissed two new fatwas the Islamic Republic's clerical leaders issued against Donald Trump, saying they were political condemnations, not assassination authorizations. So much for that.
A new Iranian organization dubbed the "Blood Covenant" claims to have raised nearly $40.3 million as a bounty on Trump's head, our Adam Kredo reports. Its Iran-based website, which was promoted in the state-controlled and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars News Agency, featured a poster of Trump in crosshairs alongside a graphic showing the money raised for his killing.
The "Blood Covenant" group operates "under the aegis of the Iranian regime" and poses a legitimate threat given Tehran's resources, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors jihadi movement in the region. Indeed, a senior State Department official told us that the administration is aware of the threats and is prepared to "hold bad actors accountable," including through sanctions.
Under fire: Ismael Jimenez oversees the social studies curriculum for Philadelphia’s public school district, one of the largest in the country. In a recently unearthed podcast interview, he rationalized Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, saying, “This is generations, right, of folks who feel like their voice has been denied.” Now, local Jewish groups are calling him out.
The groups, led by the Philly chapter of the ADL, called the clip “deeply troubling,” particularly given “heightened threats to Jewish communities.” Jimenez’s hatred for Israel—he’s called the country a “terrorist state” and “racist apartheid theocracy”—“raises serious concerns about whether he can serve all students with integrity and respect,” the groups wrote. They also asked the school district: “At one point does inaction become complicity?”
The controversy comes in the wake of a settlement between the district and the federal government in a discrimination case that included accusations of students taunting their Jewish classmates with Nazi salutes and swastika graffiti. Jewish parents in the district say Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s administration stopped working with them on the issue, the Free Beacon reported.
READ MORE: Jewish Groups Call Out Philly School District after Administrator Blames Israel for Oct. 7
In other news:
As it goes back and forth with the Trump administration over federal funding, Harvard is considering launching a center for conservative scholarship à la Stanford's Hoover Institution. Unlike its dealings with Columbia, the administration doesn't seem convinced by the move.
Jen Psaki is struggling in her new primetime role at MSNBC, with her show averaging 1.1 million viewers from its May 6 debut through July 3—nearly half as much as the 1.8 million that colleague Rachel Maddow drew in the same time slot earlier this year.
A recent poll from a Democratic super PAC asked respondents how they perceived the party. “Out of touch,” “woke,” and “weak” were the leading responses.
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