Wang Xiangwei is a South China Morning Post columnist who routinely writes pro-China claptrap like this: “As American exceptionalism falls, Chinese exceptionalism rises.” So it’s a bit of a surprise to see him offering criticism of China’s “ultra-left” nationalists in a column published today. It’s titled “Xi’s Chinese dream is in danger of being hijacked by ultra-left nationalism.” Wang opens with a brief history of China’s communist politics, one that denigrates Mao and praises Deng.

Since its inception in 1921, China’s Communist Party has lurched between ultra-left radicalism and pragmatism, bringing about alternating tragedies and triumphs.

In the first 30 years of the People’s Republic, Mao Zedong’s erroneous emphasis on ideology and class struggle, fanned by ultra-leftist nationalism, produced catastrophic consequences.

In the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping ended the disastrous Cultural Revolution and adopted an open-door policy, which put China on the track of reform and opening up, and which paved the way for its economic lift-off.

Mindful of the devastating results of policies such as the Great Leap Forward and Anti-Rightist Campaign, Deng repeatedly warned that the party should primarily guard against ultra-leftist tendencies, even as it should be vigilant against turning to the right. Wary of the constant debate of socialism vs capitalism over the use of foreign technology and the development of the private economy, he came up with the phrase bu zheng lun (let’s dispense with theoretical debate), to focus the party’s attention on growing the economy.

As Wang sees it, all of the country’s progress as a result of pragmatic governance is now at risk.

The government faces an uphill battle to revive an economy battered after three years of zero-Covid policies, with rising unemployment and falling consumer confidence. China’s open confrontation with the West has soured foreign investor sentiment and its ill-timed campaign to curb excesses in the private sector has backfired big time.

To put it bluntly, if the ultra-leftist sentiment remains unchecked, China’s development risks being derailed, and China’s goal of national rejuvenation – Xi’s ambition to turn the country into a dominant world power by the middle of the century – will remain just a dream.

He’s on to something here but he’s also doing what critics of authoritarians often do: Blaming everyone but the dear leader. We’ve been seeing this in Russia lately where the nationalists go on television and talk about the failure of the army or the strategy but never of the Vladimir Putin who is always a victim of bad advice. The same is true in this case. Last month a major investment banker named Bao Fan went missing. The Post had a story explaining how that disappearance was part of a pattern in China lately.

China’s legendary tech dealmaker Bao Fan hasn’t been seen for almost three weeks. Stock prices have plunged for his investment bank China Renaissance, once known for brokering the country’s biggest tech mergers, and all the company has said is that Bao is “assisting the government of the People’s Republic of China with an investigation.”

Another titan of China’s tech world, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, was spotted days ago in Melbourne, Australia. While keeping a low profile since regulators put the brakes on his planned record-breaking IPO after he criticized them publicly, Ma also has turned up in Spain and Japan…

Many of the country’s top business executives and influencers — bankers, property developers, movie stars like Fan Bingbing and e-commerce superseller Austin Li — have gone missing without explanation as their power and influence have grown. Some were later hit with fines and accused of offenses like tax evasion or fraud.

There’s no way that the disappearances of these billionaires and industry leaders is happening without Xi’s approval and consent. In fact, there’s reason to believe much of this is his idea. Xi Jinping is the true believer in communism who has become concerned that too much capitalism is taking place. And other business leaders inside and outside China have clearly gotten the message:

“It’s rule by fear: There is a feeling that Beijing can always come after you,” says Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia Pacific economist at Natixis. “Of course, the private sector will be much more cautious.”

Interviews with more than a dozen Chinese entrepreneurs, venture investors and analysts found widespread concern about Beijing’s approach to private enterprise, just as the country is trying to recover from three years of Covid lockdowns. Despite reassuring comments from Communist Party leaders, they worry China’s pro-market stance won’t last…

Ray Xiao, founder of the Shenzhen-based e-cigarette startup SnowPlus Tech, closed all of his 400 direct-sales stores in China and slashed his workforce by 60% after regulatory changes in the industry. He’s now focused on markets like Southeast Asia and Russia for growth.

“For China, we just have to wait for the government to punish whoever it thinks is doing the wrong thing and accept that there isn’t anything you can do,” Xiao said.

Another sign that Xi isn’t backing away from communist nationalism came with the announcement that China is boosting its defense spending again this year despite a low growth year last year.

China will boost defense spending by 7.2% this year, slightly outpacing last year’s increase and faster than the government’s modest economic growth forecast, as Premier Li Keqiang called for the armed forces to boost combat preparedness.

The national budget released on Sunday showed 1.55 trillion yuan ($224 billion) allocated to military spending.

The defense budget will be closely watched by China’s neighbors and the United States, who are concerned by Beijing’s strategic intentions and development of its military, especially as tensions have spiked in recent years over Taiwan.

You can make the case that China is in danger of ruining whatever good will it has left in the world by bullying its neighbors and threatening Taiwan but you can’t separate those problems from Xi Jinping. If there’s an ultra-left nationalism problem in China (and there is) then much of that is coming from the top communist who is making all of the big decisions.