Toppled, exiled, doomed: The Curse of Xi Jinping

It seems that whenever a world leader meets Xiinping, misfortune follows. They either stumble into bad luck or make reckless decisions that end in disasters. Take Vladimir Putin for example after meeting Xiinping in February 2022. He launched the war in Ukraine, turning himself into an international outcast. Now fresh back from Beijing's military parade, he's pushing provocations in Europe again. Acts that could backfire and drag him into an even deeper crisis. So is that the Xiinping curse at work? I'm not making this up. I've collected at least nine examples to prove this curse exists. I'm going to go through them one by one tonight. So let's start with one of the most significant events in the past few days. That's Nepal's regime collapse. So Nepal's 93rd prime minister uh his name is KP Sham Oi was in Beijing just last week. Smiling beside Xiinping at the Tanaman military parade. Hand in hand with his wife, he stroed through the Forbidden City, looking comfortable and secure, presenting themselves as part of Xiinping's grand community of destiny. But who could have imagined less than a week after returning home, Odie wasn't just out of power, he was on the run. He resigned in panic and fled by helicopter with with seven of his close ministers. Nobody knows where he is now. Some say he's in Dubai, but that has not been confirmed. Nepal is the birthplace of the Buddha. Yet, it also happens to be the South Asian country most deeply penetrated by communism. That's a striking historical contrast, right? On paper, it's a multi-party democracy, but in reality, its top three parties are all communist parties, just under different names. And ODI himself is a communist. So, this is a poor nation of nearly 30 million people, ranked near the bottom of the global economy. Right after returning from Beijing, ODI announced a sweeping ban on 26 social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube X, and more. The ban was issued on Friday. By Monday, young people were in the streets. By Tuesday, the government had collapsed. The prime minister had fled and both the prime minister and president had resigned. There's a reason to believe that Nepal imported China's internet blocking technology. And since 2014, its fiber optic networks have have been built with Chinese investment from uh China Telecom, Huawei, and ZTE. Its major telecom operators use Chinese equipment and under the belt and row digital silk road Nepal has cooperated with Beijing on information filtering and censorship. Human rights groups have noted Nepal's interest in copying China's great firewall. So it's not far-fetched to think that Oie sought support in this area during his recent Beijing visit. So why the sudden rush to shut down social media after returning from Beijing? Because Nepal faces the same problems as China. The economy is in freef fall. Youth unemployment is very high. Young people see no future. Corruption is rampant. And the flaunting of wealth by elites children constantly rubbed salt in the wound. The anger wasn't just about the internet. The ban was simply the match that lit the fire. So if you look at the timing, OI had just shaken hands with Xiinping and bass in a glow of Beijing's power. But within days, his rule had crumbled and his country was in flames. It is called the Xiinping curse. Whenever a head of state goes to Kowau to the CCP or the CCP leader, bad luck soon follows. And I have more examples. So you're familiar with this guy. So that was September 21st, 2023. Syrian leader Basha al-Assad arrived in Hanjo for the Asian Games uh on a plane that Xiinping had sent for him. She personally greeted him to honor Assad. She even opened the main gates of the historic Lingin Temple. The front gate, the main gate of Leing Temple are almost never opened. Traditionally, to show respect to the Buddha, visitors enter through side doors. The last time the main gates were open was in 1983 for Den Xiaoing. And before that during the Chenlong Emperor's visit in the 18th century. That just tells you they don't open the front door of this temple. So when Xiin opened the temple gates for Assad, Chinese whispers spread. It could be bad luck for Assad because it's disrespectful and plus he isn't a Buddhist. But Assad doesn't know he was elated at such an honor, signing a joint statement on a strategic partnership in Beijing. Guess what? Less than 3 months later, on December 8th, everything collapsed in Syria. Rebel forces stormed Damascus. Assad fled to Russia and his regime fell overnight. Was that the Xiinping curse? Here's my third example. Bangladesh. Prime Minister Shahik Hassina visited Beijing in July 2024, which was her sixth trip to China. She warmly shook Xiinping's hand, celebrated Belt and row projects, praised duty-free access for 98% of Banglad Bangladeshi exports to China and secured about 7 billion in loans. She returned home in high spirits, but less than a month later on August the 5th, her rule collapsed. Mass protest had been building since June, driven by students and ordinary citizens being furious over civil service quotas favoring government officials. Hina deployed the military nationwide, ordered sweeping crackdowns, and unleashed unprecedented repression. On July 22nd, at least 163 people were dead. Thousands were arrested and the crackdown was was ferocious. But the public anger was unstoppable. In the end, the fivetime prime minister and Xiinping's old friend resigned and fled to India just one month after meeting Xiinping in Beijing. So this curse doesn't just follow dictators or authoritarian rulers. Even democratic leaders can escape the reach of this curse once they turn consiliatory toward Beijing. Their careers and reputations take a hit and bad luck follows them. So my fourth example is Myammar. This lady Anang Sui was once revered worldwide as a human rights icon. During her years in opposition, she was cautious and somewhat wary of Beijing. But once she came to power, she pivoted toward closer engagement. She visited Beijing multiple times and backed Xiinping's belt and road initiative. In return, China shielded Myammar from um harsh UN resolutions over the what do you call the Rohinga crackdown. And then Shiin's last overseas trip before the pandemic was to Myamar in January 2020 where Sui hosted him. They discussed trade, five-year cooperation plans, belt and road projects, and cultural exchanges. And after reelection in November 2020, Xiinping congratulated her and pledged deeper ties. But less than 3 months later, on February 1st, 2021, Myar's military staged a coup, imprisoning Su uh Sui, and by July 2023, she was moved to house arrest in a government compound where she remains today. Park Wen Hui, the daughter of former President Park Chongi, was South Korea's first female president. Uh though she is affiliated with a conservative camp, her relationship with China was unusually close by South Korean standards. She visited Beijing in June 2013 as one of her first major international visits. Xiinping reciprocated a year later by visiting Seoul significantly before visiting North Korea. Most notably on September 3rd, 2015, Park stood right next to Vladia Putin accompanying Xiinping at the military parade. So her placement right next to Xiinping was a major gesture. But back home, deepening ties with with Beijing stirred controversy. Soon after the Xiinping curse struck. Barely a year later, Park was engulfed in a corruption scandal and then on December 9th, 2016, she was impeached and stripped of power. By March 2017, she was arrested on 13 counts including bribery, abuse of power, coercion, and leaking state secrets. She was sent to soul detention center as prisoner number 503. Six example here you see two Japanese prime minister Shiguru Ishiba has been known as one of the more probe Beijing leaders compared to his predecessor Fumio Kishida who leaned closer to the US in pushing back against China. Ishiba struck a softer more consilitary tone. Shortly after taking office in November 2024 he met Xiinping in Peru. there. He offered Beijing an olive branch, insisting Japan had no intention of decoupling and proposing stronger cultural exchanges, trade, green development, and healthc care cooperation. And then this April while negotiating tariffs with the US, Ashiba sent a personal message to Xiinping through the visiting Kumito party delegation, hoping to maintain a careful balance with China. But this balancing act backfired. You all know on September 7th, facing overwhelming disapproval inside his own party, he was forced to resign. Of course, there are many factors behind his unpopularity, but his soft consolatory posture toward Beijing at the time when much of the world is standing up to the CCP was a major one. Now, the above six examples so far share the same consequence. the head of state was either toppled, forced to resign, or stepped down. The next three examples haven't yet haven't yet led to resignation or regime change, but they have caused severe political backlash and can also be seen as part of the Xiinping curse. France's Emmanuel Macron, he has been one of the most active among the European leaders. He has been one of the most active in engaging Beijing. His April 2023 visit to China where he shared a private tea session with Xiinping here in the picture was blasted as far too differential even cowtowing. Since then, uh France's streets have only grown more restless. Fast forward to today, Macron has already seen three prime ministers resign this year. His government itself is tottering. Finishing out his term through 2027 now looks more difficult than ever. Now let's talk about India's Modi. Modi has historically had a tense relationship with Beijing. Border clashes in Lada, bans on Chinese apps, tighter rules on Chinese investment and alignment with the US through the Quad. But recently, especially in late summer 2025, he has grown more warm or he has shown more warmth toward China. Two weeks ago, he attended the S uh the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tening where he was seen interacting cordially with Xiinping. This move sparked internal backlash at home and sharp criticism abroad. So, President Trump lumped India together with Russia, accusing both of embracing dark China. Uh, two days ago, Trump called on the EU to join the US in imposing 100% secondary tariff on both China and India for continuing to buy Russian oil. Now, Washington has already punished India on the same grounds, um, slapping a 50% tariff. Although President Trump later softened his tone, but Mod's warm gestures towards both Xiinping and and and Vladia Putin have left him teetering at the edge of the Xiinping curse. Very risky territory in my opinion. Uh the next example is Hamas. Uh this picture was from July 2024. It was taken during the um the 14 faction. Uh it was um Hamas and Fatar uh the the pal the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement and then the Palestinian National Liberation Movement. They joined 12 other factions in Beijing to sign a joint declaration. I think it's called the Beijing Declaration. They pledged to achieve national unity under the um the PLO framework and and to stand together against Israel. Of course, Beijing brokered this. So in that moment, Hamas and the CCP were enjoying a warm and interestdriven relationship. But who could have predicted what followed? Just a week later, Hamas political chief Ismier was assassinated. By October, one of Hamas's founding figures, uh, Singwa was killed in an Israeli strike. Since then, Hamas's fortunes have only worsened. Um, and then on September 9th, Israel launched a shocking air raid on Doha, killing six senior Hamas leaders hiding there. In today's turbulent world, I hope these cases can serve as as a warning to world leaders and every pe everyday people like us. Stay away from the CCP or misfortune will