Xi Jinping's Approval Slips as Study Finds Less Support for China's Communists
• New study suggests Chinese leaders are less popular than previously thought, with only 50-70% supporting the Communist Party in 2020 • Approval ratings for Xi Jinping estimated between 65-70% in 2020, likely fallen since then due to zero-covid policy and economic struggles • List experiments used to allow respondents to indirectly express political views anonymously • Study authors argue lower perceived support could snowball into greater dissent, as in Eastern Europe in 1989 • Chinese leaders closely study history and aim to tightly guide public opinion to prevent dissent; Xi sees it as a security issue