Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video China's economic sanctions against Australia and Canada remain in force, too. About $1 billion worth of Australian thermal coal is piled up on Chinese docks awaiting import approval after Beijing imposed an undeclared restriction. It's punishing Australia for daring to protect its interests – banning Huawei from its 5G network and legislating against covert Chinese interference in Australian affairs. And Xi's regime has cut off Chinese purchases of Canadian canola, potentially a $US2 billion ($2.8 billion) loss according to the canola industry, and now banned its pork. It's punishing Canada for agreeing to a US legal request to detain a senior Huawei executive for extradition. Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit:

Just now the world is waiting with bated breath to see whether – or when – Xi will come down on the people of Hong Kong. Huge numbers of Hong Kongers have continued to turn out for seven consecutive weekends now, in open defiance of the Chinese Communist Party's wishes. The protests have widened beyond their initial, narrow point of focus to now demanding broad guarantees of autonomy from Beijing. Former legislator Martin Lee has called it Hong Kong's "last fight". Loading But no matter how big it may be, no hand is big enough to crush all dissent in China permanently. And no matter how hard it may be, no fist is powerful enough to subdue all resistance across the entire planet. Xi may be a tyrant but he is not absolute. Is Xi going to face a backlash? This is the critical question that Australia's Richard McGregor poses in an absorbing new essay for the Lowy Institute. In his view, the backlash is already building. And the title commonly bestowed on Xi by foreign commentators – China's "ruler for life" – is most unlikely to be fulfilled, he augurs.

Not that he thinks Xi's power is at imminent risk: "To be sure, Xi is in no danger of being toppled from his perch. As long as China's economy remains reasonably healthy, he can count on sufficient support to retain his hold on the system. "But the anger towards Xi is potent nonetheless," writes McGregor, a veteran foreign correspondent and former China reporter for The Financial Times. "In July 2018, I spent two weeks in Beijing during which officials and scholars, party members and non-party members spoke unprompted about their fury at Xi and the direction he was taking the country. "They complained about how he had stifled criticism, built up a cult of personality and mishandled relations with Washington. Initially, the critics kept their complaints underground. Later in 2018, some started to speak in public." This is a topic rarely discussed in the media and difficult to cover knowledgeably, but vital to grasp. The history of the Chinese government since the Communist Party took power in 1949 is a long series of intense internal party convulsions. From Mao's disastrous Great Leap Forward of the 1950s to the Tiananmen massacre of 1989, it's a story of power struggles within the party and death and violence on the streets.

'Tank Man' stands in front of a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. Credit:AP How long can Xi last? McGregor doesn't hazard a guess but does venture this scenario: "Just as it is difficult to anticipate where any challenge will come from, it is equally hard to see how Xi's supremacy in domestic politics can be sustained. "Other factors that remain out of Xi's control will also weigh against him. China's slowing economy and rapidly declining demographics can obviously be leveraged to argue in favour of maintaining tight authoritarian controls. "But they are much more likely to work against Xi in future. The same applies to China's tightening fiscal situation. Beijing's ability to throw money at every problem, such as bailing out cash-strapped local governments, will only get harder. By the time of the next party congress, due in late 2022, the issue of succession should return with a vengeance." McGregor also addresses the gathering international backlash against Xi's China, which he says is "reaching full bloom". He sketches a landscape where "big countries such as the US are confronted by a once-in-a-lifetime challenge from Beijing. Small countries feel patronised and bullied. Neighbours worry about being marginalised. Advanced industrial nations see China coming at them like an unstoppable train."