This article was written by IWP alumnus David Schneider (’21).
The time has come for China to “travel the road of self-reliance,” President Xi Jinping declared in September of 2018 in a speech to the China First Heavy Industries factory. Spurring China to develop its own cutting-edge technology, with the goal of reducing dependency on the West is a key component of Xi’s sweeping plans to promote his nation’s place in the world and to secure his legacy as one of its greatest leaders.