Xi Jinping’s chaos-loving friends

TURMOIL FASCINATED Mao Zedong, a revolutionary who enthused that when “there is great chaos under heaven, the situation is excellent”. Today China is the indispensable patron of regimes with a Maoist relish for disorder and for terrorising neighbours, including Iran, North Korea and Russia. Without China as a trading partner and diplomatic defender—notably at the UN, when sanctions are on the agenda—those troublemakers would pay a higher price for their lawless, aggressive ways.

China’s embrace of disruptive powers is something of a puzzle. Chairman Mao’s China was poor, paranoid and largely closed to the world. Today’s Communist Party chief, Xi Jinping, presides over a country whose prosperity and strength rely on globalised commerce. China’s economy is slowing, and would suffer greatly if the Middle East, North-East Asia or Russia and its backyard were to descend into wider conflict. Nor is Mr Xi a revolutionary. He is obsessed by order and stability.