On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a sharply worded speech that the engagement policy with China had failed and urged an international alliance to pressure the party to change its behaviour, according to American media reports.

In particular, he called for empowering the Chinese people. “Communists almost always lie. The biggest lie that they tell is to think that they speak for 1.4 billion people who are surveilled, oppressed and scared to speak out,” Pompeo said.

Washington’s latest line of thinking will no doubt add credence to a theory gaining currency among Chinese officials that the US has finally revealed its true colours by seeking to isolate and overthrow the Communist Party, instead of finding a way to coexist as its previous engagement policy had intended.

China’s inward shift has profound implications for the world economy

Will it work or is it just wishful thinking?

The latest move came on Wednesday when Beijing confirmed that the day before Washington had ordered its consulate in Houston to shut down within three days and its diplomatic personnel to leave the country.

00:31

Trump says ‘it’s always possible’ the US would order more Chinese diplomatic missions to close

Trump says ‘it’s always possible’ the US would order more Chinese diplomatic missions to close

Although Chinese officials and ordinary people were already braced for more bad news regarding bilateral ties, the Times report on the blanket travel ban still managed to produce shock and incredulity.

The party, which will celebrate its centenary next year, boasts 92 million members. Taken together with their close family members including parents, spouses and children, the total number could easily run into 300 million or more.

Given that the party’s influence permeates almost all levels of society and a party membership card is often a prerequisite for employment or promotion, it is not hard to find someone living in urban areas who is either a party member or has relatives who are, working not only for government departments and state-owned enterprises but also for universities, and private or foreign enterprises. Information about party membership is often accessible from public databases and, in fact, party members are encouraged these days to publicly show their membership as a badge of honour.

But the majority of the party members have nothing to do with the decisions of the party and government.

Some analysts believe the proposed move could be campaign rhetoric, with Trump trying to sound tough on China amid falling polling numbers. Others say the plan may not be implemented but is intended to show how far Washington is willing to go.

Around the time of the Times report, Bloomberg reported that Trump had indicated to aides that he did not want to further escalate tensions with Beijing and had ruled out additional sanctions on top officials for now.

It is also possible that the plan was meant to shock people as a way of preparing them for what might be a less all-encompassing move – the sanctioning of a much smaller group of senior Chinese officials and their family members. One thing seems certain, though. The plan is aimed at driving a wedge between the ordinary people and the party leaders.

Why US and China are both stalked by concerns about the Cultural Revolution

But such a tactic is unlikely to work this time and is more likely to produce the opposite effect at a time when official media reports have painted Washington’s policies towards China as irrational and erratic, bordering on being unhinged.

Moreover, the US is failing to contain the spread of the pandemic and has recently been roiled by waves of protests against systemic discrimination nationwide. By comparison, China’s response to the US moves has been measured and restrained.

In addition, it has successfully contained the spread of the pandemic at home and its economy has staged a better-than-expected recovery in the second quarter, thus boosting the public confidence in the party leadership.

Ironically, the tactic of drawing a line between the party leaders and the people would have been more effective before Xi came to power in 2012.

In the preceding decade, official corruption was so rampant, blatant and pervasive that many party stalwarts worried about the end of party rule, blaming the weak leadership of Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor.

Despite claims that Xi has used the drive to target his political opponents, the ongoing campaign has won popular support.

According to the results of a survey released recently by Harvard, the satisfaction of the people with the central government was as high as 93.1 per cent in 2016, and, in particular, the approval rating of the anti-corruption drive doubled to 71.5 per cent in 2016, from 35.5 per cent in 2011 before Xi came to power.

Meanwhile, Xi has also stepped up efforts to prevent corrupt officials from moving ill-gotten money abroad and initiated an aggressive drive to pursue those who have fled overseas.

Still, Chinese elites, including relatives of the former and current senior officials, are believed to have hid billions of US dollars’ worth of assets in Western countries, with the US as one of their favourite destinations.

Not long ago, many government officials were known as “naked officials” for moving their families and assets abroad, while they themselves worked alone at home in case they became the targets of an anti-graft investigation. Details of their wealth stashed overseas, if they emerge publicly, could still pose a major embarrassment for the Chinese leadership.

National security law: does Hong Kong’s Journey to the West have a happy ending?

Back in the thick of the global financial crisis in 2008 and just as Beijing and Washington were in intense negotiations to work together to ease the crisis, there was serious speculation in official circles in Beijing that the US had compiled a list ready for release, detailing the overseas assets of the senior Chinese officials.

Circumstances may have changed since then but the proposed travel ban, including the part which would authorise Washington to revoke the visas of party members and their family members who are already in the US, would no doubt cause insomnia for certain officials in China. ■ ■

Wang Xiangwei is the former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post. He is now based in Beijing as editorial adviser to the paper