Oversize #31: China’s tech crackdown needs to go beyond populism

Deng Xiaoping, who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China in the 1980s after Mao Zedong's death, is often regarded as the architect of modern China. He is credited with ushering in the economic reforms that saw China’s communist system evolve into a market-oriented model, allowing private businesses to thrive alongside state-owned enterprises. That shift led to high economic growth and integrated the country with the global economy.

But that’s changing under President Xi Jinping.

Under Xi, the process of augmenting the role of state-owned enterprises while restricting private-owned enterprises, especially the technology giants, started a …