For China's rulers, 2019 is shaping up to be a terrible year. On the economic front, growth has fallen to its slowest pace since 1992. The political crisis in Hong Kong, triggered by an ill-conceived extradition bill, threatens to spiral out of control.
Geopolitically, the escalating U.S.-China trade and tech wars signal the beginning of an open-ended conflict that, should history of the Cold War repeat itself, could threaten the Chinese Communist Party's hold on power.