Commentary Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered two New Year’s speeches on Dec. 31. One speech was delivered to the nation, and the other was addressed to the members of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Xi’s outlook for 2021 didn’t sound reassuring as China is currently facing domestic and international pressures. It seems as if Xi and the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) don’t know how to guide the country into the new year. One Year Ago On Dec. 31, 2019, Xi said in a New Year’s speech that “2020 is a milestone year.” At the time, who would have expected that 2020 would be such an eventful year? Perhaps Xi may have anticipated that something big would happen. Did he know beforehand that COVID-19 would first break out in China and become a global pandemic? Did the CCP anticipate that …