Commentary Under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, China has hardened its centrally directed approach to economics. Without siding with Xi, many Western media outlets and businesspeople have praised this centralized approach as superior to America’s seemingly chaotic market-oriented system. Some have even forecast the ultimate triumph of the Chinese model. But for all this praise, the seeming strengths described by many are really weaknesses. This and subsequent contributions to this space will explain what Beijing and many of Western media outlets and businesspeople have missed. A recent white paper from the Asia Society Center on U.S.-China Relations and the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy’s 21st Century China Center frames the issues well. It describes three essential elements to China’s economic system. First is Beijing’s control of the economy through large-scale interventions to move toward the planners’ preferred goals. The second element is an openness to foreign investments so …