nATIONALISM DOESN'T WORK:

Last year, President Xi Jinping seemed all but invincible. Now, his push to steer China away from capitalism and the West has thrown the Chinese economy into uncertainty and exposed faint cracks in his hold on power.

Chinese policy makers became alarmed at the end of last year by how sharply growth had slowed after Mr. Xi tightened controls on private businesses, from tech giants to property developers. Meanwhile, China's stringent Covid lockdowns, part of Mr. Xi's approach to handling the crisis, have ramped up again as Covid cases surge, hurting both consumer spending and factory output.

Add to that a pact with Russia in early February, just weeks ahead of its invasion of Ukraine, that has widened a gulf between China and the West and underlined how high the costs could be for China of implementing Mr. Xi's agenda at home and in foreign policy.

As Beijing works to manage the entente with Russian President Vladimir Putin while preventing a collapse in its relationship with the West, underpinning the disquiet is the plunge in economic growth to 4% in the fourth quarter from 18.3% at the beginning of 2021. Officials are now speaking of a "course correction" to mitigate some of the effects of Mr. Xi's policies.

The maneuverings come as Mr. Xi sets the stage to extend his rule, which began in late 2012, for a third term. Party insiders said there is little doubt that he will prevail at a Communist Party conclave later this year--for one thing, there is no potential successor candidate.

But other voices in the party have recently suggested a measure of skepticism over whether now is the right time to pursue Mr. Xi's vision of remaking China in the spirit of Mao Zedong.

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