前段时间，习近平不愿意放过几乎所有的内外场合，屡次发表高调的讲话。但12月4日露面后，习近平却忽然隐身，应该与美中关系的迅速恶化直接相关，或者说，与美国大选的变化直接相关。
过早公开押宝拜登，如今令习近平陷入了骑虎难下的境地。川普团队继续向连任挺进，不忘反击中共政权，习近平再一次面对重大决策失误，这一次的进退失据，内外都很难交代。
习近平一周来的行踪
12月3日，习近平主持政治局常委会议，党媒报导听取扶贫汇报，当然是为了掩人耳目。12月2日，美国众议院通过了《外国公司问责法案》；12月3日，美国宣布限制中共党员签证。中共新一轮战狼外交偃旗息鼓，习近平被迫后撤。
12月4日，习近平会见全军思想政治工作会议代表，党媒仅报导合影留念。这些军队的政委、指导员们本准备聆听习近平的重要讲话，但没有发生。习近平刚刚强调抓紧军队政治工作，如此合适的场合，他却一言未发，显然心情坏到极点。当天，党媒还报导，习近平向清华大学顾问委员会20周年会议视频致辞，实际只提前录制一小段话而已，仅5句话。
12月5日和6日，中共党媒只能自行回顾、总结习近平以往活动报导。
12月7日，党媒报导，习近平在二十国集团会议上的讲话出版单行本。
12月8日，党媒报导，习近平同尼泊尔总统互致信函，共同宣布珠穆朗玛峰高程。
12月9日，党媒报导，习近平致信祝贺首届全国职业技能大赛。
12月10日，党媒终于报导了习近平的一次公开活动，12月9日晚，与法国总统马克龙通电话，但党媒的报导仍然没有习近平的图片、声像。
按照惯例，这次通话应该提前预告，做为习近平重大外交活动的一部分继续宣传，但却毫无预警。这表明，这很可能是习近平的智囊们努力争取到的一次临时通话，以缓解当前的极度窘境。
党媒的报导中，双方并未达成实质的成果，报导中充满了套话，其中比较令人匪夷所思的话语是，习近平强调，“对自己的道路、理论、制度、文化充满自信”。
两国元首通电话，说出这样的话，完全不着边际，这实际反映了习近平在重压之下的极度不自信。党媒的报导当然忽略了马克龙的谈话内容。法国政府的声明中，主要话题包括：巴黎气候协议、欧中之间更平衡的经贸关系、落实今年5月世界卫生大会关于中共病毒朔源的决定、如何从大流行中吸取教训以保持信息透明、香港和新疆的人权问题。
这些话题，习近平大多数都不愿听，中共党媒当然会删掉。明知马克龙会谈到这些问题，但习近平此时仍然很需要这样一通电话，以示没有被国际孤立，还有外交空间，主要是给内部看，以维系忽然又摇晃不止的权威。
被迫摆出对美国反制裁的姿态
面对美国的连番制裁，中共外交部不敢轻易吭声，虽然表面上称反制，但却需要等待习近平的最后定夺。
12月10 日，中共外交部终于得到了明确指令。当天的记者会上，华春莹宣布：“对在涉港问题上表现恶劣、负有主要责任的美国行政部门官员、国会人员、非政府组织人员及其直系亲属实施对等制裁。同时，中方决定取消美方持外交护照人员临时访问香港、澳门免签待遇”。
这样的声明，更多只是一种姿态，实质的制裁内容、涉及哪些人，都没有公布，似乎取消某些美国外交人员的香港、澳门免签是唯一的反制措施。
日本共同社记者追问：刚刚你讲到涉港问题，对美制裁是今天启动吗？有没有被制裁的具体人员信息？
华春莹仅重复了之前的话，又加了一句，“至于是哪些人，这些人对自己的行为心知肚明”。
这类象征性的反制裁，与美国近日来的连续重手制裁完全不对等。习近平最终选择的反制裁，应该还是给内部人看，表明没有放软，以示对美政策不会变，或者说，不会承认自己过早押宝拜登的关键性失误。
尽管中共外交部摆出了一些反制姿态，但12月10日的记者会上，再没有安排党媒提问拜登的有关事项。当天的多个问题，都直接牵涉美中关系，但华春莹的回答中，再未听到下任美国政府的提法，也不再提及美中关系“回归”，更没有提川普政府任期之类。
12月10日的中共党媒，也再无类似的文章。美国大选舞弊的诉讼已经进入联邦最高法院，这样的大新闻，也完全被中共党媒忽略了。看起来，习近平似乎开始提出新要求，从押宝拜登的公开立场后撤。
党媒公开力挺战狼外交
习近平不肯承认对美新一轮策略失败，却号令对美腔调放软、低调，但又自觉这样的姿态对内无法交代，于是战狼外交正式摆上了中共党媒的台面。
12月10日，新华社网站首页醒目位置报导《华春莹回应战狼外交：就做战狼又何妨》。这篇报导，节选了华春莹在中共外交部记者会上的问答。
这篇文章，公开承认了中共的战狼外交，而且还摆出了继续战狼外交的高调姿态。之前，战狼外交是外界对中共外交部人员的一种评价，当然是极为负面的，但中共外交部和中共党媒，却毫不知耻，竟然主动承认，还反以为荣。
比较可笑的是，其中还提到了《狮子王》中的“辛巴”。华春莹不自量力，可能想自比“辛巴”，还称受到各种怀疑、责难、打击，但华春莹最后没想做狮子，却要做战狼，她难道不知《狮子王》中的土狼与狮子为敌吗？她主动谈到了《狮子王》，却不做正面的狮子，偏要做反面角色的狼，实在是相当讽刺。
中共党媒如此蹊跷的挺战狼，应该也是中共高层的授意，对外展示的姿态自然很愚蠢，但更多还是用于内部宣传，很可能在试图消除党内的质疑声音，表示要硬到底，绝不认错。
当然，中共高层对美国不敢再硬，所以需要拿其他人做靶子。澳大利亚、欧洲国家也不能轻易再惹，于是印度又一次中枪。华春莹回答印度记者提问时，确实摆出了战狼的架势，她说，“中印边境地区发生的有关事态是非曲直十分清楚，责任完全在印方”，“目前出现这种情况，从印方来讲有什么需要反思的，这是一个需要严肃对待的问题”。
印度记者的提问主要希望导向双方合作，没想到不幸中枪，印度被精心挑选为中共战狼外交公开化的第一个目标。
习近平的外交策略正在被迫调整，这恐怕就是隐身近一个星期后的一点新办法，却改变不了目前外交上的困境，特别是美中关系的进一步僵局。
中共高层急盼好消息，外部不大可能有，就只能从内部寻找。脱贫的宣传不靠谱，于是中共党媒再报导《我国粮食生产实现“十七连丰”》，称2020年全国粮食总产量上年增长0.9%。
夏天的大水灾，东北的飓风灾害，都导致农作物大面积绝收，如何还能丰收、增长？中国今年粮食进口已经破纪录，这样的谎言不攻自破。但习近平现在急需喜讯，也只能凑数了。
内外交困中毫无出路，习近平隐身就能躲避吗？中共正日益走向末路，如不抛弃中共，习近平进退两难的局面还会加剧。
For nearly a week now, Xi Jinping has once again disappeared from the limelight. While other members of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party's Politburo have been reporting on their activities in turn, it has not been easy to keep Xi Jinping in the headlines every day.
Some time ago, Xi was reluctant to let go of almost every internal and external occasion, making repeated high-profile speeches. But after his Dec. 4 appearance, Xi suddenly went into hiding, which should be directly related to the rapid deterioration of U.S.-China relations, or, for that matter, to the changes in the U.S. election.
A premature public bet on Biden has now put Xi in a difficult position to ride the tiger. As the Trump team continues to push for re-election, not forgetting to counter the Chinese Communist regime, Xi is once again faced with a major decision-making blunder, one that will be difficult to account for both internally and externally as he advances and retreats.
Xi Jinping's whereabouts over the past week
On December 3, Xi presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, and the party media reported that he was briefed on poverty alleviation, of course to cover his tracks. on December 2, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Foreign Corporation Accountability Act, and on December 3, the U.S. announced restrictions on visas for Communist Party members. The CCP's new round of war-wolf diplomacy subsided and Xi Jinping was forced to retreat.
On December 4, Xi Jinping met with representatives of the All-Army Ideological and Political Work Conference, and the party media only reported a group photo. The political commissars and instructors of these armies were prepared to listen to Xi's important speech, but it did not happen. Xi Jinping had just emphasized tightening the political work of the army, and on such an appropriate occasion, he did not say a word, apparently in an extremely bad mood. On the same day, the party media also reported that Xi Jinping's video address to the 20th anniversary meeting of the Tsinghua University Advisory Council was actually recorded only a short segment in advance, just five sentences.
On December 5 and 6, the CCP media could only review and summarize Xi's past activities on their own.
On December 7, party media reported that Xi Jinping's speech at the G20 meeting was published in a single volume.
On Dec. 8, party media reported that Xi and Nepal's president exchanged letters announcing the altitude of Mount Everest.
On Dec. 9, party media reported that Xi Jinping sent a letter to congratulate the first national vocational skills competition.
On December 10, the party media finally reported a public event by Xi Jinping, a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on the evening of December 9, but the party media coverage still lacked pictures, sound and vision of Xi Jinping.
As usual, the call should have been previewed in advance and continued to be publicized as part of Xi's major diplomatic event, but instead there was no warning. This suggests that this was likely an impromptu call that Xi's think-tankers worked hard to secure in order to ease the current extreme dilemma.
The party media reports show that the two sides did not reach a substantive outcome, and the reports are full of platitudes, with one of the more mind-boggling phrases being Xi Jinping's emphasis that he is "confident in his own path, theory, system and culture."
The fact that such words were uttered during a phone call between the two heads of state is completely out of context, and it actually reflects Xi's extreme lack of confidence under heavy pressure. The party media report of course ignored the content of Macron's conversation. The main topics in the French government's statement included the Paris climate agreement, a more balanced economic and trade relationship between Europe and China, the implementation of the World Health Assembly's decision on the source of the CCP virus in May, how to learn from the pandemic to maintain information transparency, and human rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Most of these topics Xi Jinping does not want to hear about, and the CCP media will of course cut them out. Knowing that Macron will address these issues, Xi still needs such a call at this point to show that he is not internationally isolated and that there is room for diplomacy, mainly for internal consumption to maintain his suddenly shaky authority again.
Forced to posture against U.S. counter-sanctions
In the face of repeated U.S. sanctions, the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not dare to say anything easily, and although it ostensibly said it was countering them, it needed to wait for Xi Jinping's final decision.
On December 10, the Chinese Foreign Ministry finally received clear instructions. At a press conference on the same day, Hua Chunying announced: "Reciprocal sanctions will be imposed on U.S. executive branch officials, congressional personnel, non-governmental organization personnel and their immediate family members who have behaved badly on Hong Kong-related issues and bear the primary responsibility. At the same time, China has decided to cancel visa-free access to Hong Kong and Macau for U.S. diplomatic passport holders on a temporary basis."
Such a statement is more of a gesture than anything else. The substance of the sanctions and who is involved are not announced, and it seems that canceling visa-free access to Hong Kong and Macau for certain U.S. diplomatic personnel is the only countermeasure.
A reporter from Kyodo News asked a follow-up question: You just talked about Hong Kong-related issues, are the sanctions against the United States launched today? Is there any information on the specific people being sanctioned?
Hua Chunying only repeated what she said before and added, "As for which people, these people know their actions by heart."
This type of symbolic counter-sanction is completely at odds with the succession of heavy-handed sanctions the U.S. has imposed in recent days. Xi's ultimate choice of counter-sanctions should still show insiders that there is no softening to show that there will be no change in policy toward the U.S., or, for that matter, no acknowledgement of his critical mistake in betting on Biden too soon.
Despite some counter-balancing gestures by the CCP Foreign Ministry, no more party media questions were scheduled for Biden-related matters at the Dec. 10 press conference. Several of the day's questions were directly related to U.S.-China relations, but Hua Chunying's answers did not include any mention of the next U.S. administration, nor did they mention the "return" of U.S.-China relations, nor the Trump administration's tenure.
There were no more similar articles in the Chinese Communist Party media on December 10. The big news that the U.S. election fraud lawsuit has reached the federal Supreme Court has been completely ignored by the CCP media. It appears that Xi Jinping is beginning to make new demands, backing away from his public stance of betting on Biden.
Party Media Publicly Support War Wolf Diplomacy
Xi Jinping refuses to admit the failure of his new strategy toward the U.S., but calls for a softer and lower tone toward the U.S., but feels that such a stance cannot be accounted for internally, so the war-wolf diplomacy is officially on the table of the CCP party media.
On December 10, Xinhua News Agency reported prominently on its homepage "Hua Chunying Responds to War Wolf Diplomacy: What's the harm in being a war wolf". This report excerpted Hua Chunying's question and answer at a press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
This article openly acknowledges the CPC's war-wolf diplomacy and also makes a high-profile stance of continuing the war-wolf diplomacy. Previously, war-wolf diplomacy was a kind of outside evaluation of the CCP's Foreign Ministry personnel, which was of course extremely negative, but the CCP Foreign Ministry and the CCP Party media, unashamed of it, took the initiative to admit it and were proud of it instead.
What's funny is that the "Simba" in "The Lion King" is also mentioned. Hua Chunying did not think of herself, and probably wanted to compare herself to "Simba", and claimed that she had received all kinds of suspicions, reproaches and blows, but in the end, Hua Chunying did not want to be a lion, but a war wolf, did she not know that the hyena in "The Lion King" was the enemy of the lion? It is quite ironic that she took the initiative to talk about "The Lion King", but instead of being the positive lion, she wanted to be the wolf in the negative role.
The Chinese Communist Party media's so fishy support for the Coyote should also be authorized by the top echelon of the Communist Party. The gesture displayed to the outside world is naturally silly, but it is more for internal propaganda, probably in an attempt to eliminate the skeptical voices within the Party, indicating that it will be hard to the end and never admit its mistakes.
Of course, the top echelon of the Communist Party does not dare to be tough with the US anymore, so it needs to use others as targets. Australia and European countries can't be easily messed with, so India was shot once again. When Hua Chunying answered a question from an Indian journalist, she did put up a battle wolf stance, saying, "The rights and wrongs of the relevant developments in the Sino-Indian border area are very clear, and the responsibility lies entirely with the Indian side", and "what needs to be reflected on from the Indian side in terms of this current situation, which is a matter that needs to be taken seriously This is a question that needs to be taken seriously."
The Indian journalist's question was mainly aimed at guiding cooperation between the two sides, but unfortunately he was shot, and India was carefully selected as the first target of the CCP's war-wolf diplomacy in public.
Xi Jinping's diplomatic strategy is being forced to adjust, which I fear is a new approach after nearly a week of invisibility, but will not change the current diplomatic dilemma, especially the further stalemate in U.S.-China relations.
The Communist Party's top brass is eagerly awaiting good news, which is unlikely to come from outside, so they will have to look for it from within. The propaganda of poverty eradication is not reliable, so the Communist Party media reported again that "China's grain production has achieved "seventeen consecutive bumper crop", saying that the total national grain production in 2020 will increase by 0.9% in the previous year.
The summer floods and the hurricane disaster in the northeast have led to massive crop failures, so how can we still have a good harvest and growth? China's grain imports have already broken records this year, so such lies do not break down. But Xi Jinping is now in dire need of good news, and can only make up the numbers.
With no way out of the internal and external difficulties, can Xi Jinping hide by going invisible? The Chinese Communist Party is increasingly on its last legs, and if it is not abandoned, Xi's dilemma will intensify.