Like many Americans, I believed that trade liberalization would lead to political liberalization in China, and for many years the signs were encouraging. Under President Xi, however, all signs now point toward centralization and repression. The Great Firewall puts Donald Trump's proposed Mexican wall to shame in both size and effectiveness. The cult of the leader is looking a lot like what happened under Mao and Stalin and other autocrats. The sad details are well explained in a major article in the Economist.
Meanwhile, America and its allies are cooperating more on military planning and defense, just as China is becoming more provocative. I hope we have well-considered plans for de-escalation and confidence building along with our flexible deterrence options.
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