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Notes -
I see. So are you arguing that the monolith itself is secure in its power (everyone wants to see it hold), but Xi himself is not (everyone wants his spot), and therefore Xi must use the monolith to control the popular narrative?
More like the monolith sees benefit in controlling the popular narrative for its own benefit.
I can't stress this enough and it's key to explain to independence-oriented (American) thinkers: everyone wants to see the monolith hold. Even Taiwan believes in the China monolith, they just disagree on what's China. The monolith sees propaganda, state overreach, and a surveillance state as part of what's necessary for governance of a country 1.4 billion unified and strong.
I believe Xi is doing what he does out of what he thinks as necessity, both internally and externally. Remember the major work of Chinese science fiction, held up and lauded by both regular readers and people within the Party, is the Three-Body Problem trilogy; China believes in the Dark Forest theory because they consider it an almost fundamental truth of the universe. If you don't blow up the other ship to ensure your survival, they'll do it to you.
This also means, in practice, that China is willing to accept a fairly decent amount of self-inflicted suffering as long as it prevents them from suffering at the hands of others.
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