China and Chinese relations are going to get worse until Xi dies. That’s the unfortunate reality.
When it comes to anything other than consolidating power the man has proven himself to be a moron time and time again, and every day more and more upper positions are filled with yes men who tell him his stupid ideas aren’t stupid.
Your first 2 sentences might be true - but I question your second paragraph. He's definitely doing everything he can to keep China self-sovereign. The statement actually seems more appropriate for other political entities.
I have a friend with a long Canadian political career (he did actual political work, not a "face politician" - Mods are welcome to privately vet my source if that's necessary). In recent years he has been called upon by the CPC leadership multiple times as an independent non-partisan consultant in their deliberations around future direction - but IIRC he was the only representative from Canada, and the only Christian (state religion was one topic). In his direct experience over decades of consultations at different levels, he said he actually has greater freedom of speech in China than in the USA (which surprised me): however, he noted that is ONLY the case if you state what your own view is - you can speak to your personal experiences and your ideas. The second you tell them what they should or should not do, or attack/criticize the Party directly, you lose all credibility and lose your voice - it's a slight distinction: but it takes subtlety and nuance and wisdom to navigate that - something our politicians generally suck at. At the same time, their honor system as a society makes it hard for different levels in the bureaucracy to communicate honestly because they fear offending their superior. His specialty is in leadership training, and has made some headway within certain departments, but doesn't have a strong influence at the highest levels.
Xi and the leadership may look moronic to those that don't understand their presuppositions and goals. While I don't consider myself sympathetic to the CPC (I also had separate former business ties to a company operating in Xingxiang, and had early 2nd-hand accounts of the terrible human rights abuses there before it became public via our CEO who lived there), we must acknowledge that China has been very successful at remaining independent of corporate/international influence and rising to a Superpower economically (and militarily on paper, at least - I hope we don't have to find out).
They are terrified of the loss of so-called "family values" > just as much as many Americans are; they are aware of the destructive and controlling aspects of corporate-controlled capitalism, and how US politics is owned by megacorps who have been lying, cheating, and stealing from the people for decades upon decades (as TSLA shareholders, we have seen first-hand the manipulations and corruption). Xi has done a remarkable job of keeping corporations from controlling the government there - at the CPC's heart there is a "noble idea" that happens to be our Western blind spot.
Pre-Mao, China had been one of the poorest nations in the world, with unbelievable poverty - it traumatized the country. There is still a lot of poverty (as there is in the USA), but as a nation they made massive strides. Under Xi, they have definitely consolidated power (and ramped up their espionage game - stealing tech is something I don't agree with) - but have avoided the oligarchical power that are rampant in Russia. Xi and the CPC started cracking down hard on corruption about 10 or so years ago, and there has been some progress on that (though the bureaucracy is mind-numbing in business - you need a million stamps on every document... but now there is zero tolerance for bribes, at least in some areas).
And the CPC has a strong green environmental agenda built into their constitution (I'm not 100% sure, but I think that was added at the beginning of Xi's tenure), and China has massively led the world in solar power for decades (both solar power production and manufacturing of panels) - the USA has only just started taking this seriously, and without Musk they'd be even farther behind. And we know that China supports EV's. I believe Tesla will be fine operating there as long as the corporation doesn't try to start grabbing political power or insulting the CPC. Again, honor and respect are keystones: this is what is so foreign to the USA, where honor and respect in politics is nowhere to be seen, and, surprise! we get disrespectful and dishonorable politicians... but China has blind spots, too - but in the realm of a lack of freedom due to the fixation on safety, control, reputation.
We have a lot to learn from each other, but the massive and rising polarization within the USA itself (and the UK) is also creating a rising polarization within global politics. We all need some help, and we could all use some self-reflection.
Chinese self-reflection has been going on behind the scenes as Xi ages - he absolutely knows that things could fall apart when he's gone, but he feels he's holding back the chaos and greediness of the corporate powers and the oligarchs of the world from creating even greater financial disparities (and China has historically gotten the short end of the global stick). Yeah, he probably has a savior complex. But it's worked so far from his perspective, though there are still many complex issues they face. I don't see the same self-reflection in many other countries (it's one disadvantage of short terms - though maybe slightly longer terms would encourage less politicking and more sustainable policies... that's a separate topic) - but I'm hopeful that those who have the real political power in the West (the administrations and committees behind the "faces" of politicians, the ones who do the actual work) are also reflecting on our trajectories...
