Taken together, from Beijing’s perspective, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have long been seen as major challenges to national unity. The difference today is that Xi Jinping has adopted a much harder line than any recent Chinese leader. Xi, unlike his recent predecessors, has been indifferent to international reaction. He believes that the national security imperatives of “complete security” are more important than any foreign policy or wider reputational cost to the regime. Xi also believes that the rest of the world now depends on the Chinese economy so much that
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