it is easier to understand why the Western liberal-democratic value system, most potently championed by the United States, is anathema to Xi Jinping. America, with its simultaneous embodiment of political and religious liberty, a powerful and innovative economy, and a strong military is fundamentally problematic for party ideologists. This is because it offers a powerful countercase to the core arguments underpinning China’s authoritarian-capitalist model: that state direction and ideological control are essential preconditions for both national greatness and individual prosperity.
