Xi’s most obvious and consistent discrepancy lies not in any difference between what the Chinese government says and what the Chinese government does, but between what it says to Communist and to non-Communist audiences.

The United States are not prepared for a cold war with China over Taiwan, yet to avoid it, America needs to start acting as if they were already upon them, and learn from the last one.

Xi Jinping is watching the Ukrainian invasion closely and is strategizing his long-term interactions with the democratic world based on the West’s response.