CCP represses dissidents, censors information, and silences revolts in the name of global authoritarianism
Beckley, associate professor of political science at Tufts University and nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Brands, Henry Kissinger Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, 2023
[Michael and Hal, “China’s Threat to Global Democracy” Journal of Democracy, vol. 34, issue 1, pgs. 65-79, January 2023, https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/chinas-threat-to-global-democracy/ Accessed 7.22.24 GDI-HB]
China’s rulers also have long understood what political scientists have proven empirically: Autocracies often fall in waves, as revolutionary activity in one country inspires popular uprisings in others.12 A democratic domino effect brought down communist regimes across Central and Eastern Europe in 1989. The self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor in late 2010 set much of the Arab world aflame. The lesson is that revolution anywhere is a threat to autocracy everywhere. Xi Jinping knows this: Not long after the Arab Spring, he privately fretted to President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden that China was a target of “color revolutions” and vulnerable to the type of upheaval engulfing the Middle East.13
The CCP has responded with stepped-up repression over the past decade—jailing dissidents, mobilizing security forces, censoring information, and preempting popular unrest. Yet China is now strong enough that it can do more than just hunker down in the face of foreign pressure. Xi believes that the CCP’s domestic power will be enhanced if authoritarianism is prevalent and democracies are dysfunctional—fellow despots will not punish China for rights abuses, and the Chinese people will not want to emulate the chaos of liberal systems. He thinks that preventing revolts against authoritarianism in other countries will lower the odds of such a revolt erupting in China. And he believes that silencing critics abroad will limit the challenges facing the CCP within China. Xi sees rolling back democracy overseas as part of his plan to secure his regime at home.