China's domestic demand is collapsing, with its property sector being on life support. It has to rely more on export, which means that it has to rely more on the American market. Beijing, therefore, has to avoid giving the US-dominated court of public opinion any excuse for economic sanctions. Xi Jinping has already had his plate full of trade conflicts. Of course, Xi will still be talking tough in the international arena, as he did in his recent meeting with Biden. A truly tough guy won't just keep talking. Biden knows it.

So, don't expect Xi to repeat what Deng Xiaoping did on June 4, 1989. Rather, Xi will likely take a page from Hong Kong's 2019 playbook:

(1) By all means keep the People's Liberation Army out of sight, if not out of mind.

(2) By all means keep the Western media folks around, if only to play them around.

Today, Hong Kong is virtually under the radar screen of the court of public opinion in the West. Xi must be envying Hong Kong.

Author: Lingyang Jiang