"Colour outside the lines" is a nice turn. Dynastic history says that all nations should pay tribute to zhongguo. You remember one of the 36 stratagems - "loot a burning house" - when others are disorganized or preoccupied, that is a good time to advance. So, along the lines of "the best defense is a good offense" Xi wants to control world markets and world opinion as much as possible. The markets provide jobs for Chinese (in Africa, the -stans, and at home), influence or control of international organizations will assure favorable rulings for China. Some actions just seem clumsy or only for home consumption - border actions with India, the South China Sea business, the Diaoyudao with Japan, threats to foreign academics and governments. Xi came in with a host of bad problems - debt, corruption, environmental. CCP was no longer the vanguard, it was an administrative party, and it needed to bolster legitimacy. Xi came in to purify CCP and the Chinese people, and in the meantime, give them something else to think about. So, Document No. 9 at home and wolf warrior actions abroad. One has to remember that survival of CCP is always the fundamental goal - and now, survival of Xi. Saber rattling at home and abroad keeps the foreigners at bay, keeps domestic enemies quiet until long after 2022, and might turn out well for China. Xi is the right man in the position at the right time. Bill published John Garnaut's speech from about a year and a half ago https://sinocism.com/p/engineers-of-the-soul-ideology-in and I think that works well as an explainer. Total ideological control is the plan - good for CCP, good for Xi, good for China.