Or as a counter point, they are so afraid of a collapse of the CPC (like Soviet Union) they started out slow with their list of core issues. To norm everyone. Started with suppressing Tiannanmen and other dissidents, moved South China Sea and other predictable things - ‘look how how we defend our core interests’

Then they get more aggressive about their existing list and ADD things to their core interests. To your point, the list will get ever longer and pretty soon the intl community is hamstrung to do anything about their new X core interest because ‘remember how aggressive they were in X year about this core interest’

They are playing a game fundamentally different than we can truly understand. How could any of us TRULY jump into their minds? The brain structurally changes when you subject people to aggressive propoganda like that their whole lives (taking for granted their are no wumaos or articulate western educated CPC nationalists here)

To your earlier point, they dont care about the streisand effect and the backlash against them isnt coming. The CPC forever and must take back their rightful place as the center of the world - by any means necessary.