The article by X about Xi is fascinating but ignores the timing and role of the CCP in selecting a strong, resilient, charismatic leader such as Xi to advance its and China’s agenda. It’s worth noting that if not Xi, Bo Xilai would likely have become China’s next leader. The path forward would have remained the same. The X article’s key points are the last 2 paragraphs. To contain China, we in the US must first put our house in order:

“In the final analysis, the major problem facing the United States in confronting Xi’s China is not one of military, economic, or technological capabilities. It is one of self-belief. There is a subtle yet corrosive force that has been at work in the United States’ national psychology for some time now, raising doubt about the nation’s future and encouraging a sense that, as a country, America’s best days may now be in the past. Adversaries sense this as well.

Objectively, there is no basis for any such despair. The United States, as a country, is young, and the capacity for innovation is unsurpassed. The values for which it stands have stood the test of time. This is where the nation’s leadership must once again step up to the challenge—not just to provide the nation with vision, mission and purpose; not just to frame the strategy and give it effect; but to cause the American people to once again believe in the nation and its capacity to provide effective global leadership for the century ahead. In doing so, the nation must also lead its friends and allies to once again believe in the United States as well.“