In this framing, the Chinese state religion is Marxism/Leninism/Mao Zedong Thought. Marxism of course doesn't think of itself in those terms—it claims to be a scientific theory of history—but treating it as a religious faith gets you to interesting conclusions, so let's do it.
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And the place that will be decided is Taiwan. The crushing of Hong Kong means the end of any hope of annexation under some kind of "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement. The existence of a free Taiwan is intolerable to the CCP. Any attack on Taiwan should be intolerable to us
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It's kind of ironic that Xi's belief in historical inevitability makes a completely avoidable and unnecessary conflict with Taiwan inevitable, at least while he's in power. But that's the road we're on, and we need to stop deluding ourselves that the CCP will be our friend again
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What the West owes China is a clear and unequivocal articulation of our values: equality, democracy, pluralism, freedom, and the rule of law. There are over a billion people in China being denied these fundamental rights, and when we fail to speak for them, we diminish ourselves.
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To the extent that standing up for our basic beliefs kicks globalization in the nuts, we're going to have to accept it and find ways to work around it. We can't make who we *are* contingent on what's economically beneficial. Xi understands that, but I'm not sure our leaders do.
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End of conversation
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