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The latest move was a ham-handed attempt by Hong Kong authorities to push through an extradition law many feared Beijing could exploit to crush dissent. Though the bill has been shelved, the protests have persisted, as the disgruntled call for greater democracy. “The Communist Party has increasingly encroached on HK’s territory and intervene in internal affairs of Hong Kong,” protesters at the airport explained in a pamphlet handed out to passing travelers. “We’re fighting to put the broken pieces back together, to preserve what makes this city our home.”

The Chinese government, however, remains unmoved. Last week, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam made no concessions but demanded an end to the demonstrations. “Hong Kong cannot have large-scale, spontaneous protests that obstruct traffic and daily operations,” she said.

Beijing officials have painted the unrest as the handiwork of malevolent foreign intrigue—what they call the “black hand.” In recent days, Chinese state media have specifically targeted an American diplomat in Hong Kong as the evil schemer, prompting a State Department spokesperson to label Beijing a “thuggish regime.” In June, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed the finger at “some Western forces” for stirring up opposition in Hong Kong: “We want to say this loudly: Pull back the black hand you have shown … Hong Kong isn’t a place for you to run amok.”

The story is the same in the trade dispute with the United States. Donald Trump bears the brunt of the blame for starting the trade war by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports. But a strong case can be made that the president is merely reacting to Beijing’s unwillingness to address long-standing American complaints about its unfair trade policies, from closing markets to U.S. companies to subsidizing favored Chinese champions. Yet throughout the negotiations between the two powers—which have dragged on for well over a year—China’s leaders have avoided taking responsibility for their role in the dispute, instead characterizing China as a victim of a Washington gone rogue. This month, a commentary in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, blasted that “some U.S. officials are maxing out their credibility in the international society and undermining the rule-based international order,” adding that “these Americans need to wake up.”

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All governments, of course, have a habit of insisting they are in the right. But China finds altering course especially difficult, mainly because of how its domestic political system functions. As an authoritarian regime—and one that is more and more centered on a personal cult surrounding Xi Jinping—admitting fault is perceived as a threat to credibility. Nor is it clear how much bad news filters up to top decision makers through a bureaucracy fearful that policy disagreements could be mistaken for disloyalty. Compounding matters is the historical narrative marketed domestically by Beijing, in which the party stars as the defender of the Chinese nation against foreign imperialists who have preyed upon the country for more than a century. “They haven’t been treated well; now they have a right to stand up and be a great power,” Glaser said of the thinking. “All of this leads the Chinese to believe that their interests are more important than others.”