"watching the administration of President Xi Jinping crack down hard on internal dissent while challenging the U.S. for leadership in Asia"

but that's exactly Xi Jinping's motive. People watching and making their own conclusions as long as its coming from the citizens. To Chinese public, Xi looks like a straightshooter, standing up for justice and vying for the attention of united states.

In reality, the outcome is increased internal support for Xi. The foreign policy component is a paper tiger. China has no desire or the capability to enter a military conflict with United States. No other countries can seriously oppose United States in a conventional warfare, even if they all got together and decided to attack it.

So China can be contained as long as it rejects democracy and run by a central power. This won't last long however. We are already seeing the CCP is faltering. When you live by the gun you die by the gun. Such is power in a allocated and dictated hierarchy. The challenge for China is to determine at which point do you introduce a democracy. Too soon or too late will both divide the country.