President Xi Jinping's uncompromising stance on limiting democratic reforms in Hong Kong marks a public show of strength that signals to the world — and China's own citizens — that the ruling Communist Party won't tolerate any challenges to its authority.
Xi incurred a rebuke from the U.S. government and the anger of pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong by insisting China effectively selects which leadership candidates people in the former British colony can vote for. The demands of even the most moderate advocates for greater democracy were rejected on Sunday as they were told to take it or leave it.
"Beijing has been quite obsessed with projecting a strong image to the world that it has a solid grip on power and its decisions mustn't be challenged," said He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University. "Sometimes it looks more arrogant than strong, but the central government doesn't care, because it would rather err on the side of looking strong than weak."