i got to got to know a top party figure, bo xilai, who staged a bid for the leadership in 2010 and lostrked to me, you'll never know how insecure a government can be when it knows it hasn't been elected. well, bo xilai is now serving a life sentence, and the man who defeated him, xijinping, has made himself effectively leader for life. and during the communist party congress in 2022, he staged a masterful but shocking display of power by having the former leader, hujintao, escorted off the stage at the great hall of the people in full view of the entire nation and the world. but having seen what the ordinary people of china did to the representatives of state power on that violent night of the 3rd to the lith ofjune 1989, i can understand the anxiety that underlies these displays of strength. that's why hong kong represented such a challenge to xijinping. on the 30th ofjune 1997, i watched in the pouring rain. no matter how good their intentions... as the unionjack was lowered for the last time over british hong kong. for more than ten years, the chinese leadership was happy to stick to