By targeting Hong Kong and Taiwan, the Chinese regime is mostly showing a sign of weakness. It looks like it wants to find external enemies to justify what's going wrong internally. It closed cities during the COVID‑19 pandemic, locking people up for months without any resources. This has created discontent. The middle class is losing its shirt in real estate, there have been problems in agriculture, and unemployment is coming. The Chinese haven't experienced this in a long time, but unemployment is coming back.
I am convinced that the regime is weaker than it appears. It adopts a rhetoric that it is strong and good, but, indeed, it can experience some instability. I don't think the Chinese are really going to invade Taiwan, especially not [Technical difficulty—Editor]. However, they will certainly indulge in displays of force.