A few weeks back I wrote that Xi JinPing had put on the 'black hat'. Some younger readers took this as a reference to digital espionage. While the PLA is certainly quite the computer crime syndicate in its own right, my intent was more 'bad guy cowboy bandit' than 'nerdy geek' stealing code.

Either way the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Xi is no longer operating on the premise of China being a peaceful partner of the West. Rather by support of North Korea, building bases in the South China Sea, and menacing Taiwan, the CCP has launched itself on a path of defiant aggression that has placed China at odds with the US and Asia's democracies.

CCP apologists, in and out of China, would have us think President Xi was content to quietly go about his task of spreading the CCP's influence via mountains of cash. Xi's Belt and Road initiative is the largest global bribery operation in history and only the most naive saw it as anything greater. Yet, governments handing out cash to get their way is pretty standard. Xi's Belt & Road may be an evil Marshall Plan, but no one was ever gonna get worked up over it.

Which is why it's hard to understand the latest move on the global stage by the CCP. Why is President Xi championing CCP style governance over Western democracy outside China? Think of the hubris of Xi and his fellow Communists to enter a battle of idea's with the West. If your good at being a tyrant you probably understand the whole "power flows from the barrel of a gun" concept being a winner for dictators over the years.

It's a bit odd the CCP would think they have a winning message with: "Submit, it's good for you". Worse, it doesn't make tactical sense. Belt & Road, even military bases in the South China Sea, was a big yawn for most. Why argue ideology? Didn't the CCP learn anything in their political repression classes? Do they think they can control the internet or just make everyone shut up?

Yet, in trying to understand the move I have concluded I don't care if I understand. If Xi wants to enter the great debate of free men verse serfs, if the CCP wants to argue all men are not created equal that is wonderful. If a defender makes a bad pass in front of his own goal do you question the reason why or drive it home for the score?

The choice for men and women has always been freedom or chains. If President Xi and the CCP want to enter on the side of chains, a never ending line from the side of freedom is eager to engage.