A state’s internal political dynamics affect its foreign relations. Newly ascendant, Xi-led China is an arrogant and angry great power, simultaneously thin-skinned and callous. Successfully navigating through the challenges caused by the rise of a nascent great power in a region long patrolled by another great power would be difficult in any case, but these PRC domestic characteristics, unfortunately, make the task harder.

Denny Roy is a Senior Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu.

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