frankly xi jinping is farther left than the other guys that came before him. i think the chinese legitimately had the cia fooled and they figured they'd make good partners. the US shipped a bunch of industry over and taught them how to use it.

the fact of the matter is that many chinese have seen their incomes multiply by ten fold, while having a purchasing power similar to western countries in the most urbanized areas. this is practically unheard of.

im not about to say china is perfect, but if xi jinping, a by the book lefty for his entire career, is able to catch the ire of the cia, i'd say theyre tentative allies at the least.