There is a fundamental gap between how Americans perceive China and how China's leaders perceive China. That gap is as wide as the Pacific Ocean and it is crucial for understanding what's happening in Hong Kong today and how China's leaders will respond to it.
Americans see China for its strengths: its massive size, powerhouse economy, exploding growth, miraculously expanding cities, booming industries, and growing influence on the world. Even the fact that many Americans see China as a threat is ultimately a compliment to the country, treating is as a near- or soon-to-be-equal.
Chinese leaders (and most Chinese people, for that matter) have a view of their country that could not be more different. They see their country and government as so weak, so embattled by existential threats from without and within, that the possibility of chaos and collapse is seen as immediate and omnipresent.
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