It would be a human tragedy on a scale we've never seen before. This is why an authoritarian government of 1.4 billion people terrifies me. If history is any guide, the state will fall. But if it doesn't happen peacefully, god help us.

> This is why an authoritarian government of 1.4 billion people terrifies me.

Your terror is well-founded, I'm afraid.

(And, they are showing themselves to be increasingly nervous ...

... see the latest crackdown on academia, and student organizations ...)

The more weak they know their internal state to be, the more aggressive externally they will become. War or revolution are horrific outcomes, yet one or both seem almost inevitable.