Here's a universal truth. Outside of sociopaths, a person must believe in his work in order to excel in his (or her) job.
Eric X. Li was a Legislative Councilmember in Hong Kong... a rather finely run district (probably one of the best run districts) in that country. And based on the talk, it sounds like he believed in himself, in the system of his culture, and believed in his work most of all.
It is alien, and definitely wrong to our perspective. But do remember, he lived this stuff for nearly 10 years of his life. He is one of the few English speakers I have ever seen describe the Chinese political system to me.
To call him just an "opportunist" is an insult to his work, and his bravery. He came to America to stand up in front of a crowd and then bash Democracy. And he wasn't ignorant to our culture either. So I'd have to give him an A+ on public speaking for sure.
Locally, I can't even debate the pros and cons of the system here; there are no true believers to be found. But we hear stories about outsiders who buy the propaganda and are quite disappointed about the realities.
But most Chinese I talk to seem to have your opinion. Li's opinion was interesting _because_ it deviated from the norm. :-)
While you may be cynical about the system, I personally have been waiting to hear the perspective from someone who actually does believe in it. I've never heard this train of argument before.
Li is like Kaifu or any of the other VCs and/or tech leaders here: they have to be optimistic about China, their entire lively hood depends on it. A company cannot succeed in China without a very good relationship with the government.