China: A Country Founded by A Political Party

One of the fundamental differences between China and pretty much rest of the world is that--The country was founded by a political party, not the other way around.

1. China Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921, 28 years before the country. Mao Zedong became a chairman of the party in 1943, thus AKA "Chairman Mao".
2. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong, as a chairman of CCP, declared, "The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China is established today!”
3. China army is called "People's Liberation Army(解放军)", It is NOT a national army. It's a party army, AKA "Red Army(红军)" or "Party Army(党军)". Their top priority therefore is to protect the party.
4. So in order to secure complete political control, you need all of the three titles (in order of power):
1️⃣ General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (中共中央总书记)

2️⃣ President of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国主席)
3️⃣ Chairman of the Central Military Commission (中央军事委员会主席)
5. PRC flag was comissioned by CCP. The biggest star represents CCP and the other four represent four social classes united under CCP.

So, when we vaguely say national interest in international politics, it usually refers to corporate interest or interest of the party in power in the US while it means interest of the communist party in China.  However, CCP knows that the people are the ones who made the Long March possible, thus the country possible. They understand the power of the people from EXPERIENCE. So, they DO care about maintaining the people's loyalty and confidence, which was visibly at risk during the Covid lockdown.

Keeping this in mind can help you gain more accurate insight just about anything, really, about why things are the way they are in China.