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Does Beijing have legal authority to compel the reverse, or does it rely on appeals to patriotism and backchannel enforcement to get it done?

It's a dictatorship, they will do whatever they want.

I encourage you to watch this: The Rules for Rulers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs

TLDR: dictators can't do whatever they want.

Not sure why this is getting downvoted. It was only the other day that Trump was referring to himself as “the chosen one”.

Listen, I'm not a fan of Trump but that was taken out of context. Go read the full quote. The statement was more "no one has done this yet, I'm going to do it" and not claiming any specialness.

It can also mean that the writer, in a rush to get the story out, does not have time to get informed opinions to make a point.