“What does the Chinese Communist Party fear most?” Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked me this question during a private meeting in Washington in January. Having been persecuted by Beijing for more than seven years for my human-rights work, I know that it is crucial to ask these fundamental questions. It’s the only way to begin to break down the bulwarks that prop up tyrants everywhere. That’s why many dictators—from Vladimir Putin to Saddam Hussein—make a ritual show of holding elections even when few are convinced the results will be legitimate. Real elections would mean an end to the dictators’ power.

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