They are evil scumbag and don't give a damn about human rights or human life.
All they care about is power. Power over their people now. Power over the Pacific rim in the near future. Power over America after that.
All they care about is making themselves look rightful rulers. If they can't pull that off, then they'll happily settle for the people living in terror. That's it.
The discussion wasn’t about China’s abyssmal human rights record or even their present form of government. We have no disagreement there. You questioned my comment that the ChiComs would be ‘mortified’ at the violent murder of an American tourist. I would argue that, yes, they would be and are mortified. They may be evil, but they are proud, and see themselves as a superior form of human - well, except for those freedom-seeking rabble rousers.
Violence against visitors in any form was the last thing they wanted during the Games. If you caught Fox’s early Friday am story, as the Opening Ceremony took place, there were no people or non-official cars even allowed on the street in the entire city of Beijing.
Hosting these Olympics is absolutely huge to them in a way it wouldn’t be to a free nation. They are trying to gain the respect of the world. They are trying to show the world (and receiving a LOT of help from NBC, I might add) that communism can work.
Seeking respect as a civil society under communist control is totally different from their human rights abuses, their wish to dominate the world, etc. They want the world’s respect in spite of all that. So, a violent street crime (such as occurs daily in most major cities) is a cause of extreme shame within their culture.