Now that it has arrived, Beijing’s much-feared national security law for Hong Kong heralds nothing less than imperialism with Chinese characteristics. Imperialism need not always follow the classic British model of colonizing distant lands and peoples. No less typical in recent times is rule over groups with distinctive claims closer to home. But as China’s officials used to point out to the British, imperialism goes hand in fist with repression. With the new national security law, Beijing ironically doubles down on a disastrous model pioneered by Britain itself.

Not that long ago, Americans would regularly go to Northern Ireland to offer advice on reforming the region’s notoriously repressive policing. Happily for Northern Ireland, and tragically for the United States, the lessons now run in the other direction. For nearly three decades, Northern Ireland suffered sustained civil strife often referred to as “The Troubles.”

The world watches as the authoritarian tendencies of the global power’s leader descend into an ever-worsening cycle of chaos and repression. Longstanding refusals to deal with police brutality, among many other festering issues, has led to massive urban street demonstrations. Those demonstrations have been met not with reform, but instead with tough talk about law and order, outside agitators, and the deployment of national security apparatus.