Yeah I'm pretty skeptical as well but I've learned that just because someone is a competitor, we shouldn't deprive them of the virtues that we like to believe w

Yeah I'm pretty skeptical as well but I've learned that just because someone is a competitor, we shouldn't deprive them of the virtues that we like to believe we have. It is very possible and I would argue probable that Xi is a genuine Chinese patriot (likewise I would say for Putin). Being a patriot, however, doesn't mean one can't also accept some amount of corruption if that furthers the long term goals. As people have already pointed out, even the US defense industry has some level of corruption too but no one can reasonably doubt the superiority of the US military. If we are frank with ourselves, the US is somewhat corrupt too yet it's always managed to cope with that.