I don't think "irreversible decline" meaning the raw metrics get worse. I think here it means the structure and ideology of the CCP means they will never be abl

I don't think "irreversible decline" meaning the raw metrics get worse. I think here it means the structure and ideology of the CCP means they will never be able to deliver what the West can deliver, especially on the personal freedoms front. Maybe decline is the wrong word, and collision course is a better one. As China globalizes and becomes more exposed to the outside world, they will start to wonder why they can't vote on things like environmental regulation, or why the local factory pollutes their river but they have little say in that process. In this sense, this is the decline. It's the CCP being undermined by their own economic liberalization.