The Chinese government has given global investors a series of unpleasant surprises in recent weeks, with several unexpected announcements causing market sell-offs, primarily in tech stocks. Some have argued that investors should have been better prepared, given that the areas affected — including data privacy, online gaming and private tutoring — have long been of concern to policy makers in Beijing.  But the reality is that central government policy-making has become extremely difficult to predict, dramatically increasing the uncertainties around investing in Chinese stocks. Beijing’s recent actions have proven to be costly manifestations of what can happen when political power is highly concentrated, with the negative effect of sudden changes in policy direction compounded by zealous implementation from bureaucrats — and a phenomenon I call the “magical swords” syndrome. During Xi Jinping's first term as China’s leader, pundits at home and abroad generally pr