A police officer wearing a protective mask walks past the portrait of late communist leader Mao Zedong (not pictured) at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on January 23, 2020. Large-scale Lunar New Year events in Beijing have been cancelled as part of national efforts to control the spread of a new SARS-like virus, city authorities announced on January 23. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

In this April 20, 2018, file aerial photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, advection fog drifts across skyscrapers on the waterfront in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province. Chinese leaders have long been sensitive about their communist country’s international image. Now, they are battling back, investing in diplomacy and a courtship of hearts and minds, just as the United States digs in on the Trump administration’s “America First” mindset. (Photo by Lu Hui/Xinhua via AP Photo/File)

In this January 23, 2021, file photo, a police officer detains a young woman during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia. Allies of Navalny are calling for new protests next weekend to demand his release, following a wave of demonstrations across the country that brought out tens of thousands in a defiant challenge to President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/File)

Jumbo-Visma team's Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard holds his daughter Frida as he celebrates on the podium with the overall leader's yellow jersey after winning the 109th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, after the 21st and final 115,6 km stage between La Defense Arena in Nanterre, outside Paris, and the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, on July 24, 2022. (Photo by Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

Soldiers from the Nigerian Armed Forces take position and secure the streets in Lagos Island, Lagos, on February 27, 2023, after hoodlums had harassed market owners. Nigeria slowly counted more results on Monday after a tight election for the presidency of Africa's most populous nation as delays and accusations of manipulation fuelled tensions Nearly 90 million were eligible to vote on Saturday for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, with many hoping for a new leader to tackle insecurity, economic malaise and widening poverty. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP Photo)

Hostesses wait to direct delegates to their buses and hotels after the opening session of the CPPCC, or Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, in Tiananmen Square outside the Great Hall of the People on March 4, 2024 in Beijing, China.China's annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions will convene leaders and lawmakers to set the government's agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

An Islamic religious leader and rebel supporter (R) chant to rally rebel fighters awaiting a rumored Libyan Army advance April 11, 2011 between the crucial towns of Ajdabiyah and Brega, Libya. Rebels continued to hold the strategic town of Ajdabiyah a day after NATO air power struck army troops loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi nearby, helping the rebels secure the city. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

In modern Russia there are no free elections, therefore the political elite is almost constant.

Photo: Valentina Matvienko, Mayor of St. Petersburg, attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 17, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Global business leaders have gathered in Russia for the three-day conference. (Photo by Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)