well, if

Xi takes hardline approaches and the situations escalate later, the West /US would more likely get involved. There could be many ways other than military engagement, e.g. US/the West could release CCP high official's ( or their proxy's) personal financial info or revoke their foreign passports, which could create internal pressures on Xi.  Then, the stabilty of the Xi's control could be weaken, and the results could be very unpredictable and dynamic.