Agency and Aspiration sively mirroring a broader politics of fear.64 Under Xi Jinping, this optimism has been super-charged by the courts' embrace of technology, and the legal system's emergent ambition to lead the world into a world of online courts and computer-assisted judging that still sounds futuristic to most of us. Much like China itself, the legal system is increasingly self-confident and interested in innovation. Law is designed to serve the Party, as it always was, but is also increasingly intertwined in a nationalist narrative about China's leading the world. 64. Although hearing expressions of optimism and cultivated patience is common in China, it is hardly universal. Fear is part of the emotional palette of Chinese law too, especially among activist lawyers who run the risk of arrest. Droit et Société 114-115/2023 ■ 305