MBS is the power behind a semi-feudal hereditary monarchy; Xi is the head of a bureaucratic state driven by a 19th and 20th century ideology. They don’t seem very similar at first glance.
But they are both autocrats, and they have something else in common: they can’t stand dissenters. And so, while MBS ultimately permitted women to drive, he imprisoned women who fought for the very same right; similarly, Xi changed his covid policies in response to public demonstrations, but he is going after anyone who went out on the street to demand those very same changes.
Are you surprised? That’s what autocrats do. As a matter of self-preservation, they may take public opinion into account, but conceptually, they don’t view it as relevant.