"At home, Xi's instincts are at least as illiberal as his Russian
counterpart. He believes that even a little political permissiveness
could prove not only his own undoing, but also that of his regime."
這是一篇社論，意思大致上可以理解，就是在說習近平對中國內部的掌控相當嚴格，
不下於俄羅斯的普丁。
想請問的是"instinct"這裡該怎麼理解，查了很多例句都不脫「直覺」這個意思，但在
這裡的上下文顯然不通。
謝謝大家幫忙！