That method of approach has worked on the pre-telephone era, and with a little bit of official narrative (and economy-based “diplomacy”), people will remember a dictator as an object of worship, and not “that guy with the highest body count in the world”, even if it becomes blatantly hypocritical.
At this point, it seems that being proficient at hypocrisy seems to be a job requirement to be a politician (aside from being corrupt or nepotic for asian politicians)