[fsloth]

That's how china has been ruled for thousands of years.

You can't directly implant process X from culture A to culture B. The checks and balances and social norms between different cultures are different. You can implant an industrial process, if you educate a workforce, i.e. transform culture B to A onsite. Changing the culture of an entire civilization is considerably more difficult.

That's not to say I don't like democracy or markets. But a country does not become a western democracy by having an election an privatizing everything.

Labeling china as bad guys trivializes several aspects of differences between cultures. I'm not sure there are any good guys in global politics, so I'm not sure how the labels good or bad should be applied.

[cgmg]

I think the point about 'culture' is over-stated.

Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have a similar culture yet became liberal democracies.