[mastax]

The economic model is somewhat separable from the political model. Development in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan followed broadly similar lines - direct state support for large industrial conglomerates - while being less totalitarian. If that model is actually superior (even for developed economies) then there is going to be a painful transition, and The West will fall behind in the meantime. Change is fear.

And yeah it sucks that China can do terrible things to its citizens, but I still think most of the negative sentiment toward China is economic. The sample size is small but successful empires from history always value their own success over the lives of foreigners. In that sense it doesn't matter if China is 'evil' or not - 'we' are not Chinese - it only matters if they are powerful enough that their self interest can cause significant harm.

[raisspen]

I envy China for their willingness to invest lots of effort in moving forward and innovating. I would never live there because I don't feel that throwing away all notions of privacy is worth it. The totalitarian aspect of the Chinese government along with some territorial disputes are the only real sense of negative feelings most people I know have towards China.