[jonathanstrange]

It's a false dichotomy, as e.g. the prospering former East Bloc countries who are now part of the EU demonstrate.

[_cs2017_]

Of course it's possible. And much better examples of that are post war Japan and Germany. The changes there literally made them global leaders.

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm saying it's risky, especially for China which hasn't had a history of being successful without an authoritarian government. And which had a terrible history of chaos when it didn't have a strong government.