[adventured]

Just about everything that Americans and Europeans were sold on about China, when it came to their entry into the WTO and acceptance on the global stage, has turned out to be a lie.

Not only has there been zero democratization, it has gone rapidly backwards during the Xi era. Nearly all human rights - the few that had been tangibly acquired post Deng - have been revoked in China. In the decade prior to Xi there was actually some limited freedom of speech occuring online, that is mostly gone at this point. They've cracked down on pretty much everyone and everything, even disappearing Marxist students protesting for better worker protections recently.

It was a very foolish premise by the West, to think that all nations want the same things culturally. That you can prod and shape the direction of nations/cultures in such a manner.