[RandomLensman]

No, not how dictatorships work. They usually work by keeping the supporting 2nd layer below the dictor happy and under control, which has nothing to do with country as such.

Coincidentally, things could align, but they often don't.

[natmaka]

Isn't Chinese history the elephant in the room here?

IMHO most Chinese citizens remember that whenever they fight each other (civil war...) disasters happen, and therefore the most important mission of the government is to squash any growing quarrel. Everything else is ancillary.

[RandomLensman]

No, why would it? A mix of local ineptitude and revisionist history isn't really saying anything about the counterfactual. Why is China not as rich as the West if it has had the better governance for a long time?

[secondcoming]

> Why is China not as rich as the West

I find this hard to believe

[RandomLensman]

Look at GDP per capita, very simple. Middle-income country - they might even get stuck in that trap.

[natmaka]

I don't think nor wrote that it "had the better governance", and merely proposed an explanation for what we know (acts of the governments, reaction of most citizens).

[RandomLensman]

Then it isn't an "elephant in the room", i.e., dictatorship has not delivered in China.