[mc32]

One of my implied points was that democracy is not 'foreign' and uninteresting to the Chinese, as implied by the OP. Prior to Mao's consolidating power, there were lots of CN intellectuals who were very excited about the prospects for CN and democracy. Song, Jiaoren was one such enthusiast of democracy who was assassinated prior to assuming CN Premiership[1]

It reminded me somewhat of the Japanese justification for protecting domestic ski manufacturers from EU mfgs: "Japanese snow is different".

[1]http://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568587-shot-killed...