Do you think that China can continue to develop economically without making political reforms?
1 Answer
It is difficult to predict
Explanation:
The pace and scale of the economic reforms introduced from the late 70's onwards has put tremendous social pressures on China. Although these reforms have at times been spectacularly successful there have also been serious difficulties.
In particular the lack of political reform has meant the Chinese communist elite has been able to exploit the economic and social change that has taken place.
There is now a new and extremely wealthy ruling class in many ways similar to the ruling class which existed in imperialist China.
If there is a genuine move to democracy this class will lose their hegemony and so they oppose such moves. At the same time, the lack of any real alternatives in China has meant widespread and crippling corruption which has also meant that many reforms have failed or are being held back.
I would argue that at some point the pressure will become so great that political reform will become inevitable. The question is when?
