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One reason is that such freedom is prone to foreign interference. It's obvious if you look at local medias in TW and HK. Democracy is not a taboo in the mainla

One reason is that such freedom is prone to foreign interference. It's obvious if you look at local medias in TW and HK. Democracy is not a taboo in the mainland, at least in academia. The government has also done a few democratization experiments in small villages and cities, but results were unpromising. Democratization in China is inevitable since the economic miracle won't last forever, the hard part is to figure out how to make sure the process of democratization keeps the country unified and brings prosperity, I remember there are even a few foreign professors working on this issue in Peking or Tsinghua University.

eric-hu 7y ago
Why is democracy inevitable? It seems to me like power concentrating into the hands of a small minority is inevitable everywhere. I'd really like to believe otherwise, but I'm hard pressed to see long lasting examples where money and power do not act like gravity
- zachguo 7y ago
  Check this out https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/chinese-democracy-isnt-inevitable/394325/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/ch...
  - eric-hu 7y ago
    I gave the article a read. I don't feel like the author made a case for "democratization in China is inevitable". It was indeed an example of the Tsinghua democracy discussions you mentioned. Democracy isn't the only form of governance that can work, and it's _definitely_ not a silver bullet. I just don't see the majority of China's citizens clamoring for democracy so much that they'll revolt. My main point of contention with your original comment is that democracy is inevitable. I'd like for you to be right, but I'm just not seeing it. (I'd also like for the American system to be more effective for all than it is, but I won't betting on that...)
    - zachguo 7y ago
      Yeah, I agree. Democracy in its common definition is unlikely, but democratization is a gradual process in my view. I believe that, once Chinese people stop getting richer and become less content, they would seek alternatives, more and more democratic elements would be added if CCP wants to avoid a violent overthrown.
brendyn 7y ago
I've heard from Chinese people about these experiments too and that they were not particularly democratic, for example people would sell their vote. Do you know much about it. You say China must become democratic. It gives a me a feeling of optimism and all but how can you predict such things.
- 0815test 7y ago
  > they were not particularly democratic, for example people would sell their vote. Classic... this is why democracy is a lot less important than some less-obvious factors when it comes to quality of governance - especially things like upholding the rule of law. BTW, there's nothing particularly "westernizing" about that, either - in fact, it's something that Confucianism explicitly calls for (albeit historically with other labels, such as "Rectification of Names") and I believe it's even mentioned in the official PRC Constitution.
- zachguo 7y ago
  I found these papers http://polisci.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/people/u3854/JoCC2009.pdf http://polisci.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/people/u3854... https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/china/CEG-review-issue1.pdf https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/china/CEG-...

eric-hu 7y ago

Why is democracy inevitable? It seems to me like power concentrating into the hands of a small minority is inevitable everywhere. I'd really like to believe otherwise, but I'm hard pressed to see long lasting examples where money and power do not act like gravity

zachguo 7y ago
Check this out https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/chinese-democracy-isnt-inevitable/394325/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/ch...
- eric-hu 7y ago
  I gave the article a read. I don't feel like the author made a case for "democratization in China is inevitable". It was indeed an example of the Tsinghua democracy discussions you mentioned. Democracy isn't the only form of governance that can work, and it's _definitely_ not a silver bullet. I just don't see the majority of China's citizens clamoring for democracy so much that they'll revolt. My main point of contention with your original comment is that democracy is inevitable. I'd like for you to be right, but I'm just not seeing it. (I'd also like for the American system to be more effective for all than it is, but I won't betting on that...)
  - zachguo 7y ago
    Yeah, I agree. Democracy in its common definition is unlikely, but democratization is a gradual process in my view. I believe that, once Chinese people stop getting richer and become less content, they would seek alternatives, more and more democratic elements would be added if CCP wants to avoid a violent overthrown.

brendyn 7y ago

I've heard from Chinese people about these experiments too and that they were not particularly democratic, for example people would sell their vote. Do you know much about it. You say China must become democratic. It gives a me a feeling of optimism and all but how can you predict such things.

0815test 7y ago
> they were not particularly democratic, for example people would sell their vote. Classic... this is why democracy is a lot less important than some less-obvious factors when it comes to quality of governance - especially things like upholding the rule of law. BTW, there's nothing particularly "westernizing" about that, either - in fact, it's something that Confucianism explicitly calls for (albeit historically with other labels, such as "Rectification of Names") and I believe it's even mentioned in the official PRC Constitution.
zachguo 7y ago
I found these papers http://polisci.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/people/u3854/JoCC2009.pdf http://polisci.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/people/u3854... https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/china/CEG-review-issue1.pdf https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/china/CEG-...