odin- The Chinese are pragmatists. If it is to their advantage they will do something to appear to change. They are also a very proud nation and humiliating them is not a sensible idea. During their history China has always had a very strong central govt. which governs though a large and strong bureaucracy (and I can't imagine that changing soon). The society is also still very stratified according to class. High status depends on the position in the govt rather than money and to a lesser extent birth. It is these same people who are profiting from the present boom-- though it must be acknowledged that the eastern part of China superficially looks like many other prosperous Asian areas. It has also always been a characteristic of China's foreign policy that they rarely invade other countries for conquest. However they retaliate if threatened. Now before I get howled down-- China feels that Tibet (and Taiwan) have always been a part of China.
But true democracy-- that's a long way off if ever!
