[jstevens85]

South Korea - military dictatorship until the late 80s

Taiwan - one party state + martial law from 1949 - 1987.

Singapore - one party has held power for over 40 years.

These three countries have transformed themselves into advanced high-income economies. My expectation is that China will follow the same path as its neighbours - authoritarian government + restrictions on personal freedom during the rapid industrialisation phase, then eventually a transition to a functioning democracy once urbanisation is mostly complete. If China can attain the same GDP per capita as the Asian Tigers, then it will easily be larger than the US economy.

[zmh]

I believe these 3 countries had a good and free education system (in the periods mentioned) which is still a burden for the majority of Chinese nowadays.