What the West Gets Wrong About China

Many people have wrongly assumed that political freedom would follow new economic freedoms in China and that its economic growth would have to be built on the same foundations as in the West. The authors suggest that those assumptions are rooted in three essentially false beliefs about modern China: (1) Economics and democracy are two sides of the same coin; (2) authoritarian political systems can't be legitimate; and (3) the Chinese live, work, and invest like Westerners. But at every point since 1949, the Chinese Communist Party--central to the institutions, society, and daily experiences that shape all Chinese people--has stressed the importance of Chinese history and of Marxist-Leninist doctrine. Until Western companies and politicians understand this and revise their views, they will continue to get China wrong.