WHY isn’t China a democracy? Why is the People’s Republic still an
authoritarian state, despite its return to international politics after the
isolationism of the 1950s and 1960s, the collapse of Communism in Russia, and
pressure from the West for improved human rights?
While academics debate this puzzle, many China watchers believe the country’s
ruling order faces a new threat in the shape of the Internet. They claim that in
a country where hundreds of millions are predicted to go online, the Net’s
capacity for promoting free speech and political dissent will eventually bring
the ruling party to its knees.…
