When Will the Chinese People Be Free?

Issue Date July 2007
Volume 18
Issue 3
Page Numbers 38-52
file Print
arrow-down-thin Download from Project MUSE
external View Citation

This article asks: “What will be the future character of China’s political system?” According to Freedom House, all countries above a certain income level are rated at least Partly Free, so why not China? Assuming continued growth in education and the economy, the model result shows it edging into that category by 2015 and Free by 2025. Despite evident negatives, changes in personal liberties, legal system, media, village elections, and individual values support this prediction. An in-between stage might involve more open competition within the party. When achieved, a democratic China would be a positive factor for peace in Asia.

About the Author

Henry S. Rowen is director emeritus of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace.

View all work by Henry S. Rowen