ABSTRACT
After initial hopes of political reform in China, Beijing has successfully busted the myth that economic liberalization and the emergence of a middle class will eventually lead to the democratization of authoritarian states. Instead, the Chinese leadership embraced mercantilism to boost its national power, which it has accomplished with resounding success, but never for once considered abandoning oneparty rule under the CCP. For all the hopes of reform, there never was the question of implementing glasnost and perestroika in China or of allowing the more liberal way of life that exists in HKSAR to influence developments in the Mainland.
