Laura Zhou - China’s authoritarian way can rival liberal democracy if it doesn’t tear itself apart, says End of History author

Francis Fukuyama says Beijing challenged the expectations he had when he published his book in 1992, but Chinese system must evolve to flourish

This is not a glowing article about China, but it's interesting. 

Francis Fukuyama says Chinese model may be very successful, but it could still go wrong. The Chinese middleclass are not interested in democracy, just a rising standard of living, and if the government fails to achieve this then the system may eventually fail.

What I find interesting, which I have read many times before, is that the Chinese Communist Party system weeds out those that aren't committed to the general well being of the Chinese people, but it could one day fail, says Fukuyama, and then China could end up someone very undesirable with no way of removing him. In fact, Fukuyama fears that Xi may one day turn out to be a 'bad Emperor'.

Fukuyama says how the Chinese are very collective and believe in working for the common good, and so the Chinese system is unlikely to work anywhere else. 

Fukuyama explained to Kato that it was unlikely that countries could fully recreate the Chinese model, especially its authoritarianism, as some aspects of Communist society could not be replicated.

Francis Fukuyama says China has challenged his idea of the end of history. 

Those included “meritocracy, a disciplined party hierarchy, respect for education, and above all, a sense among the rulers that they have a certain responsibility to act in the public interest”, Fukuyama said, referring to measures the Communist Party has taken over the past six years under Xi.

SCMP

Laura Zhou - China’s authoritarian way can rival liberal democracy if it doesn’t tear itself apart, says End of History author