Chenggang Xu explains how the reform era reshaped the country while leaving its core institutions largely intact.
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Aug 14, 2026
Chenggang Xu
For decades, the West assumed that economic growth would turn China into a more open, liberal society, much as it did South Korea and Taiwan. Instead, China’s totalitarian institutions proved remarkably resilient, surviving decades of reform and reasserting themselves under President Xi Jinping.
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