As the pro-democracy movement has roiled Hong Kong and people worldwide lament China’s lack of transparency surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, it seems like auspicious timing for Jiwei Ci’s new book, “Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis.”
Ci, a philosophy professor at the University of Hong Kong, argues that the Chinese Communist Party should end its authoritarian rule and open the country to political democracy. As Chinese society becomes increasingly egalitarian and the Communist Party loses its legitimacy, Ci argues that, without a sharing of political power and more agency for the people, a political crisis may end the regime within the next 10 to 20 years. A democratic opening, he concludes, is in the CCP’s best interest, the sole avenue for its survival.
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