LONDON -- The huge growth in Chinese gross domestic product and the market represented by a population 10 times that of Japan present huge opportunities for potential trade and investment. But these tend to obscure the problems that policies pursued by the present regime in China pose to the rest of the world.
China is not a democratic state and human rights in China continue to be flouted and restricted. Press censorship has been tightened and free access to the Internet restricted. Chinese are still taught to revere Mao Zedong, and the crimes of his monstrous regime are glossed over. Corruption is extensive and inequalities are growing not only between rich and poor, but also between underdeveloped and developing regions. These inequalities are liable to cause instability.
The Chinese armed forces remain among the largest in the world and their equipment is being modernized. The regime has not given up its claim to Taiwan and other disputed islands. Nationalist sentiments are encouraged rather than controlled. Chinese forces pose a potential threat to stability in East Asia.