On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 06:00:22 GMT, strabo
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 11:17:38 +0100, Tom Ivar Helbekkmo
wrote:

(Excitable Boy) writes:

let's get one thing straight - China is NEVER going to be a
capitalist democracy. NEVER. They do not intend to be and they will
not be.

I probably shouldn't have written "capitalist democracy". Could you
agree with me that China is transitioning into a democracy embracing
a western style market economy, where private enterprise will be the
driving force behind the country's growth? And that, so far, the
Chinese administration is doing an admirable job of it, by controlling
the transition process, keeping it slow and smooth?

And why should anyone expect the Chinese ruling class, largely
comprised of military leaders, give up a power which is absolute?

They won't - at least not voluntarily.

--
Robert Sturgeon,
proud member of the vast right wing conspiracy
and the evil gun culture.