Quote Originally Posted by GERRY101101:
And yes, the Chinese government has done much right - particularly economically. But in my book (and hey, maybe its just a personal opinion - but I shudder to think people can disagree) those things can't excuse massive human rights violations. And yes, such violations happen all over the world - which is where a free press and an ability to take action (electoral, or judicial) against government wrongdoing is essential. Obviously that is missing in the PRC. And that is a reasonable basis for some people in HK wanting to go in a different direction.
I don't think they've done much right economically either. Sure, the productive forces have been developed but this is just a by-product of the CCP bureaucracy looking after its own interests. In this respect, some sort of transformation into liberal democracy (unlikely anyway) would change little. Political power is a fraud if the Chinese people do not take over and retain power in production, ie economic democracy.