Could China become a democracy in a not-too-distant future? Some have predicted that the country’s unprecedented economic growth and middle-class expansion will naturally lead to a liberalization of China’s regime and a move toward democracy. Not so, according to Jean-Pierre Cabestan who, in a recent book, contends that the Chinese Communist Party will continue to adapt and prosper in the coming decades under its well-established authoritarian rule. Influenced by China’s culture and the former Soviet Union’s ideology, most Chinese are not asking for democracy, preferring security, prosperity and social stability to political freedom.

   

Jean-Pierre Cabestan is a respected academic voice on contemporary China. He is a professor in political science at Hong Kong Baptist University, and is a senior research fellow in France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He has published more than 15 books, mostly about China and Taiwan, and closely follows the China-Africa connection. His latest book will be available for purchase at this luncheon.