The era that has just closed began around 1990 when the Soviet system broke. It was widely believed then that democracy would become a natural end goal for all societies and that even China and other autocratic nations would eventually reform and subscribe to these values and style of governance. This didn’t happen and not just in China; from Moscow to Ankara to Manila, it has not been the case. China’s prison camps in Xinjiang are evidence of its continuing authoritarian repression, while its South China Sea bases show it is prepared to flout the international rules-based order and, if
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