Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s legacy

Longbaby, I think you've answered your own question. Why not just government? that includes everyone from the dictatorships through various grades of authoritarian to democratic. Doesn't corruption undermine them all?

Nick, in re your: "Corruption threatens every regime, including Britain, Europe and the US"

The future of China is still very uncertain. There is still a strong government in operation. Most of their policies are implemented to their will. Within the nation , the only problem threatening their regime is corruption. Now they don't have effective measures to inhibit corruption.

I think both Vietnam and North Korea are following patterns of development (esp. economic first, and possibly politics later) in mainland China.  Much of it hinges upon how local democratic movements are tolerated in Hong Kong.  Lately, there have been shows of this trend.  Hong Kongers are sometimes pushing their political expression to the brink, while China needs to tolerate it because of the 50 years agreement and enticement to Taiwan (and ultimately its own billion citizens) that differences from within as long as the system is united as one.  I think slowly this trend will spread to local politics and from there grow in demand to larger national level politics.

Nick In re your:  "Without an authoritarian government it would slip back into anarchy, with rival warlords seeking power (as it was before the Chin emperor gained power),"

Heyamigos, I think there is little doubt that his rule in China would have continued to be authoritarian. Indeed, it was in Taiwan, and the first years of his rule there were bloody. I think that the challenges on the mainland may have resulted in a longer period of authoritarian rule. But Taiwan also shows what CKS was capable of. They resettled millions of refugees, built a modern nation while maintaining a strong defensive posture, and after building a strong economy, allowed politics to develop to the point that the Nationalist Party was not the only Party. So the key is: Can the Communist Party step back enough to allow competition for national power. Given the way the Parties in both China and Vietnam are structured, and how woven they are into people's daily lives (Vietnam more so than China after Tien An Ming), I don't see a peaceful transition as likely.

The current situation in Russia will probably repeat itself in China when the Communists lose power: a period of anarchy followed by the emergence of an increasingly-authoritarian strongman

Originally posted by heyamigos Dr. Sun had lived in Hawaii for quite a period.  His early concepts of democracy most certainly was of the American ideal.  Even the Chinese flag he designed had the same 3 colors.   Now, the bigger question is: "Is Western style democracy feasible in China given its current development?"

Probably not. It will take many more years before China is stable enough to begin democratising. If reforms are implemented too rapidly and the government becomes weak, China will stagnate and collapse like the USSR

Originally posted by Genghis_Kan Originally posted by Gubook Janggoon Dr. Sun Yat-Sen had a lot of good ideas...but that was about it. The man set up the ideological basis for modern China, but didn't exactly institute it. Btw Sun Yat-Sen didn't have lots of good idea. Most of the his idea is copyed from somebody else. The democracy sh*t is copy and translate from the American. The Yat-Sen clothing is basically suit with few modification

Yat-Sen clothing seems like a combination of Manchu "long robe," Japanese uniforms and Western suits.

Thanks Maju for the link. Very clear and concise explanations. Love Wikipedia!!!!