China's government is to "benevolence" as the Ministry of Love is to love. As far as "optimal political system" -- I'll simply disagree as we are all entitled to an opinion. However, the facts indicate that China is pretty much the opposite of "well meaning and kindly."
I lived there many years and love China -- but it certainly isn't because of the "benevolence" of the government.
The interesting thing is that nearly every one of the links I posted is blocked in China. I guess the government wouldn't want the people to find out just how "benevolent" they really are.
There's no doubt they rule with an iron fist. I think an argument can be made that they have benevolent long term intentions, but rightfully or wrongfully have decided that to achieve their long term vision it is prudent to crush anything that gets in their way, if necessary.
Ask yourself this: do you think things are getting better or worse as time goes on for the typical Chinese citizen, and to what degree? (And as a followup: what information sources are you using to form this conclusion?)
Things have gotten better for the typical Chinese citizen, but the bettering also corresponds to less government (in my admittedly foreign view). The death of Mao removed the problems of Mao's ineptness (famines, Cultural Revolution). The reforms of Deng Xiaoping led to foreign investment, which allowed knowledge transfer to Chinese firms. The transition to a market economy from State-controlled economy created factory jobs for the peasants (and mega-billionaires). People can now own (well, lease for 70 years) property. The loosening of travel restrictions caused allowed the now-wealthier citizens to experience the world.
The Chinese government has managed the country reasonably well, for a authoritarian government. However, I think the evidence shows that the less of the Chinese government authoritarianism there is, the better off the people are.
And here are some counterexamples to the claim that the CCP is "well meaning and kindly" --
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1...
http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/chinese-gov...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/political-prisoners-chin...
http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/extreme-torture-inside-chi...
http://thediplomat.com/2017/03/chinas-urbancide-in-tibet/
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-environmental-crisis
China's government is to "benevolence" as the Ministry of Love is to love. As far as "optimal political system" -- I'll simply disagree as we are all entitled to an opinion. However, the facts indicate that China is pretty much the opposite of "well meaning and kindly."
I lived there many years and love China -- but it certainly isn't because of the "benevolence" of the government.
The interesting thing is that nearly every one of the links I posted is blocked in China. I guess the government wouldn't want the people to find out just how "benevolent" they really are.