I am very careful in classifying countries as dictatorships as I believe every country has their history, society, culture, etc...I believe as well, that every country has a suitable way to be ruled because of their idiosyncrasy and their moment in their own history and that western democracy can't be exported. Sometimes I can't help it and the word dictatorship slip my mouth maybe because I associate it to what the media tells me and biased personal believes. That is why I classify China authoritarian, as I do in other countries considered democratic as authoritarian is a broad term depending on personal perceptions and believes.
But do you think that a government that does what allegedly China does to for example more than 1 million of Uighur in concentration camps (or "reeducation") and imprison political dissidents should not be considered a dictatorship?
I am genuinely asking to you and to the people that lived and has strong ties with China and referring to Mainland China, not Hong Kong
It's a nuanced question I feel and the answer probably has to reflect that...
I grew up the son of an expat in HK and lived in UK before I moved back and lived in China (before thailand and USA and UK again) ... My wife grew up in China
We both probably view the situation through a different lens and have different views
I would say unless you have been to China it's hard to understand the change in lifestyle many have gone through even in one generation but certainly in two... And for most people this has been largely positive
Many recognise the part that the structured centralised growth plans have played in this and as such see things through a lens where people attacking the government are attacking their way if life.
That's not to imply people are brainwashed (well I guess there is an element of that in the education system but equally don't the USA pledge allegence to the flag every term as well... Or is that TV bullshit?)... But most people know and accept that information is controlled and certainly everybody we know in China has access to full internet via vpn's etc so just as the UK porn laws won't stop people ******* away to porn hub the "great firewall" does not stop most people finding out a broader base of information... Eg I brought a new phone last time I was there in a high end mall... Walked outside to the "phone doctor" and in 20 mins had Google / android fully installed and a VPN... It cost me less than a fiver
With the Uyghur example me and the wife take quite different views...
I see it through a lens of having been around bombings in southern Thailand and I view the separatist cause as something of a concern but I feel it's being tackled in the wrong way and they will ultimately make the separatist movement more violent with a genuine threat of Islamic terrorism emerging through it (and the thought of china and America hand in hand stomping out Islamic movements around the globe with no regard for collateral damage is not an image I like)
The wife on the other hand feels the separatist movement is a direct attack on Chinese national identity (she is
From guangxi which is it's self a region with increased autonomy but very much identifies as Chinese ... Eg her first language is mandarin but for her parents it is Cantonese) ... She feels the response is too lax
China is a big place and you will find a lot of opinions... And contrary to the image presented although you might not find these opinions on TV many people freely discuss them (though in my experience they won't discuss them in English much with me but will in mandarin / Cantonese ... I out this more down to it being complex issues people want to discuss in a language they are fluent in)
HK is a different matter... My family left around the time of the handover... Mainly work related but it was obvious what was going to happen over the next generation... I think a lot of the problem festers because some people who stayed thought HK would remain as it was and it would be China that changed (tail.wagging the dog)... I think some stayed because at the time HK was such an economic powerhouse in the region people there were very rich my mainland standards in general and to be honest there was not insignificant racism and looking down on people from the mainland (particularly Beijing though you could argue that cuts both ways and goes broader than HK and is more a Cantonese thing)... But way worse from some HK with a bit of a sniffy attitude ...
I feel that the economic rise of the mainland is leaving HK in its wake and it's dawning on people that in 20 years not only will HK be treated like the rest of china but it won't be particularly special or powerful place either and some don't like that.
For me I think china just needs to sit back and let people carry on... Tourism will suffer... Businesses will relocate and it will simply be quicker / easier in the long run for China (e.g. I'd shut the airport's if people protested there and presented a danger straight away) ... Always considered HK part of china... Always has been and always will be to me and as such Chinese rule and law should be respected
There is if course the 2 systems but that was always I feel a temporary transition stage and only ever had one ending
The wife feels slightly different again ... She says cut off power and food to the island and then see how people treat the protesters
If you look at other issues eg Taiwan I've always seen that as independent but she does not
tiananmen we see the same... PR disaster and something the government is far too smart to repeat.
Over all our friends there you will find differing views but in general I think it's underestimated outside of the region just how much respect people have for the government
Over 2 generations my wife's family have moved from a rural poor family to one that lives in a modern city with all the convenience and opportunity that brings
Her attitude to it could I guess be summed up as you don't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs
China is too big and complex to boil down to. Few simple strands ... I guess the stat I use with people is that china has almost twice as many people as Europe so as you can appreciate it has a hell of a lot of varied opinions on things as well
Friends from shanghai or Beijing Vs friends in smaller cities again have a different lens and just as northern and southern Europe have some differences so does china in outlook as well.
I don't consider china a dictatorship as I've also worked extensively in the middle east and Africa and I find many of those regimes more authoritarian and controlled... For sure China is a much more centrally managed system than you find in Europe but again you can go back hundreds of years and it always has been that way since it became one country
I mean UK is practically a dictatorship with a non representative electoral system when compared to Scandinavia so it's all relative I guess