Given the requirements of China’s increasingly affluent and well-informed society and its dynamic economy, political change in the People’s Republic of China is probably coming sooner than many would expect and may well take the form of steps toward democracy. Key among the reasons for this is the situation in Hong Kong. Since the mass demonstrations held there on July 1, 2003, a swelling chorus of voices has been calling for democracy in the Special Administrative Region. Influential businessmen such as Sir Gordon Wu, who has long been skeptical about democracy, have now joined the human rights and democratic activists’ cause.

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