ON A RECENT evening at an arts center by the Thames, one young Chinese man stood up, glaring at the author on the podium. Eyes brimming with self-righteous earnestness, he said: "You can praise democracy as much as you like, but how can you ignore that China has lifted 300 million people out of poverty in the past 15 years? That is a major human-rights achievement. Russia and India have democracy, but look where they are," he exclaimed, turning to the rest of the audience.
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