When Deng Xiaoping opened up the Chinese economy three decades ago, he did so on the premise that economic liberalization would precede political liberalization. For an impoverished generation that was still coping with the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, the chance at a better material life far outweighed the need for political expression. That trade-off held for many years; as recently as 2008, China topped the list of 24 countries included in the Pew Global Attitudes survey for its citizens' satisfaction with their nation's economy.
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