China remains obsessed with Singapore, which is the only country in
the region to achieve advanced economic industrialization without undergoing substantial political liberalization. The key “lesson” that China
is trying to learn is how to combine authoritarian rule with “good govgovernance”
(“meritocratic” oneparty
rule). This fits well with
Xi’s set of political goals, known
as the “Four Comprehensives,”
which seeks to develop a “moderately
prosperous society” while
strengthening economic reforms
and rule of law, as well as party
discipline. Assessing the influence
of the Singapore model on
these processes sheds light on
China’s active dissemination of
meritocratic authoritarianism as
a model of governance and the
challenge that it poses to proponents of democratization.