Chinese approach not necessarily contradictory to Western systems

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017 proposed a new concept, the "Chinese approach" to modernization, according to which a country, independent of any interference or influence, should decide what political system to follow to achieve economic development.

In the past, China faced the same problem that many other countries are facing today. During the early modern period, China had to open its doors to the outside world to learn from the West, while safeguarding its culture from excessive Western influence in the face of potential invasion by foreign forces. But for countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, most of which gained independence from the colonial rulers only after the end of World War II, it was difficult to strike the right balance between opening-up and protecting their cultures and traditions.

True, local political parties played the leading role in these countries' liberation. Yet many of their leaders, because they attended Western universities, adopted the Western-style political system in the newly independent countries. And since Western political systems were not necessarily suited to their national conditions, many of those countries have failed to achieve economic development and remain poor until today.