Can China truly be recognized as a superpower if it does not become more democratic?
There is absolutely nothing (in my opinion) that says that a country cannot be a superpower unless it is democratic. As an example of this, the Soviet Union was the second superpower in the world for a few decades and it was way less democratic than China is now. It may be that China will have a harder time influencing other countries through “soft power” than the US does if China is not democratic. On the other hand, it might actually help China. For example, many authoritarian countries (such as ones in Africa) like China better than they like the US right now because China trades with them without trying to tell them what to do. At any rate, China’s economic and (perhaps some day) military power will make it a superpower whether it is democratic or not.
