Reality appears to contain giant statues of a European Jewish Socialist heralded throughout Beijing. If the East was so proud of some original political system held as "superior to democracy" -- why does the ruling regime employ the same tactics to hold power over the affairs of men as documented by a 16th century Italian?
Politics might be flavored and seasoned by locale, race and culture, but the meat is all the same and always has been. To conclude otherwise, or make China a "special case" is probably racism. It also denudes the notion of universal human rights.