Is China a Democracy or a Dictatorship?
Videos

Is China a Democracy or a Dictatorship?

Explainer Video by Ian Johnson, Speaker and Jeremy Sherlick, Producer

March 15, 2023 2:00 pm (EST)

Is China a Democracy or a Dictatorship?
Explainer Video

China’s political system is complicated, and there’s a lot of contradictory information out there. Is China a communist country? Is it democratic, as its own government insists? And what does “freedom” mean to Chinese citizens? Ian Johnson, CFR’s senior fellow for China studies, answers these questions and more.

Creative Commons
Creative Commons: Some rights reserved.
Close
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.
View License Detail
Close

Explore More on China

China

The China-North Korea Relationship
China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and arguably has the most leverage over Kim Jong Un’s regime. Analysts say Beijing’s policies are focused on stability, though it signals ambivalence about its neighbor’s nuclear arms advances.

Backgrounder by Clara Fong and Eleanor Albert March 7, 2024

Taiwan

Why China-Taiwan Relations Are So Tense
Differences over Taiwan’s status have fueled rising tensions between the island and the mainland. Taiwan has the potential to be a flash point in U.S.-China relations.

Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland February 8, 2024

International Organizations

The World Bank Group’s Role in Global Development
Since its founding in 1944, the World Bank has evolved from a lender focused on European reconstruction to the preeminent international institution for economic development and poverty reduction.

Backgrounder by Jonathan Masters, Noah Berman and Andrew Chatzky October 12, 2023

Top Stories on CFR

Ukraine

How Much U.S. Aid Is Going to Ukraine?
Nine charts illustrate the extraordinary level of support the United States has provided Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.

Article by Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow May 9, 2024

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Few Options for Gazans as Israel Enters Rafah
An impending Israeli ground invasion of Rafah could threaten more than a million civilians seeking refuge in the city and further restrict humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

In Brief by Christina Bouri and Diana Roy May 8, 2024

Maldives

The Maldives Is Moving Toward China. Here’s What to Know.
Once a close Indian partner, the Maldives is now aligning more with China. Is the island nation becoming a flash point in the China-India relationship? 

In Brief by Rhea Basarkar May 2, 2024