Bloomberg Business
Date: October 8, 2014
By: David J. Lynch

With protesters in Hong Kong settling for talks with the government rather than immediate political concessions, it looks like China has won — or at least averted disaster — and without sending in the tanks.

Yet this short-term success only underscores Chinese President Xi Jinping’s long-term challenge in realizing his goal of a “great national rejuvenation.”

Restoring China to the stature it enjoyed before the 19th century Opium Wars means more than controlling Hong Kong; it requires eventual reunification with Taiwan.

In the aftermath of the “Umbrella Revolution,” however, Beijing is farther from recovering Taiwan, which it considers part of the mainland, than it was a decade ago. For all of China’s economic achievements, the mainland’s political system repels many it aspires to govern.     [FULL  STORY]