A well balanced article that is showing some international social trends.

In 2005, I was quite active on political internet forums. When I found someone to disagree with, I often got a comment like "I disagree with you, but I defend your right to say that." I'm not hearing that anymore.

As for China, I don't see it as as the world's next influencer as the USA has been in the last 100 years. The article's reasons are sound, but even in China, the underlying social structure is slowly breaking down.