> Not really, 20 years ago maybe? but now that the first tier provinces have mostly caught up economically it's really just a matter of time before rest of china catches up.

This isn't even remotely true. Taiwan has a GDP per capita of $54,000.[1] The two wealthiest administrative division in China are Shanghai at $38,000 and Beijing at $37,000[2]. Moreover it's not an apples-to-apples comparison because those cities are consistently drawing the best and the brightest from the entire country.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_administrative...

Can you tell the difference in living standards between 54,000 and 38,000?

I mean, that's roughly the difference between living in western Europe and living in eastern Europe or the Caribbean.

Germany 45,466 Poland 15,304

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi...

It's nearly 50% greater, so I'm sure the difference is palpable.

That’s a 40% increase in GDP.

Would you take a 40% raise at your current job?

Heh I like how you interpret data. I think if I'm only earning 70% of what I earn right now, I wouldn't be that much worse

You clearly make more than $54,000 to say that.

16,000 per person

> the first tier provinces have mostly caught up economically it's really just a matter of time before rest of china catches up

Prosperity doesn't have to be economically. It can simply mean financial and overall governing independence. OP's point is not that Taiwan is better than China, but to point out that Chinese people can do well without CCP and this is what CCP doesn't want people to know. Also Taiwanese economy has many sections from CCP so I'd imagine it'll do well above current standards without them

There is a very big difference between what the average person in China thinks and what the leaders of China think. A revolution doesn't need a majority to happen, just a single to low double digit percentage to happen. OP was talking about the leader of China, your post is talking about the populace of China.

> or maybe the fact religion has been the main drivers for a whole bunch of wars?

More likely that they consider religion a powerful fictional structure competing with their own fictional structure. No natural law dictates that either of them should dominate, so they chose to suppress the competition.

> "...because you really know nothing about china unfortunately."

Gross.