"...no...imperial conquest"

Tibet?

As for the Chinese rapid recent technical and economic progress; yep, you can really make things happen if you strictly control the working population, quash basic rights, and don't worry about trashing the environment. In that sense, totalitarian states work "better". Democracies are much less efficient.

But to quote Churchill: "Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all others that have been tried."

It should be educational to see what becomes of Volvo under Chinese rule. They are not stupid businessmen, but their social orientation is so far off that of the Swedes, that things are bound to get interesting.