For thousands of years, China was ruled by dynasty after dynasty before finally becoming a republic in 1912. In 1949, the Communist People's Republic of China was formed after the defeat of the Nationalist forces. And in 1978, Deng Xiaoping ascended to power and began a series of economic reforms.

Since then, China's economic years have been impressive, but I think the most amazing thing is that this economic miracle happened under a Communist regime.

Even though the Communist Party regulates practically every aspect of both public and private life in China, capitalism has flourished without democracy for one simple reason: The Chinese leaders want it.

You see, the Chinese government gets what it wants because that is what happens under a totalitarian regime with $1.8 trillion in its pocket.

Let me give you three recent examples:

Cut the air pollution in Beijing. Starting last Sunday, cars with license plates that end in an odd number are banned from the roads every other day, alternating with cars that have even-numbered plates. The Chinese government estimates that this will take one million cars off the road each day.
 
Chinese drivers may not like it, but they don't have any choice and to dull the inconvenience, car owners won't have to pay road and vehicle taxes for three months.

No Fido on menus. You and I may consider it horrific to eat dog, but to millions of Chinese, dog is considered delicious as well as nutritious. The Chinese have eaten dog for 7,000 years and it is widely believed to lower blood pressure as well as boost virility.

But out of concern that dog dishes might offend animal rights groups and Western visitors, the Beijing Food Safety Office ordered official Olympic hotels and restaurants that are popular to foreign visitors to stop serving dog meat "to respect the dining customs of different countries."

The meat of Saint Bernards, by the way, is considered the most flavorful.

Don't break the law in China. The Chinese government does not release the numbers, but according to Amnesty International, China is the world's leader in state-sanctioned executions. The death penalty is applied to more than 60 crimes including corruption, drug trafficking, embezzlement, and even tax evasion!

Amnesty International estimated that China executed 470 people in the month of April and believes that the annual number is around 10,000.