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This old Chinese saying is of course well known in China. In modern  political science, it can be translated into “economic rights comes before political rights”. For 90% of the  countries and populations of the world, being fed and having a roof over head are far more  important than some abstract voting rights and freedom.Democracy requires a LARGE and EDUCATED middle class. To force democratic practice onto a population that is not ready  only give short term results and more often disasters.  In this sense, the “Beijing model”  is the correct political approach and will win over the developing countries of the world.

The above is the essence of an excellent TED talk  http://www.ted.com/talks/dambisa_moyo_is_china_the_new_idol_for_emerging_economies#t-95721 by an Harvard trained MBA-Ph.d African well worth listening  for 16 minutes (I am indebted to my friend ShonTung for  bringing  this lecture to my attention). The speaker is very complimentary to China  and the Beijing Model. However, since TED website may be blocked in China currently,  I summarized the lecture above for the benefit of ScienceNet readers.

But lest “China-first”er rejoice and say “We told you so. China can do nothing wrong and we are the first in the world”, one should be reminded that while China may be on the right path, she is starting from way behind and needs to catch up first. Once the conditions for freedom and political rights are ripe, the Beijing model will adapt  also.