There was a consensus within the leadership of both American parties that admitting China to the WTO would ultimately result in a liberalization of the Chinese political system. As we know now, that was a mistake. No such liberalization has occurred–in fact, quite the opposite.
It occurred to me this morning that the irony here is that the analysis from the US was impeccably Marxist; a fundamental change in China’s economic system must inevitably lead to a corresponding change in the superstructure. But in China, at least, Marx was wrong (for that matter, so was Gorbachev, who was a better Marxist in this respect than Deng). The superstructure calls the shots; economic change and political reform do not necessarily move on the same track.