These psychological and social changes undermine the legitimacy of authoritarian rule and generate favorable conditions for democratization in Asia not only in Malaysia and Singapore, where it will probably happen within a decade, but in China itself, where both the decay of communist rule and the rise of a middle-class society are much more advanced than has generally been appreciated. Without major political reforms, it is unlikely that communist rule can survive in China beyond Xi Jinping’s expected two five-year terms as president. And in terms of the pressure for political change, Vietnam is not all that far behind China (particularly given South Vietnam’s earlier experience with more pluralistic politics and more capitalist economics).