China is best understood as a nation ruled by an emperor with a hereditary aristocratic class carrying out the emperor’s edicts. Unlike earlier dynasties, the throne isn’t hereditary (yet?), mainly because of a lack of non-defective sons or sons with political ambitions among the emperors with the strongest grip on power. Mao had his son killed by USAF airstrike. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Anying Deng’s only ambitious son, a Party member, was crippled during the Cultural Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Pufang Xi has one daughter.
I’d say China is Leninist, which is just a way for “Communists” to justify assuming the emperor’s and the aristocracy’s powers in “the people’s” name. It’s never really been Marxist except in name only. Famines certainly killed few officials except those executed as counter-revolutionaries for reporting accurate (dismal) numbers in order to try to summon up food aid to save the commoners (i.e. non-Party members) starving to death by the tens of millions.
I’d say China is in transition to some point that is not actually known.
The youth are a force to be rekoned with as are the emerging and respected chicaps to which the youth aspire.
How ya gonna keep em down on the farm after they’ve got daisey maes? (and ripped knee jeans)