Haven't been to China lately, eh? It's no freedom paradise, but feel free to read above for examples of the changes I'm talking about.
When you read zooks "changes" ask him what they have to do with "democracy" and read my responses to him.
He sees China on the surface, with a Shanghai shopping mall view of the surface reality produced by China's state-capitalism (capitalism run by and for a dictatorship) and calls it "freedom" and "democracy". He sees nothing of the reality of those in China who recognize the "productive" cage the dictatorship continues to represent and maintain its control with.