Sir, Your informative series “Building Brics”, on the development of a middle class of consumers in China, indirectly provides the missing element in Gideon Rachman's analysis of the American misreading of China (“Why America and China will clash”, January 19).

US elites have always assumed that the embourgeoisement of Chinese society will lead, as it did historically in Europe and the US itself, to demands for representative democracy. Yet as a number of studies indicate, including David Goodman's recent book The New Rich in China, the “middle-classing” of China has not led to such exigencies, but rather demands for good governance. What counts is the ends rather than the means, a view reminiscent of Deng Xiaoping's famous quip on capitalism and communism: “It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.”

My own research in south-east Asia confirms that representative democracy and pluralism do not necessarily have a good “brand image”, being seen as dysfunctional (The Philippines), and/or conducive of instability (Thailand), and unable to deliver the social goods required. A visit to the affluent city-state of Singapore is a salutary reminder that one-party regimes can enjoy widespread support among the upwardly mobile middle classes, as long as they provide competent administration and foster personal enrichment.