Was Opening Up China a Big Mistake?

In 1972 the USA decided to change its policy of isolating Communist China and to open up the world markets  so China could make a living and develop. Few remember the incredible chaos and poverty of China in those times. Billion Chinese were starving. That is no exaggeration. After visiting China, I - like the FAO - published an article pondering if China would  be able to feed its growing population.

The Economist was then unsure if the coming, unavoidable Chinese competition would benefit or ruin British industry. After forty years, we can conclude that the integration of China in global economy brought us much prosperity (although traditional Western industries disappeared). Now, March 2018, The Economist arrives at the conclusion that Nixon's China policy was a big mistake. China industrialized and prospered, but did not became a democracy and an ally of the free world, as it was called then. At this point, it is too late to be sorry. The West will have to live with a large, rich and powerful Chinese empire and its smiling Emperor.