Is China Slipping into the 'Middle Income Trap'?

[Skill and Chance]

Is it even possible for a nation which truncates the free flow of information because of its authoritarian/totalitarian tendencies to achieve a first world economic status and income? Has that ever happened before in the post war period as economies became more information based and agile and supple?

Hmmm... Singapore is pretty authoritarian.  However, it might not scale beyond a city state at a global trade chokepoint.