In this note, I make 2 propositions.
The first is that if not for the Japanese invasion of China, China would have remained a democracy.
The second is that the Republican era, which is from the fall of the Ching dynasty in 1912 to the victory of Mao in 1949, was an era of vibrant democracy where the Chinese took steps to send their children for education overseas and partook earnestly in all forms of democracy.
Two excellent books that can support both propositions are The Republic of China 1912-1949 by Xavier Paules, a French historian published in French 2019 English translation in 2023, and The Age of Openness China before Mao by Frank Dikotter, 2008 Hong Kong University Press.
A documentary titled China on Film, shown on Astro, captures the gaiety, joy, and vibrancy of Peking and Shanghai during the period of pre-Japanese invasion.
Sadly, the Japanese invasion disrupted forever the evolution of China from imperial rule to a parliamentary democracy. Some say the rule by the CCP turned out to be better than that by Chiang Kai Shek and democracy, but that debate is another story for another day.