The Taiwan miracle occurred with a totalitarian government with basically nothing to lose but move forward, a small land, and basically a small principality. Taiwan's economical reform came before the political one. The interesting thing to note is how Taiwan's economical reform started with the basics - farming, production, packaging (small, cheap labor) etc along side with health and educational reforms. People were pleased at the time because everyone's lives were noticeably getting better. And since the population and area were relatively small it was easier to manage. Plus environmental issues weren't such a problem at the time. China, however, is different. It is much more difficult for everyone in China to benefit from reforms because it's such a vast country, with such ingrained corruption issues and dead angles. They also have much more to worry about in the internet age because information about their misdeeds is much more likely to become public. The bad publicity, however, meets a government that feels in no way obligated to either the global community or the welfare of it's citizens, so there is incentive for political reforms. The population and resources makes pollution more exuberant, and in the current global climate towards pollution this makes it harder for China to blatantly push forward economically without trying to check itself. They're like a huge locomotive that'll move faster due to mass, while Taiwan was a small locomotive with so little resources people called it a miracle. Taiwan was politically weak at the time, so if news of Taiwan's human right issues came to light America could pressure Taiwan's leaders to clean up their act. That isn't going to happen in China.