Bringing economic prosperity to one’s people is not enough. If Chinese leaders doubt this, they should watch what is unfolding in Chile. Watch it very, very carefully.

Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s longtime dictator, died over the weekend at age 91. His death brought about unrest in Santiago, the capital. Young people clashed with police. There were the usual scenes of tear gas. The TV news showed images of very young protesters, many barely alive when Pinochet left power in 1990 after 17 years of rule.

What’s to be learned of this? The repercussions of authoritarian rule last for decades, even generations, and those pained by it will be utterly unforgiving.

Odd as it may sound, Chile is a worthy case for Chinese to study. Chile is a mighty mite. A string bean-thin nation at the ends of the Earth, it is a fearless economic competitor that began its transformation under Pinochet and his clique of “Chicago boys,” free-market economists trained at the University of Chicago and heavily influenced by Milton Friedman.

To give you an idea of Chile’s strengths, consider that it has signed over 40 free-trade agreements with nations around the globe. Its FTA with China went into effect this year. Was Chile concerned it would be inundated with Chinese manufactures? Not at all. That’s how competitive the Chilean economy has become.

This economic miracle makes Chile stand head and shoulders above every other nation in Latin America. And it is largely the result of Pinochet’s prolonged ability to tweak the free-market model until he got it right, just as China is attempting to do on a larger scale.

Chile today is practically unrecognizable to the period when I lived there in 1984-1985.

But the social costs were enormous. The 1973 coup sent Chilean foes of Pinochet fleeing around the globe, shattering families. Maybe only 3,000 or so people were killed under the regime, but its state security practices were brutal. Those who did not accept the regime were implacably branded as communists and faced internal exile, and worse.

In the end, it is almost meaningless if authoritarian regimes are of the left or right. When they exclude and repress their opponents, they inevitably face their day of historical judgment.

The judgment on China is enormously complex and yet to be fully determined. Like Pinochet, China’s leaders postpone political reforms in search of a “well-off society.”

Pinochet succeeded in creating a free-market version of a “well-off society.” It wasn’t enough. Anyone who doesn’t believe me, wait a few months, then pay a visit to Augusto Pinochet’s grave. Once he is interred, will the tomb be under heavy guard to prevent vandalism? You can bet on it. If it is not, I am sure you will need to clean your shoes once you depart.