Chinese in general are more concerned with the system working than it being democratic. They see Europe and America and view our democracy as dysfunction. Those complaint boxes did work, by the way. As a female emperor, not empress, Wu Zetian was under constant threat of coups and uprisings. That she managed to rule to a ripe old age is a prime example of her effectiveness. Then again, it wasn't all complaint boxes - she was rightly feared for her iron fist, like when she did away with one of her former courtesan rivals by having her appendages chopped off and the body thrown in a vat of wine so "she could finally have enough to drink."