@Mugwop firstly, thank you for tagging, my Pak brother.
Both played a role. Both ended up serving the Dragon! Despite their egos and major flaws..
Having said that the Nationalists were far more into the Western camp than it was wise for the Chinese interests. They became unwitting tool of western imperial intentios on China and reamined so till today.
That I percieve as unwise...to put it kindly.
Mao made many mistakes...some I personally find tragic for the Chinese Civilisation. However, he made China stand up. So he served China well in this regard.
But I choose to see from a different perspective, as I do not live in China. Would love to live and teach there one day.
In my views when the Civilisation seeks its rebirth many forces come into play. This is a mysterious process and dialitics are metaphysical..yes, the Tao moved and is moving the Dragon.
CCP is the best choice for China. Otherwise, we would still have a divided and weak China on its knees.
For a strong and profound ciricle you need a strong centre.
If one day I have time I will put together my thesis of Rebirth of China from the Taoist perspective.
What matters now most is what we do NOW.
How we go forward.
What kind of dialectics we choose.
OBOR of which CPEC is flagship component..along with Win-Win paradigm for the global governance architecture...finally peace and progress in Asia..Chinese leadership of Eurasian space and beyond.
Our discourse needs to evolve..towards these subjects.
Peaceful reuninfication of TW and integeraton of HK are critical matters. There are too many collaborators in these two Chinese territories. I find it very sad sight.
So there is no 1 vs 1..in my views. I take a Civilisational view of China rather than personalities.