I haven't read that, but indeed China seems to have been more easily modernized than, say, the Muslim world, even though Islam started off as a modernizing force.

I've written a little on Chinese religion and atheism here:

https://medium.com/gods-funeral/the-levelheadedness-of-chinese-religions-9ac60ae9f0e7?sk=337babe673ca576b8ed2391001df76b3

https://medium.com/gods-funeral/the-downsides-of-american-and-chinese-atheism-3e0bd15089a1?sk=d6ae4e72ab37ad9062fb4f715d1c0108

https://medium.com/discourse/why-chinas-pragmatism-should-haunt-the-west-3f835bfd0801?sk=da2d3ed9feb6ffb1813b67645facae0e

https://medium.com/discourse/the-fa%C3%A7ade-of-chinas-robotic-wisdom-4ac241832a74?sk=fc81c6be2c0c21744295ab52fc5b3176