This could be in part the result of the Chinese government tightening its control over its people's freedom of speech, thus giving the appearance of disinterest, or as a result of the overall economic and social reforms China has undertaken in recent years. The difficulties that the Soviet Union had in converting to democracy and capitalism were used to validate the PRC's official position that slow gradual reform was a wise policy. Structurally, democracy promotion organizations in the United States such as the China Alliance for Democracy, the Federation for a Democratic China and the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars suffered from internal disputes and infighting. Much support was lost over the issues of Most Favored Nation trade status and China's entry into the World Trade Organization, which was popular both within and outside of China, but which was opposed by 79% of the American people (in a poll published by Business Week) and the overseas democracy movement. After Xi Jinping succeeded General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012, human rights in China have become worse.