Wait a second, they didn't "do nothing", they eagerly participated in the gutting of voting protections from the Civil rights act. If you think that it "doing nothing" you got a lot of growing up to do, kiddo. The Dems do a lot more than people give them credit for 💅 💅 💅 💅
I have heard people talk about it as pragmatic. It was obvious that the Soviet Union was declining and headed for eventual collapse, China at the time could not have realistically done anything to prevent that, they were barely afloat with their own problems. So why shackle yourself to a sinking ship? What would have been gained if China also imploded in the 90s because their economy depended on a now defunct parent state?