China
Progress made by China and future challenges
Asia Times published this article about China under Xi Jinping. It was written from a scholar Francesco Sisci (an Italian Sinologist).
It is interesting to read the article which describes the progress made by China in recent years, under Xi Jinping, and also the challenges faced by China in the years ago.
They reflect the views of the author.
I wish to give my views on several points that he has raised:
Success of China
The author describes the success of China under Xi Jinping as follows:
He has announced that extreme poverty was ultimately defeated. He has promised pensions and a free health care system covering everybody in 15 years. Both are unprecedented feats in Chinese history. One can poke holes in these claims, but the overall improvement of life for all Chinese is evident.
TKL - I agree with his view.
Fake freedom
The author described the "fake freedom" in western societies as follow:
He’s also against ideological worship of Western “fake freedom,” which cheats all common people of their real interests and grants freedom only to large companies that sway the state and public opinion for their private interests. From this perspective, the miserable lives of poor people in the US is a testament to the Western capitalists’ brainwashing.
TKL - I agree with his view.
Actions against Internet Monopolies
The author described the actions against the large tech monopolies as follows:
Xi also acted against and broke up large internet monopolies, opening the field to new competition—something that the US has been reluctant to do. It closed gray areas that allowed Chinese companies to list on the New York Stock Exchange by revealing all details of their Chinese operations, some of which are sensitive.
He thus shook off the influence of large semi-private companies that could have been conditioning public policy in favor of private interests. He even attacked online tutoring companies, which bank on the faults of a public school system failing to really cater to all, and promised improvement in the organization of education.
TKL - I was surprised that the author looked upon these actions favorably. Most investors felt that these actions could damage the investment market. Like the author, I am also positive about the actions.
Free flow of information
The author expressed concern about the free flow of information as follows:
The issues with China are possibly more obvious, even while rejecting as sheer exaggeration all qualms about the narrative of the “ruthless dictatorship.” Any authoritarian regime, no matter how enlightened and benign, by restricting the circulation of information, restricts possible avenues of future growth and development.
History has proved time and again that unintended consequences are a very important driver for change, and liberal societies have created an imperfect but so far fairly effective method to boost the flow of ideas and harness their unintended consequences. Some of them are negative but many are positive.
TKL - I look at this issue from a different perspective, as follows:
There is free flow of information in China, through their social media platforms and the access to western sources of information (as their more savvy netizens can bypass the state controls). The people are also allowed to travel to other countries freely.
Within the communication framework in China, there are avenues for the information to move freely, although it does not take the form of political contests.
On the other side, the free flow of information in western societies has deteriorated largely, due to distrust in the media which are now perceived to be controlled by private vested interest.
I do not see this "contest of ideas" to be a weakness for China.
Deal with several adversaries
The author talked about China having to deal with several countries at the same time, as follows:
China perhaps has to understand how this Western world works. Its basic geostrategic fault is: You cannot challenge America plus Japan and India at the same time. Both the US and Japan-India by themselves could be enough to take on China, but the combination together looks invincible.
Beijing conversely and erroneously bet on the EU as a counterbalance to the US, seeing a coming transatlantic conflict. It is a huge mistake: China bought an idea of the EU that doesn’t exist. The EU lives largely as a US invention. On both sides of the Atlantic, there may be constant bickering but there is no real fight.
TKL - I share his view about the threat to China. He did miss the strategic partnership between China and Russia, which will help China to deal with the adversaries.
However, it would be better for China to find a solution to reduce the tensions.
Tan Kin Lian
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