pete:

Despite the “repression”, China is very slow to change in certain areas. Not all of its population is interested in Western-style democracy. This communist country (not quite communist anymore) has modernized and instituted key reforms. The Chinese are making their brand of communism work. The Asian mind is certainly not the same as the Western mind. And for all of its “repression”, China is doing quite well economically. It has emerged as a true superpower. The US owes China upwards of $2 trillion. It would be very, very hard-pressed to pay it back today. China has, in fact, become one of the world’s biggest lenders. The focus on how fast will Asian countries “catch up” to the West - is a false focus. The true focus ought to be on how fast will Western hyper-inflating economies collapse, reaching the level of “Asia” today. 

Yes, China faces some challenges in terms of catching up in areas of human rights (that is, Western notions of “human rights”. They are not universal.) But don’t assume widepsread oppression, and don’t assume that everyone is clamouring for democracy. China is not the old Soviet Union. The Chinese at large don’t care for Western customs and Western modes of thought. They lay claim to a 1000+ year old culture and philosopy that has remained, in substantial areas, unchanged.

China is a homogeneous society and many don’t want the “white devils” or “foreign devils” and their corrupting influence. For all these Western notions of “oppression” and lack of “freedom”, the average Chinese is not only suspicious of the West, but regards him/herself as superior. And in many ways, they’d be right in thinking so. A constant stream in Chinese thought has been that they are heirs to the world, that theirs is the “Middle Kingdom” (Chung-Kuo) around which everything else revolves. They prefer to infiltrate the West and return with knowledge for the benefit of China. And really, who can blame them? They have been doing this kind of thing successfully for over a thousand years.

China is making Socialism work. It is imperfect, and has a long road ahead. But it’s still standing. There are no walls to be torn down here. And this has caused a backlash in the West due to the raging disbelief of it all. It is almost an insult to have a working model of Socialism beside a Democratic West that seems to be falling apart. For China, Socialism has proved to be just as adaptable as any other system. Classical Marxism in not Soviet-era communism. 

Don’t assume that another culture’s notion of “freedom” is the same as your own.

Quadra 610 on “The Communist RED Chinese Govt. Represses its people in many ways.”