ctindale, there are a thousand differing views on China, and alot of them are based on facts, no question about that. Our important question therefore is: which of these views will be proved correct?
Since the republican movement of China in 1901, there have been so many factions, warlords, theories, etc etc, that tried to save and unify China: Yat-sen Sun, Kaishek Jiang, etc etc. In the end, only the Chinese communists led by Chairman Mao succeeded. It's a miracle whichever way you look at it. The ragtag peasants army armed with knives eventually overcame all the seemingly insurmountable adversities to take over power in China. China under the same communists has since then created many miracles: fresh from a whole century of war, famine, japanese invasion etc, the Chinese army had to fight the United Nation army of 16 countries led by the US in Korea. The GDP of China was about 1% of that of the US. The Chinese army had no airforce, no military tanks. Yet the UN troops were pushed back to the demarcation line.
What I am trying to get to is this: if you are familiar with the recent history of China, say from 1840 onwards, then I guarantee that you would have a very different take on China. Trust me my friend, the road ahead for China will not be smooth, but the growth will not stop, the progress will not stop, the country will not break up, there will not be social chaos or revolution.
Looking at different sets of facts, one can reach different conclusions. China will go through whatever it needs to go through on its way to develop into a self sustained economic power. My view: the trend is firmly up. We just need to be mindful of the corrections.
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