It is here

[pluribus_adelos]

The long-discussed rise of China is no longer a thing of the future - it is here.

They've long been the most populous country on the planet. Now they've expanded their military and economic capability at a ferocious rate. PetroChina just became the world's first company worth over $1 trillion, surpassing ExxonMobil. This year Chinese exports

Comments

[pluribus_adelos]

Maybe. I'm not sure I *really* know enough about either without more research. I'm just spouting off the top of my half-informed mind, if for no other reason than to get shot down and learn something in the process.

[zcatcurious]

The only problem is that China, with late-Maoist thinking, is not going to solve the world's problems. The Cultural Revolution successfully destroyed Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism as ideological forces within the PRC, leaving only gross materialism: these are the people who believe that it is best to cut down all of the trees and concrete over all of the flowers in your garden "because it costs more" (i.e. so that you can show off your wealth, because doing so is what really matters).

Further, the Party cares about the Party first, China second, and nothing else beyond that, because that is the remaining ideology, the ardent discourse of Maoism: defeat the counter-revolutionaries. In addition, the guanxi system of favours makes corruption ineradicable, and so, even were the Party to suddenly become inexplicably virtuous, they would, as usual, be unable to enforce this outside of the areas which they can see from their offices in Beijing. How will they fix someone else's corruption when they make no dent in their own? Why

[pluribus_adelos]

I'll soon be working with an ex-Chinaman in my upcoming job. We have already had some discussion about China in the context of a lengthy business trip there he was preparing for. His description of the Party influence over academia and the general corruption issues don't leave one with a "happy feeling".

Part of what he had to say was most Chinese are happy with the government and culture - until they come to America. Then they realize what they've been missing, and they want it. It's no wonder the Party so heavily controls what the population has access to.

Perhaps, in light of what you've said too, China might solve some problems simply by brute force and sheer size, but not by any real wisdom or virtue. I guess I hoped for better than that, and under those circumstances, the ends may not justify the means.

[zcatcurious]

To an extent, I think that the problem is just one of overwhelming self-interest: they 'solve' problems in as much as they make situations more amenable to their own desires, rather than to the general good.

This is the norm for international politics, however, and the one thing that really seems to motivate altruism is weakness: when a country lacks the power to enforce its own self-serving desires, that option is removed from the list, and so it then proceeds to options which support its ideology, which can include charity.

My hope is that, eventually, the weaker and poorer nations will realise that the world community is like any other, and that they can stand together against the bullies if they unite. This would ultimately result in the different nations coalescing into one governing body, wherein the good of all was placed above the local advantage.

Yeah, okay, but I can dream, right?