Like most Americans I had a very incomplete knowledge of China. I remember when “Red China” was terrible, but it was always portrayed as primitive. Then there was Mao and the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. And then there was Tiananmen Square. The news always played it as if all the people in China were yearning for freedom. I also knew that China owns a big chuck of America, since they own lots of our debt.
i also knew a couple of people who were part of companies that had factories in China. They were able to do business quite easily and worked well with the people over there. They did not find the government too intrusive.
This summer I read Everything under the Heavens, by Howard French, which gives a clear picture of how China is asserting itself again in Asia, and how it again expects to be the country in charge, at least of all of East Asia and the Pacific. China certainly realizes that they now have a golden opportunity to become the world economic and trade leader, since the U.S. is giving them that role by default.
Still, China has a lot to deal with, controlling a billion people, most of whom are still peasants, although, many are now industrialized peasants. A one party state can certainly set policies easier, and they don’t have to pretend to waste time, money and effort on free elections They also have centuries of a culture that has been governed by emperors, so they accept that easily. However, I don’t think their model is easily exported outside their direct sphere of influence.
The U.S. is apparently going to have a more difficult time getting its act together. The current President is working hard to develop a strong, unquestioning base of followers who might take to the streets when the remaining forces of democracy come down upon him for his many acts of corruption. If Trump is still in office in November of 2018, and the Democrats really get their act together and take control of Congress, it’s really going to be a battle royal on many fronts.
How that stage of American political development ends and what follows is really, at least to me, totally opaque.
Most likely, as usual, “Meet the new boss……
