>China is indeed going to be a pain in the neck for a long time to come.
Mark, you have a way of twisting the meaning of things. I can't let that remark stand unchallenged.
China is one of the most impressive countries on earth, and in all likelihood will become the dominant economy within a few decades. By the end of the 21st Century, economically it should be vastly beyond any other country, including the United States, all of Europe, and all other Asian countries. What this would mean for America is riches beyond imagination, so it is nothing to fear or resent.
The problem is not that China will overpower the United States; the only problem is that the Communist government may not be capable of coping adequately with the mandatory rates of change demanded by an absolutely huge agrarian society that needs to rationalize a farming sector consisting of 900 million inefficient farmers, while also rationalizing a similarly huge state sector.
If you are religious, prey for their success, because failure would most certainly bring about a revolution, which could only be prevented by increased nationalism focused on scapegoat neighbors and friends.
One interesting tidbit is an unintended consequence of the one-child-per-family policy, which has been in place since the end of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970's. Mainland Chinese families are obsessed with their one child (farmers with a girl child may have another, and all Chinese families may have additional children if they are willing to suffer financial and other consequences), commonly referred to as "little emperors". This means they will be better educated, loved and cared for probably than any nation of people on earth - ever. And because of their huge numbers, who can say how this will unfold not only for China, but for the world? But there is one consequence that I think will follow: I don't think the Chinese government will have the latitude any longer of sending its sons to war, which hopefully will limit the extent to which China will be able to rely on increased nationalism to thwart a rebellion if their policies fail to keep pace with needed change.
I absolutely do not consider China with its wonderfully rich history and pleasant, bright, hard-working people a pain in the neck.
Allen |
