GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
James Kynge of The Economist is a good read on China. He observes that pace of change is everything in China. Too fast = chaos. Too slow = stagnation. It is true of all societies. In its 100 years – formed 1921 in Shanghai – the CP of China has achieved much. A small group of revolutionaries overturned the landlords, capitalists, Japanese invaders + have converted The Sick Man of Asia into the soon-to-be #1 Economic Power in the World with a billion people lifted out of poverty.
China celebrates its success as the West undermines the achievement. China is a challenge. It is a Communist country led by a Communist Party. Its version of democracy works. Its people enjoy rising living standards + greater choice of where to work/where to live. There is prosperity + confidence going forward.
The West views matters quite differently. China is a threat to world peace. It is expansionist in the S China Sea; imperialist in Africa/Latin America/Asia; genocidal in Xinjiang + authoritarian at home.
Who is Right. Who is Wrong?
The West saw off the challenge of the USSR. Surely it will do the same with China. Not so. And here China’s critics fail to see the essential dynamic of China. China is different but they assume the Western Way will prevail + China will adopt One Man/One Vote + Parliamentary Parties + the increasing marginalisation of the Communist Party. If the West’s assumption is wrong + China stays on its chosen path, big changes lie ahead. World history will be taught with quite different perspectives looking back.
Today is a Moment in Time. A hundred years of China’s Communist Party is a marking point in History. Unless, of course, it all goes wrong. Will it? More tomorrow – 30 June 2021.
