GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
Western commentators on China are, in the main, prejudiced + one-sided in their observations about the significance of developments in China. They misunderstand + they misreport. This is most apparent in their columns on “genocide” in Xinjiang. It is also apparent when they report on China’s current emphasis on Common Prosperity.
An exception to the rule is Geoff Raby, an Australian economist and diplomat who served as the Australian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from February 2007 until August 2011. The significance of recent pronouncements + actions by President Xi Jinping and the Regulators of the Economy is to mark the end of one era and the beginning of another era. Today it does matter whether “the cat is black or white”. It didn’t matter in the late 1970’s when China was in desperate straits following the end of the Cultural Revolution. As Raby says “China was as poor as a church mouse when Deng Hsiaoping launched the Economic Reform and the Open Door policies”.
Today China is richer, more developed, and more integrated into the international trade + investment system than could possibly have been imagined 40 years ago. The Communist Party, so derided in the West, has presided over the enormous transformation in China. Raby notes “For the West, this is an inconvenient truth. For the vast majority of Chinese this is a reality that they understand and support. They know their lives are more prosperous, stable and safe because of the Communist Party”.
The Get Rich Quick mentality has now given way to Common Prosperity or Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. This is the context for the Regulatory Crackdown on the Tech Sector, Jack Ma, Tencent + Didi. The attack on China’s Private Education Providers and the “966” hours of employment is part of the same policy.
Tomorrow – More Western Media Mistakes re Common Prosperity
