Roland Boer's Blog, page 12

This photo says it all: medical teams from across China heading to Wuhan

The quarantine of Wuhan is clearly working, since the coronavirus has largely been restricted to the city – to the great praise of the World Health Organisation. But this photo says it all, as a team of medical specialists from Shandong take an oath before heading to Wuhan to relieve the weary specialists already working … Continue reading This photo says it all: medical teams from across China heading toWuhan

The China Model: Recovery rate from coronavirus now more than 3 times the death rate

It may be too soon to assess whether the ‘inflexion point’ has been reached with the coronavirus (influenza) outbreak in China, but the current figures are promising. The most obvious figure – as reported by Xinhua News – is that as of today (9 February), recoveries stand at 2.649, while deaths at 811. Only a … Continue reading The China Model: Recovery rate from coronavirus now more than 3 times the deathrate

What country leads the world in science and innovation?

You have probably guessed already: last year (2019) China lodged 1.54 million patent applications at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (see here). Staggeringly, this is about equal to the rest of the world put together. By comparison, the United States dropped to 597,141, followed by Japan (313,567) and South Korea (209,992). Simply put, China is … Continue reading What country leads the world in science andinnovation?

Wish I was in China now: Leishenshan (Thunder-god Mountain) hospital completed in 12 days

Unfortunately, I am not in China as I write. I am in Australia, which is fast becoming a small-minded and fearful country once again. I remind myself constantly that the vast majority of countries in the world have expressed solidarity with China in light of the coronavirus outbreak, and that many of them have sent … Continue reading Wish I was in China now: Leishenshan (Thunder-god Mountain) hospital completed in 12days

Liberating Thought, Part 2: On Democratic Centralism

This is the second part of a draft concerning the philosophical basis of Deng Xiaoping Theory. In the previous part I dealt with liberating thought as the correct theoretical line. I also pointed out that we need to deploy contradiction analysis (deriving from Mao Zedong) in order to make sense of Deng’s arguments – especially … Continue reading Liberating Thought, Part 2: On DemocraticCentralism

Liberating Thought: The Basis of Deng Xiaoping Theory

The first chapter of my book, Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, begins with an explication of Deng Xiaoping Theory. It is rare indeed to find a foreigner actually engage in detail with Deng’s texts, let alone the swathe of Chinese scholarship surrounding his work. But this is my task. In the next few posts, I provide … Continue reading Liberating Thought: The Basis of Deng XiaopingTheory

I am suspicious of conspiracy theories … (updated)

Many years ago, a person whom I trusted pointed out that what so often looks like a conspiracy is actually due to incompetence and stupidity. I have followed this advice ever since. In many cases, this seems to be true. For example, during the Cold War the Soviets walked all over Western spy agencies. Why? … Continue reading I am suspicious of conspiracy theories …(updated)

Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital completed today, ahead of schedule

Never let a crisis go to waste: the Chinese are clearly making the most of the coronavirus (flu) outbreak to show the world what they can do these days. Earlier, I have noted that they call this ‘Chinese speed’. About 80 years ago, Stalin called it ‘Bolshevik tempo’. Only a socialist system can do this. … Continue reading Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital completed today, ahead ofschedule

What is the best way to deal with human-animal disease cycles?

The recent outbreak of another strain of influenza in China – known as ‘Novel Coronavirus’ – set me thinking about human-animal disease cycles. This is a problem as old as human communities. About 12,000 years ago, human beings began the long process of moving towards collective living in villages. It took a long time, perhaps … Continue reading What is the best way to deal with human-animal diseasecycles?

On Human-Animal Disease Cycles

The recent outbreak of another strain of influenza in China – known as ‘Novel Coronavirus’ – set me thinking about human-animal disease cycles. This is a problem as old as human communities. About 12,000 years ago, human beings began the long process of moving towards collective living in villages. It took a long time, perhaps … Continue reading On Human-Animal DiseaseCycles