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The middle kingdom: Inside China today
English, German (translation)
379 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1983
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January 14, 2023
I read this book a long time ago. Things in China have changed so much since then and it is now becoming a world power, it wants to be the world power by stealth, with its Belt and Road initiative. The Communist party is no longer Communist in anything but name, it is an authoritarian right-wing military dictatorship. Within the country, free speech is not allowed, but in exchange for that, women have got names (many were just 'first daughter' before communism), the country has become rich, a middle-class life as in the West is attainable, as is a non-political university education.
I understand that from the Chinese perspective spreading their philosophy and way of living will benefit the many and that dissent and democracy will destablise the system that has worked to bring up China from uneducated poverty to first world cities. .
Just to touch on the Uighyers, I have read three books on their situation. They are less than half China's population of Muslims. The others are not persecuted. The Uighyers became radicalised with the usual support of ISIS, the Taliban, veiling of women, acts of terrorism, social media propaganda videos etc. I don't agree with the persecution of the many for the actions of a few, but I'm fed up with reading articles and books that imply that all the Muslims of China are Uighyers and all are persecuted for no reason at all.
China has a free pass on human rights from the West in the same way that the Middle East does - they have oil, China manufactures all the cheap products we love. Walmart's stock is 80% made in China, Amazon's non-book sellers have 70% of their products from China. More than 5,000 manufacturers of Fentanyl in China target the US (via Mexico).
Amazon holds workshops in China "where they encourage manufacturers to sign up directly to them, believing reducing middleman prices is an effective way to do so." They then circumvent US laws on displaying country of origin. I don't believe their sales would suffer if they did it is the prices we want.
The Caribbean is a microcosm of China's activities in many of the countries of the world that the West, specifically the US, has not given aid to. They go into the islands and build hospitals and ports on loans, but once there is any default on the repayments, they take back the institution and the land it is built on. They shore up corrupt governments, Dominica has suffered particularly from this, and won't allow independent monitoring of elections. They offer scholarships to these very poor islands, in China of course - some quite meaningless like tourism - which means that children need to learn Mandarin. This education together with the acquisition of land and the control of governments is the slow accretion of power, small place by small place.
As an example of how deeply the Chinese are influencing the islands take Antigua. This should be a really rich island but has had corrupt governments for decades. The present Director of Education wants to have 2-3 teachers of Mandarin per public school.
Many locals are objecting to plans to construct a Chinese colony, the Yida project, which will include homes and manufacturing plants, and will be a total environmental disaster as the land includes the largest marine conservation area. "Under an agreement signed in 2015, developers are entitled to set up a seafood harvesting company within the zone and net 90% of the profits. The zone is also free of all taxes levied elsewhere in the country, including income tax, sales tax and import and export duties."
That's just one island.
The other traditional means to power is weapons. Russia used to supply China with arms, but that has been reversed and China is Russia's largest trading partner. "Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping last week [Feb 2022] "declared a “new era” in the global order and, at least in the short term, endorsed their respective territorial ambitions in Ukraine and Taiwan." The long-term agreement also challenges the US and NATO as global powers to be replaced by China & Russia.
China also supplies arms to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Myanmar. All 'our friends'. Not.
67% of all cellphones are made in China. Chinese cellphones for the Chinese all have spyware on them, it would be naive to think that they don't install this on the ones meant for export. Chinese companies people think are American include Lenovo, Motorola, General Motors, Hilton Hotels, General Electric Appliances, AMC Theaters, Smithfield Foods.. the list goes on. The Chinese also own large stakes in Morgan Stanley, VISA, Blackstone and Ford. In 2020, exports from the US to China were $164.9 billion. Imports from China were $450.4 billion. Balance of trade?
It's a slow, insidious annexation of the world. Whether China actually acts to takeover political power and become the dictatorship it is at home, or as in the Caribbean, shores up corrupt governments is moot right now. But at some point in the not-too-distant future, it will become very important.
__________
See also other reviews:
Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win
Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game
The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future
In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony
I understand that from the Chinese perspective spreading their philosophy and way of living will benefit the many and that dissent and democracy will destablise the system that has worked to bring up China from uneducated poverty to first world cities. .
Just to touch on the Uighyers, I have read three books on their situation. They are less than half China's population of Muslims. The others are not persecuted. The Uighyers became radicalised with the usual support of ISIS, the Taliban, veiling of women, acts of terrorism, social media propaganda videos etc. I don't agree with the persecution of the many for the actions of a few, but I'm fed up with reading articles and books that imply that all the Muslims of China are Uighyers and all are persecuted for no reason at all.
China has a free pass on human rights from the West in the same way that the Middle East does - they have oil, China manufactures all the cheap products we love. Walmart's stock is 80% made in China, Amazon's non-book sellers have 70% of their products from China. More than 5,000 manufacturers of Fentanyl in China target the US (via Mexico).
Amazon holds workshops in China "where they encourage manufacturers to sign up directly to them, believing reducing middleman prices is an effective way to do so." They then circumvent US laws on displaying country of origin. I don't believe their sales would suffer if they did it is the prices we want.
The Caribbean is a microcosm of China's activities in many of the countries of the world that the West, specifically the US, has not given aid to. They go into the islands and build hospitals and ports on loans, but once there is any default on the repayments, they take back the institution and the land it is built on. They shore up corrupt governments, Dominica has suffered particularly from this, and won't allow independent monitoring of elections. They offer scholarships to these very poor islands, in China of course - some quite meaningless like tourism - which means that children need to learn Mandarin. This education together with the acquisition of land and the control of governments is the slow accretion of power, small place by small place.
As an example of how deeply the Chinese are influencing the islands take Antigua. This should be a really rich island but has had corrupt governments for decades. The present Director of Education wants to have 2-3 teachers of Mandarin per public school.
Many locals are objecting to plans to construct a Chinese colony, the Yida project, which will include homes and manufacturing plants, and will be a total environmental disaster as the land includes the largest marine conservation area. "Under an agreement signed in 2015, developers are entitled to set up a seafood harvesting company within the zone and net 90% of the profits. The zone is also free of all taxes levied elsewhere in the country, including income tax, sales tax and import and export duties."
That's just one island.
The other traditional means to power is weapons. Russia used to supply China with arms, but that has been reversed and China is Russia's largest trading partner. "Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping last week [Feb 2022] "declared a “new era” in the global order and, at least in the short term, endorsed their respective territorial ambitions in Ukraine and Taiwan." The long-term agreement also challenges the US and NATO as global powers to be replaced by China & Russia.
China also supplies arms to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Myanmar. All 'our friends'. Not.
67% of all cellphones are made in China. Chinese cellphones for the Chinese all have spyware on them, it would be naive to think that they don't install this on the ones meant for export. Chinese companies people think are American include Lenovo, Motorola, General Motors, Hilton Hotels, General Electric Appliances, AMC Theaters, Smithfield Foods.. the list goes on. The Chinese also own large stakes in Morgan Stanley, VISA, Blackstone and Ford. In 2020, exports from the US to China were $164.9 billion. Imports from China were $450.4 billion. Balance of trade?
It's a slow, insidious annexation of the world. Whether China actually acts to takeover political power and become the dictatorship it is at home, or as in the Caribbean, shores up corrupt governments is moot right now. But at some point in the not-too-distant future, it will become very important.
__________
See also other reviews:
Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win
Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game
The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future
In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony
Displaying 1 of 1 review