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This reminds me of the Ming and Qing dynasty when the emperors decided to close the door and shut out foreigners. Gradually, China fell behind and the western p

This reminds me of the Ming and Qing dynasty when the emperors decided to close the door and shut out foreigners. Gradually, China fell behind and the western powers bombed the door open during the opium war. It is unlikely that other countries will bomb open the door this time, as China is a great military power. Instead, it will be disbenefit to Chinese people and consumers as they cannot access the services from outside.

jjoonathan 10y ago
Maybe. It's certainly true that protectionist policies tend to destroy tons of economic value, but remember that "economic value" itself is a notion whose definition has been carefully cultivated to steer thought away from the weak bits of western economic theory (here: tragedies of the commons / damage to third parties outside each transaction). The sum total of consumer inconvenience caused by the Great Firewall could well be worth the economic self-sufficiency and industrial prowess it bought. There is value in laying a foundation today for tomorrow's competitive industries, but you won't see it until too late if you limit your thinking to the margin. Don't get me wrong, the GFW is also motivated by the corruption, censorship, and manipulation it enables, and I don't see a silver lining in any of those. I just wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the strategic value of protectionism.
- nullnilvoid 10y ago
  The GFW is not so much motivated by protectionism but by CPC's tight grip on power and greed, to my understanding. If the CPC are adopting protectionism to cultivate their own tech industry, it is about time for them to loosen the Internet control because Chinese tech industry are very strong and established at this moment. It is unlikely for western counterparts to out-compete them in China market even on level playground. Among the top 10 most valuable Internet companies, China has four of them.

jjoonathan 10y ago

Maybe. It's certainly true that protectionist policies tend to destroy tons of economic value, but remember that "economic value" itself is a notion whose definition has been carefully cultivated to steer thought away from the weak bits of western economic theory (here: tragedies of the commons / damage to third parties outside each transaction). The sum total of consumer inconvenience caused by the Great Firewall could well be worth the economic self-sufficiency and industrial prowess it bought. There is value in laying a foundation today for tomorrow's competitive industries, but you won't see it until too late if you limit your thinking to the margin. Don't get me wrong, the GFW is also motivated by the corruption, censorship, and manipulation it enables, and I don't see a silver lining in any of those. I just wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the strategic value of protectionism.

nullnilvoid 10y ago
The GFW is not so much motivated by protectionism but by CPC's tight grip on power and greed, to my understanding. If the CPC are adopting protectionism to cultivate their own tech industry, it is about time for them to loosen the Internet control because Chinese tech industry are very strong and established at this moment. It is unlikely for western counterparts to out-compete them in China market even on level playground. Among the top 10 most valuable Internet companies, China has four of them.