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CCP planned in term of decades and were more far sighted than western politicians. This changed with the rise of Xi Jing Ping who is a short sighted petty autoc

CCP planned in term of decades and were more far sighted than western politicians. This changed with the rise of Xi Jing Ping who is a short sighted petty autocrat but unfortunately extremely good at political maneuvering to concentrate power in his hands and undoing what little checks were instituted by Deng Xiaoping. I had high hopes for China's future back when I lived there but that is no longer the case with the current government.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> This changed with the rise of Xi Jing Ping To expand, Xi is a leader for life [1]. China is best modelled as a large, wealthy dictatorship which will act to keep its narrow leadership in power. This is very different from the long-term planning which characterised its growth when it was capable of peaceful transitions of power. Pushing this legislation (or kidnapping bookstore owners publicising corruption amongst Beijing’s elite [2]), for China, is stupid. It stokes a vocal, organised opposition to Beijing. It also makes clean integration in ‘47 less likely. (The fraction of Hong Kong residents identifying as Chinese versus Hong Kongese has plummeted in the last few years [3].) From the perspective or keeping Xi in power, however, the ham-fistedness makes sense. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43361276 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43361276 [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearances https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappear... [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-anniversary-idUSKBN19B1IE https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-anniversary-idUS...
Bakary 7y ago
The situation is a lot more complicated than you make it seem. We barely have any idea how inner politics work in China, since little information leaks out unlike in most other nations. I don't think you can make a definitive statement on a leader whose name you haven't spelt correctly.
superfx 7y ago
This strikes me as the quintessential problem with autocracies. Sometimes one gets extremely efficient governments in the short term, when the autocrat is competent and not entirely corrupt, but in the long run whatever short term gains were had are squandered by corruption and greed. Democracy is inefficient in the short term but efficient in the long run.
- suff 7y ago
  Well said.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago

> This changed with the rise of Xi Jing Ping To expand, Xi is a leader for life [1]. China is best modelled as a large, wealthy dictatorship which will act to keep its narrow leadership in power. This is very different from the long-term planning which characterised its growth when it was capable of peaceful transitions of power. Pushing this legislation (or kidnapping bookstore owners publicising corruption amongst Beijing’s elite [2]), for China, is stupid. It stokes a vocal, organised opposition to Beijing. It also makes clean integration in ‘47 less likely. (The fraction of Hong Kong residents identifying as Chinese versus Hong Kongese has plummeted in the last few years [3].) From the perspective or keeping Xi in power, however, the ham-fistedness makes sense. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43361276 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43361276 [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearances https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappear... [3] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-anniversary-idUSKBN19B1IE https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-anniversary-idUS...

Bakary 7y ago

The situation is a lot more complicated than you make it seem. We barely have any idea how inner politics work in China, since little information leaks out unlike in most other nations. I don't think you can make a definitive statement on a leader whose name you haven't spelt correctly.

superfx 7y ago

This strikes me as the quintessential problem with autocracies. Sometimes one gets extremely efficient governments in the short term, when the autocrat is competent and not entirely corrupt, but in the long run whatever short term gains were had are squandered by corruption and greed. Democracy is inefficient in the short term but efficient in the long run.

suff 7y ago
Well said.