7 ms·

I'm not a demographer, so only time will tell how big of a problem it will become. The Chinese government is worried about it, already was couple of years ago.

I'm not a demographer, so only time will tell how big of a problem it will become. The Chinese government is worried about it, already was couple of years ago. But I don't see it becoming a roadblock that will prevent China from becoming the biggest economy in the world, hell I wouldn't be surprised that the Chinese market will be twice that of the combined western market. China can always play the Asian immigration card. To soften the blow of a graying demographic.

HKH2 5y ago
China has been pushed towards being a monoculture for the past 70 years or so. I don't think Asian immigration would be an easy option at all.
- FooBarWidget 5y ago
  For certain definitions of "monoculture". Even Han culture between different regions can be very different.
  - HKH2 5y ago
    Sure, China is not as homogeneous as what it could be. Yet is it preserving diversity? Through its enforcement of standards and nationalism, the CCP has been clear that it has no interest in making China more multicultural.
    - FooBarWidget 5y ago
      That isn't the reality I see on the ground. Take a look at for example this Tibet documentary: https://youtu.be/zkYhSsQqRhI https://youtu.be/zkYhSsQqRhI This Tibetan woman has 3 husbands. Look inside her house: full of Tibetan and religious artifacts. And this is just a normal Tibetan household, after we've been told for decades that Tibetans are being culturally genocided. It looks to me that Tibetan scripts and languages, Mongolian scripts and languages, etc are better preserved than over the border in India and Mongolia. Yes there are also plenty of examples where they tear down a cultural site. Yet I think there is a fundamental difference between western and Chinese interpretations of such acts. Western societies have developed a sort of mythical worshipping of traditional ethnic culture. To the Chinese, to whom development and modernization have come late, development and modernization is number 1: there is no pride in living a traditional, ethnic life if that means being in the middle of poverty. Some sites are torn in the name of development. See this discussion from 1999, back when the China topic wasn't so politicized: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/02/tibet-through-chinese-eyes/306395/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/02/tibet-t...
      - garmaine 5y ago
        > It looks to me that Tibetan scripts and languages, Mongolian scripts and languages, etc are better preserved than over the border in India and Mongolia. You've been drinking the koolaid. Tibetan as only been preserved through a heroic effort to smuggle books over the border to Nepal and India for preservation and duplication.
        FooBarWidget 5y ago
        Seeing Tibetan and Mongolian scripts in videos of Tibetan and Mongolian locations is "drinking koolaid" now? Are you saying those videos are completely doctored and the signs put up only for the purpose of making those videos? Are you saying they don't actually teach Tibetan and Mongolian language in schools in China? Are you saying that woman in the video is an actor? What exact facts are you disputing? In the mean time, a large part of the Tibetan separatist diaspora in India have lost the ability to read, write and speak Tibetan; and outer Mongolia has only recently begun their efforts to restore traditional Mongolian script, after decades of using Cyrillic.
  - lmm 5y ago
    Sure, but immigrants would be non-Han.

HKH2 5y ago

China has been pushed towards being a monoculture for the past 70 years or so. I don't think Asian immigration would be an easy option at all.

FooBarWidget 5y ago
For certain definitions of "monoculture". Even Han culture between different regions can be very different.
- HKH2 5y ago
  Sure, China is not as homogeneous as what it could be. Yet is it preserving diversity? Through its enforcement of standards and nationalism, the CCP has been clear that it has no interest in making China more multicultural.
  - FooBarWidget 5y ago
    That isn't the reality I see on the ground. Take a look at for example this Tibet documentary: https://youtu.be/zkYhSsQqRhI https://youtu.be/zkYhSsQqRhI This Tibetan woman has 3 husbands. Look inside her house: full of Tibetan and religious artifacts. And this is just a normal Tibetan household, after we've been told for decades that Tibetans are being culturally genocided. It looks to me that Tibetan scripts and languages, Mongolian scripts and languages, etc are better preserved than over the border in India and Mongolia. Yes there are also plenty of examples where they tear down a cultural site. Yet I think there is a fundamental difference between western and Chinese interpretations of such acts. Western societies have developed a sort of mythical worshipping of traditional ethnic culture. To the Chinese, to whom development and modernization have come late, development and modernization is number 1: there is no pride in living a traditional, ethnic life if that means being in the middle of poverty. Some sites are torn in the name of development. See this discussion from 1999, back when the China topic wasn't so politicized: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/02/tibet-through-chinese-eyes/306395/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/02/tibet-t...
    - garmaine 5y ago
      > It looks to me that Tibetan scripts and languages, Mongolian scripts and languages, etc are better preserved than over the border in India and Mongolia. You've been drinking the koolaid. Tibetan as only been preserved through a heroic effort to smuggle books over the border to Nepal and India for preservation and duplication.
      - FooBarWidget 5y ago
        Seeing Tibetan and Mongolian scripts in videos of Tibetan and Mongolian locations is "drinking koolaid" now? Are you saying those videos are completely doctored and the signs put up only for the purpose of making those videos? Are you saying they don't actually teach Tibetan and Mongolian language in schools in China? Are you saying that woman in the video is an actor? What exact facts are you disputing? In the mean time, a large part of the Tibetan separatist diaspora in India have lost the ability to read, write and speak Tibetan; and outer Mongolia has only recently begun their efforts to restore traditional Mongolian script, after decades of using Cyrillic.
- lmm 5y ago
  Sure, but immigrants would be non-Han.