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2006-10-04 China-Japan-Koreas

In Graft Inquiry, Chinese See a Shake-Up Coming

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Posted by .com 2006-10-04 03:05|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Foreign investors are about to get royally screwed. Several days ago, a central government edict required Ebay to sell a 1/3 interest in its Paypal unit to a Chinese company to continue operating in China. Basically, the provincial governments have been ignoring imbecilic (and simultaneously arrogant) central government edicts (which are ultimately responsible for China being one of East Asia's poorest nations) for years now. This is bad for China's economy, and bad for the foreign investors who will have wasted money putting up large operations in China. But it is ultimately good for China's neighbors, whose economies will become more competitive relative to China. If Hu sticks at it, a weaker China will result - something that should cause military planners everywhere to heave a sigh of relief.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-10-04 03:39|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-10-04 03:39|| Front Page Top

#2 Corrupt local officials plundering the citizenry is an old story in China. The Emperor's men trying to control the provinces is an equally old story.

Shanghai is the economic center of China in so many ways...imagine NYC, LA, and Houston all rolled up into one unit.

Posted by gromky 2006-10-04 04:17|| 2006-10-04 04:17|| Front Page Top

#3 gromky: Corrupt local officials plundering the citizenry is an old story in China. The Emperor's men trying to control the provinces is an equally old story.

It actually goes both ways, but China's history writers - in the interests of national unity - typically focus on the idea of a benevolent emperor. The reality is a little more complex - central government officials looted the national treasury while demanding more and more from the provinces. The Great Leap Forward, which caused the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese, involved central government officials demanding the entire grain harvests for certain areas, meaning that they starved to death. Say what you will about corrupt local officials, but their edicts have never starved tens of millions of Chinese to death, individually or collectively.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-10-04 04:41|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-10-04 04:41|| Front Page Top

#4 gromky: Corrupt local officials plundering the citizenry is an old story in China. The Emperor's men trying to control the provinces is an equally old story.

It actually goes both ways, but China's history writers - in the interests of national unity* - typically focus on the idea of a benevolent emperor. The reality is a little more complex - central government officials looted the national treasury while demanding more and more from the provinces. The Great Leap Forward, which caused the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese, involved central government officials demanding the entire grain harvests for certain areas, meaning that they starved to death. Say what you will about corrupt local officials, but their edicts have never starved tens of millions of Chinese to death, individually or collectively. Why was this so? Because local officials have to live where they govern. Officials in Beijing don't really care about the kind of damage they do to the locals - they neither know the people impacted nor have to see the results of their depredations.

* Chinese histories always praise the central government.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-10-04 04:44|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-10-04 04:44|| Front Page Top

#5 market-style

"Free-market", "enterprise-driven", "market-style", the "three representations", any-damned-fucking-thing but the dreaded "C" word.

It's CAPITALISM you stupid megalomaniac Mandarin fucks. C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-M with a capital "C" you idiotic moron shits. Go cram your imbecilic communist autocracy with (honey glazed) walnuts.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2006-10-04 06:13|| 2006-10-04 06:13|| Front Page Top

#6 Don't use the term capitalism, use the term "economic freedom"

Posted by Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2006-10-04 08:12|| 2006-10-04 08:12|| Front Page Top

#7 IIRC, "capitalism" was coined by Marx. That alone makes the term suspect.

Posted by Jackal">Jackal 2006-10-04 12:37|| http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2006-10-04 12:37|| Front Page Top

#8 Ayn Rand's book, "Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal" absolves it of all origins and previous uses.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2006-10-04 23:14|| 2006-10-04 23:14|| Front Page Top

19:54 Fred
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