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Chinese culture, western philosophies, and government : Comments
By Brian Hennessy, published 13/10/2009China has had thousands of years of social conformity, collective thinking, and voluntary isolation from other societies.
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but by not allowing other opinions to flourish, China ensures there will be other scandals to come like milk contaminated with melamine, suppression of other viruses from fear of embarrassing authority, and just denial of unpleasant reality for fear of losing 'face'. By denying truth its right to be made public because it may embarrass someone in authority shows how little China has really progressed despite its material successes. The emperor has no clothes on but nobody ever dare tell him so.
Posted by SHRODE, Tuesday, 13 October 2009 12:18:34 PM
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This piece is an incoherent amalgam of a bunch of China stereotypes and clichés, all wrapped up to justify the current regime as if it is the logical and only possible outcome of a singular version of Chinese history. But it isn't.
Posted by mhar, Tuesday, 13 October 2009 3:58:34 PM
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Speaking as one who has spent some years in China, I'd say that Brian makes some hits and misses here.
Those who think that transporting western-style democracy to China would be a good idea are dangerously misinformed. There are some key cultural differences that haven't changed. Perhaps with time and exposure to the outside world they will, but that will be a lot slower than people think. The reason why it would be a bad idea can be explained reasonably practically - with such a large population, albeit one that has historically been resistant to change, the concept of a party system that is open to any new political party would inevitably result in dozens of major parties and hundreds, if not thousands, of minor ones. Consider this - at present, the US is having difficulty pushing through any changes to the healthcare system, despite the fact that it's on a course to make the country bankrupt, doesn't offer healthcare for all and is grossly inefficient. Any change would be better than nothing, however it looks like if the Democrats do manage to push forward changes, they will be pretty cosmetic. Now consider the earlier scenario I put forward - some kind of coalition at the helm, jostling parties and a populace that is highly resistant to change and would be susceptible to scare campaigns. Now consider that given the rapid growth of the economy and the unprecedented population size of the nation, the problems faced are pressing in their nature. Massive parts of the country are facing water shortages and agriculture is failing. Pollution is getting out of hand. Corruption is rampant. A democratic solution here, wouldn't solve all of these problems, but I accept the associated transparency would help on the last score. Transparency is what's needed. I'd love to see China with some kind of two-party system and the opportunity for real accountability of those in charge. However, a western solution simply wouldn't work. We've got to be much more creative than that. Actually, rather, the Chinese do. Posted by TurnRightThenLeft, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 12:46:50 AM
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We could do with some more transparency here too.
Democracy is government for the people. We are currently closer to an Oligarchy in reality so I don't believe we should be getting on any high horses with regards to China! Posted by Ozandy, Wednesday, 14 October 2009 1:26:19 PM
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Ozandy, when I hear that hyper-cynical response that Australia is secretive and thus we shouldn't lecture China... I find it hard to take the rest of your statement seriously.
There isn't a basis for comparison. You go to China, your websites are blocked and there's barely any information on government at all. Read this: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,26121443-25837,00.html I hear people berating our government all the time. Quite rightly. That constant criticism keeps things in line, and make no mistake, we're lucky. All things in this world are relative. People love to grumble, but at times, people let grumbling put things way, way out of perspective. Whilst I think our FOI system is terrible and there are some issues with the culture of our public service... things are worse in other places, and the idea that we should refrain from criticising such things because we're allegedly some evil secret empire is laughable. We can name all of our MPs. The buck does actually stop with them. That's not the case elsewhere. Posted by TurnRightThenLeft, Friday, 16 October 2009 8:30:09 PM
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Dear mhar,
My friend, I report what I see here in China. I am not pushing a political barrow. Read all my articles, and respond with more courteous language in future please. Brian. Posted by Brian Hennessy, Monday, 19 October 2009 9:59:29 AM
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