In reply to shaun l:
ive spent nearly 20 years involved with the country, first studying it then living and working there, plus dozens of trips and an ongoing role consulting on various aspects. some of that stufff has been directly involved with their awakening.
its not a democracy. they vote, yes, but not as we do. china actually has a massive voting number, but its at a very base range and its not open to many. they vote at a grassroots level for positions within local parties. its not about electing leaders, just roles.
above that all else is totally opaque. what goes on in chinese power plays is not disclosed.
as for the party, its open to everyone - who takes allegience to the rules. these include professing atheism and adherance to a single party system.
no, not any chinese citizen can become a leader.
half a century ago britain did not execute +2000 people a year. back then britain also had an independant judiciary and was party to many international governing bodies that oversee human rights. china has almost none of that.
even with leverage from groups like the ADB to align with international protocols, little has happened.
use the military against the people? it happens regularly. think tibet, xinjiang and inner mongolia.
the tiananmen square incident was as much a media event as a violent one. to this day the west is very uneducated about what happened and the evolution of events. of course its inexcusable, but it wasnt as simple as the army shooting students.
simon4 has it on the nail re chinese atrocities. the motivations were totally different to the jewish holocaust and stalins purges (in most ways), and the scenario they were set against were too, but the death toll and the madness have no equal.
china is not without massive debt. their entire economy is based on a foundation of mega-investment from the US and japan. and that bubble is well on the way deflating. for 5 years now many assets have been down-sized in china for a multitude of reasons, not least the endemic corruption that has always stifled top level foreign interaction.
yes, capitalism has been the steroid of their economy. its been very very disparate, but the living standards of hundreds of millions have been raised - tho some by very little.
they couldnt go back to maoist communism tho, not now, it had already ground to a halt and the interaction with other large economies wouldnt allow it. suddenly cutting themselves off would be a disaster on the largest scale as they are too reliant on foreign resources to sustain themselves now. the tax and social system would fail going back to a system where the government was expected to provide basic resources.
its hard to think where china is going. the version seen in the west is very tainted. china looks as much to its immediate neighbours as it does to its big trading partners. they still skirmish on their borders (of which very little is actually in ethnic han control), and the internal problems of modern growth is surpassing what their world position can cope with.
even internationally, for a major economy, permanant seat on the security council and top resource devourer, they still have the basic issues of a 3rd world nation and act like it. their currency is still worthless outside their borders, their institutions a joke and their contributions to international governing bodies near non-existant. thailand, venezuala and canada have more political influence internationally.
also, china being a superpower not going to war is a hazy statement. they have been in a state of declared conflict with india for 50 years - regularly firing upon each other. recent flare ups with pacific neighbours have scrambled airforces and navies, chinese backed mercenary armies in myanmar have clashed violently for decades, chinese military have clashed with ethnic groups along the kazakh and vietnamese borders.
true, they are unlikely to go far away and get involved - that said their navy has been tasked with dealing with somali pirates and have been suspiciously successful.
should you go? sure. the party ended 10 years ago and its pretty tame these days. it used to be really intense. nowdays its mostly a post-industrial nightmare that more dull than confronting. theres great stuff there tho, between the shit parts. the han themselves are fascinating as a civilization.
plus the mountains are great. whilst everybody whines about crowds on everest, the taliban in pakistan and bolts in patagonia theres all that put together then doubled in china being ignored. but keep that to yourself, ok.