China's 'Right to Speak'

[longyi]

As Beijing's reach continues to expand, Chinese analysts are increasingly troubled by the country's weak ability to influence how international issues, especially the rise of China, are framed and evaluated - called the "right to speak" or "discourse power" (huayuquan). The Western concern about Chinese doping at the Olympics, for example, showcased China's weakness and the strength of Orientalist discourse in the West that discounts China's abilities and accomplishments.

Although this idea is not new, a regular discussion has emerged since the summer concerned with the gap between China's power as the world's second-largest economy and Beijing's ability to shape international discussions and values.

The question facing Chinese analysts is how Beijing corrects this imbalance, because reversing China's weakness is an "urgent strategic need as the competition among nations intensifies".

The idea of "right to speak" or "discourse power" is an extension of soft power, relating to influence and attractiveness of a country's ideology and value system. As an important analysis this summer characterized it, "Who has huayuquan ultimately depends on whose ideology, especially whose value system, best answers contemporary global issues and provides impetus for human progress and development." In this respect, Beijing needs to "face the grim reality that the West is strong while China is weak (xi qiang wo ruan)" and start learning how to communicate more effectively to foreign audiences.

The proof of Beijing's weakness is evident in how Chinese accomplishments and policies are characterized domestically and internationally. Domestically, people complain China's foreign policy is too soft; internationally, governments complain China's diplomacy is too strong. This shows Beijing must make it clear to both domestic and international audiences how China will use its growing power and what kind of world China wants.

The key to doing this is strengthening China's right to speak. Moreover, despite the accomplishments of China since the beginning of Reform and Opening, some Western elements have used their "discourse power" to promulgate the "China Threat Theory," demonize China, promote trade protectionism and impede China's peaceful development.

China's weakness stems from a couple of different sources. The first is that there is a contradiction in promoting a set of universal values and respecting non-interference in a country's political affairs. So long as Chinese foreign policy is governed by the latter principle, Beijing will find it difficult to break Western hegemony in huayuquan.

The second is that China is not necessarily creating new ideas about how countries should run themselves or find their place in the increasingly integrated world. As a military analyst from the Nanjing Command Academy wrote, if China only translates or adapts Western ideas, then the spread of "Chinese ideas" inadvertently spreads Western values and places China in a passive position.

The third problem is that promoting the value of each country's individual development choices according to national circumstances does not offer the kind of guidance that Western ideas provides for rational or ideal political and economic choices. This shallow characterization of China's development model as a country's right to choose for itself shortchanges socialism with Chinese characteristics. Therefore, China needs to do a better job of publicizing and explaining the Chinese experience with "seeking truth from facts," reform and opening policies, "letting practice be the criterion of truth" and harmonious society.

This first step in strengthening China's discourse power is to develop a more sophisticated understanding of foreign audiences. Because of a lack of in-depth research into foreign attitudes, Chinese propagandists sometimes push messages that may be a positive self-expression of Chinese civilization, but is not received positively by foreign audiences. Beijing's challenge is how to ensure China's voice reaches others - something that is not happening now and requires further study, especially on how to improve the international penetration of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

China can enhance its right to speak with three steps, according to the Wu Ying deputy director of the Shanghai Foreign Studies University's international public opinion center. First, Beijing needs to be more aggressive about setting international discourse. Second, China needs to be able to break down the Western media's Orientalism and "responsible power" discourses to free up China's international discourse space. Finally, China should focus on researching Western media, watching for feedback on Chinese efforts to shape public opinion.

One of the ways in which China can improve its influence is to accelerate the "Going Out" policy for Chinese media organizations, such as the Southern Media Group's sponsored features on Guangdong overseas. Through this experience, Chinese journalists can learn the laws of cultural transmission.

Beijing does have to be careful in promoting its discourse power, because having a greater influence on international narratives is not an unalloyed good. China's Reform and Opening policies led the West to believe that China was on a convergent road with the Western development model.

Pursuing China's right to speak is the starting point for ending that belief and making it clear that China's course is different. Yet, according to Tsinghua media specialist Zhang Zhizhou, China cannot rise without challenging the Western concepts that denigrate China's accomplishments - eg democratic peace theory, great power politics, the end of history, etc - and thereby showing China's divergent development path.

By Peter Mattis: Asia Times Online :: China's need to find a voice

 

[longyi]

China has trained many science & math. engineering and MBA talents but, I believe, she neglects to encourage her youngsters to study the fields of politic, international diplomacy and international laws. No one gives you the 'right to talk', you have to earn it.

 

[livingdead]

offtopic: but are most Chinese introverts? I find them less willing to mix with other people.

 

[S10]

offtopic: but are most Chinese introverts? I find them less willing to mix with other people.

People mostly stick to their own culture as a rule, even when I was going to school in Canada. Chinese sat with other Chinese. Indians sat with Indians and so forth.

 

[asianamerican]

As Beijing's reach continues to expand, Chinese analysts are increasingly troubled by the country's weak ability to influence how international issues, especially the rise of China, are framed and evaluated - called the "right to speak" or "discourse power" (huayuquan). The Western concern about Chinese doping at the Olympics, for example, showcased China's weakness and the strength of Orientalist discourse in the West that discounts China's abilities and accomplishments.

Although this idea is not new, a regular discussion has emerged since the summer concerned with the gap between China's power as the world's second-largest economy and Beijing's ability to shape international discussions and values.

The question facing Chinese analysts is how Beijing corrects this imbalance, because reversing China's weakness is an "urgent strategic need as the competition among nations intensifies".

The idea of "right to speak" or "discourse power" is an extension of soft power, relating to influence and attractiveness of a country's ideology and value system. As an important analysis this summer characterized it, "Who has huayuquan ultimately depends on whose ideology, especially whose value system, best answers contemporary global issues and provides impetus for human progress and development." In this respect, Beijing needs to "face the grim reality that the West is strong while China is weak (xi qiang wo ruan)" and start learning how to communicate more effectively to foreign audiences.

The proof of Beijing's weakness is evident in how Chinese accomplishments and policies are characterized domestically and internationally. Domestically, people complain China's foreign policy is too soft; internationally, governments complain China's diplomacy is too strong. This shows Beijing must make it clear to both domestic and international audiences how China will use its growing power and what kind of world China wants.

The key to doing this is strengthening China's right to speak. Moreover, despite the accomplishments of China since the beginning of Reform and Opening, some Western elements have used their "discourse power" to promulgate the "China Threat Theory," demonize China, promote trade protectionism and impede China's peaceful development.

China's weakness stems from a couple of different sources. The first is that there is a contradiction in promoting a set of universal values and respecting non-interference in a country's political affairs. So long as Chinese foreign policy is governed by the latter principle, Beijing will find it difficult to break Western hegemony in huayuquan.

The second is that China is not necessarily creating new ideas about how countries should run themselves or find their place in the increasingly integrated world. As a military analyst from the Nanjing Command Academy wrote, if China only translates or adapts Western ideas, then the spread of "Chinese ideas" inadvertently spreads Western values and places China in a passive position.

The third problem is that promoting the value of each country's individual development choices according to national circumstances does not offer the kind of guidance that Western ideas provides for rational or ideal political and economic choices. This shallow characterization of China's development model as a country's right to choose for itself shortchanges socialism with Chinese characteristics. Therefore, China needs to do a better job of publicizing and explaining the Chinese experience with "seeking truth from facts," reform and opening policies, "letting practice be the criterion of truth" and harmonious society.

This first step in strengthening China's discourse power is to develop a more sophisticated understanding of foreign audiences. Because of a lack of in-depth research into foreign attitudes, Chinese propagandists sometimes push messages that may be a positive self-expression of Chinese civilization, but is not received positively by foreign audiences. Beijing's challenge is how to ensure China's voice reaches others - something that is not happening now and requires further study, especially on how to improve the international penetration of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

China can enhance its right to speak with three steps, according to the Wu Ying deputy director of the Shanghai Foreign Studies University's international public opinion center. First, Beijing needs to be more aggressive about setting international discourse. Second, China needs to be able to break down the Western media's Orientalism and "responsible power" discourses to free up China's international discourse space. Finally, China should focus on researching Western media, watching for feedback on Chinese efforts to shape public opinion.

One of the ways in which China can improve its influence is to accelerate the "Going Out" policy for Chinese media organizations, such as the Southern Media Group's sponsored features on Guangdong overseas. Through this experience, Chinese journalists can learn the laws of cultural transmission.

Beijing does have to be careful in promoting its discourse power, because having a greater influence on international narratives is not an unalloyed good. China's Reform and Opening policies led the West to believe that China was on a convergent road with the Western development model.

Pursuing China's right to speak is the starting point for ending that belief and making it clear that China's course is different. Yet, according to Tsinghua media specialist Zhang Zhizhou, China cannot rise without challenging the Western concepts that denigrate China's accomplishments - eg democratic peace theory, great power politics, the end of history, etc - and thereby showing China's divergent development path.

By Peter Mattis: Asia Times Online :: China's need to find a voice

In order for China to have a greater voice in the international stage, it must offer an alternative. It must discredit the West and highlight Western hypocrisy. It is because most people are brainwashed by the dominant Western media. One of the main reason why China is viewed in such a low light is the collective defamation done by ALL Western media and their subsidiaries through the world.

The world view of China is not shaped by Chinese themselves but the Western media. Similar to how most minority doesn't interact with other minorities yet viewed them through the lens of a the white majority. The discourse on China is being led by the West. To break this cycle, Chinese themselves have to be more vocal in their criticism of the West, to the same extent that the West is anti-Chinese. Chinese have to be anti-West.

 

[jhungary]

Well, there are no way American or Western Democracy will work on china, for one and only one reason. It's population.

China is too big to be democratic, because if they were to be as open as US or UK, they will have a regime change every 6 months or so and by then the country will not be able to do much and well, it will collapse, try to think like this, in a country make up of 1.3 Billion People and you have about 20 secular culture and more than 100 different dialect, how would you imagine that that country could reunited with one single mind? They don't even have a official language to start with (Mandarin were the official but less than 50% of Chinese actually spoken at home)

Why? Simple, differnet people have different view on things, you may not know but Chinese People actually harbor hatred within themselve. Like the Southern Chinese does not like the North and the North does not like the West and so on, then you get Taiwan, which stand in another prespective and now, it also come with Hong Kong and Macau Those 8 millions people just hate their master altogether. Doesn't matter if they are from North, South, East or West.

Chinese is most suitable to some kind of dictatorship, just like what Stalin used to be in Soviet Russia, their Central government had to have the ABSOLUTE Power or the country will simply fall apart, again, like Russia did.

And the Right or Freedom of Speech is just one plain obstacle to have a country which practics totaldictorianism, it can never ever be in China, if Chinese was to survive as an entity.

Unfortunately, the west does not see this, especially the human group type of people. Well, they Chinese as a close curtin and oppression occur often in every corner in China. That wasn't right, yes, i agree, but this is the only way to control a large population.

Chinese leadership saw that too, which on the other end of the table did exactly what they did, and the only way for China to still be in the International Hot Seat is, well protrait themselve as a strong-dictatorship like states to the international table. Well, does this remind anything to anyone?

On the other hand, Democracy can actually exist in China, in smaller scale and in isolated city like Hong Kong and Shanghai i should say, not only not in a national scale, and to have this happen, that country need to suppress their own people's voice so the poor suffering will not infulence to those who feel life is good in China.

I am not pro-Western or pro-Chin, i do not endose Chinese Nationalism or Anti-China or Anti-West stance, i am a half Chinese American who now live in Sweden, my wife is a fellow scholar/researcher in East Asia studies with University of Lund and i am currently premenantly reside in Neutral Sweden.

 

[longyi]

Good point of views by both of you two gentlemen and a keen observation by Mr S10. The way the west's collective propaganda in the last decade against China can produce negative results for China and the world. Unless that's precisely the west intention to neutralize China before she becomes too powerful, otherwise they won't be the beneficiary of China's demise.

Going by the events of the past few years I was sure China is on her way to her form of democracy, a democracy that stronger than the one the west is having now, in which incidentally, is failing. lets wait and see........



China hints at move to strengthen Communist rule

(Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party will discuss a proposal to amend its constitution at its congress in early November, state media said on Monday, a move aimed at strengthening one-party rule over the next five years.

State news agency Xinhua did not elaborate on what the amendments could be, though they have previously formed the guiding principles on which major policy decisions such as moving China in the direction of a market economy have been based.

"The meeting stressed the importance of making a draft amendment to the CPC (Communist Party of China) Constitution that conforms to the needs of the CPC's theoretic innovation, practice and development and will also promote the CPC's work and strengthen its construction," Xinhua said, citing a statement from the meeting of the politburo.

The party "constitution" is less a legal document and more an organizational guide and compilation of the ideological justifications that China's Communists have accumulated - and often quietly shelved - in their evolution from a party of Mao Zedong and mass revolution to one of mass markets and dynamic growth.

Cheng Li, an expert in Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington, told Reuters the amendments could include new language on the rule of law and intra-party democracy.

The constitution has also cemented legacies of previous leaders, enshrined landmark policies such as letting capitalists into the party, and stressed economic modernization as a priority of the nation.

In 2007, the party issued an amended version of its charter enshrining the slogans and enhanced influence of President Hu Jintao, who steps down as party leader on November 8 at the 18th Congress.

The changes were a symbolic victory for Hu in this top-down one-party state where ideological jargon is the language of power, telling officials and citizens which leaders to heed.

China hints at move to strengthen Communist rule | Reuters

 

[anon45]

Well, there are no way American or Western Democracy will work on china, for one and only one reason. It's population.

China is too big to be democratic, because if they were to be as open as US or UK, they will have a regime change every 6 months or so and by then the country will not be able to do much and well, it will collapse, try to think like this, in a country make up of 1.3 Billion People and you have about 20 secular culture and more than 100 different dialect, how would you imagine that that country could reunited with one single mind? They don't even have a official language to start with (Mandarin were the official but less than 50% of Chinese actually spoken at home).

This exact same argument was used against the success of republicanism in the US. The population is too big, the population is too dispersed, etc. All the previous examples of such were relatively small areas and populations, so there were definite reservations it would work. It is able to work for China imo, there doesn't need to be an official national language (the US doesn't have one).

Why? Simple, differnet people have different view on things, you may not know but Chinese People actually harbor hatred within themselve. Like the Southern Chinese does not like the North and the North does not like the West and so on, then you get Taiwan, which stand in another prespective and now, it also come with Hong Kong and Macau Those 8 millions people just hate their master altogether. Doesn't matter if they are from North, South, East or West.

Chinese is most suitable to some kind of dictatorship, just like what Stalin used to be in Soviet Russia, their Central government had to have the ABSOLUTE Power or the country will simply fall apart, again, like Russia did.

That's strikingly little confidence you have in the strength of the Chinese national identity. Are Chinese really so fractured as to make these rivalries an actual threat in dissolving China?

And the Right or Freedom of Speech is just one plain obstacle to have a country which practics totaldictorianism, it can never ever be in China, if Chinese was to survive as an entity.

Unfortunately, the west does not see this, especially the human group type of people. Well, they Chinese as a close curtin and oppression occur often in every corner in China. That wasn't right, yes, i agree, but this is the only way to control a large population..

I guess those type of people have more confidence in the Chinese people than you do. The birth of the United States really discredits the notion that Republicanism is not applicable to large diverse groups of people or a large geographical area. What this depends on is the strength of the national identity, and I expect that to be more prominent in China than many other places, especially at this time.

Chinese leadership saw that too, which on the other end of the table did exactly what they did, and the only way for China to still be in the International Hot Seat is, well protrait themselve as a strong-dictatorship like states to the international table. Well, does this remind anything to anyone?

On the other hand, Democracy can actually exist in China, in smaller scale and in isolated city like Hong Kong and Shanghai i should say, not only not in a national scale, and to have this happen, that country need to suppress their own people's voice so the poor suffering will not infulence to those who feel life is good in China..

Well i've already brought up what I believe discredits the notion that Republicanism cannot work on a large scale, and of course the Chinese leaders dont have faith in it, they are the ones that would have to cede power. A strong national identity is whats necessary, I won't disagree with that, or else you end up like the UK might end up. Does China have a strong national identity, or do provincial or regional ties supercede it?

I am not pro-Western or pro-Chin, i do not endose Chinese Nationalism or Anti-China or Anti-West stance, i am a half Chinese American who now live in Sweden, my wife is a fellow scholar/researcher in East Asia studies with University of Lund and i am currently premenantly reside in Neutral Sweden.

You don't sound like the anti-China or anti-West type from this post alone (which is quite refreshing I assure you.), but you seem to have very little faith in the Chinese national identity and the ability of the Chinese people to stay as a cohesive unit without being beaten down.

 

[jhungary]

Cheng Li, an expert in Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington, told Reuters the amendments could include new language on the rule of law and intra-party democracy.

The constitution has also cemented legacies of previous leaders, enshrined landmark policies such as letting capitalists into the party, and stressed economic modernization as a priority of the nation.

In 2007, the party issued an amended version of its charter enshrining the slogans and enhanced influence of President Hu Jintao, who steps down as party leader on November 8 at the 18th Congress.

The changes were a symbolic victory for Hu in this top-down one-party state where ideological jargon is the language of power, telling officials and citizens which leaders to heed.

If i were you, i would not hold my breathe on any amendment on the People Congress, for 2 reasons.

1.) Everytime when news of People Congress hit western media, half of which is a foreshow and the other half is actually not true. Do remember the news (both incoming and outgoing) are censored by the Chinese Politburo, honest enough those are the time the Chinese wanted the west to support anything, they will give out a pro-western cable to the western media. When time to condemn, they will send an anti-western cable to the western media.

2.) Even what it said was intented and true, the Chinese constitution are foggy at best, it often require an amendment to the amendment of the constitution, so unless it was written down and being "explained" it would do much of anything to anyone.

Afterall, the Constitution hearing is behind close door, only people who are entitle to know will be entitle to know in the end.

 

[Jade]

For all its economic growth, China still is warped in mystery. Nobody knows what is happening inside.

It is hard to believe or disbelieve China

 

[Jade]

People mostly stick to their own culture as a rule, even when I was going to school in Canada. Chinese sat with other Chinese. Indians sat with Indians and so forth.

Indians never sit with Indians at least publicly (Indians are too cunning for that), you will always find them hanging with other nationalities. The only time you will see Indians with Indians publicly is at Indian festivals/weddings or social gatherings

 

[longyi]

If i were you, i would not hold my breathe on any amendment on the People Congress, for 2 reasons.

1.) Everytime when news of People Congress hit western media, half of which is a foreshow and the other half is actually not true. Do remember the news (both incoming and outgoing) are censored by the Chinese Politburo, honest enough those are the time the Chinese wanted the west to support anything, they will give out a pro-western cable to the western media. When time to condemn, they will send an anti-western cable to the western media.

2.) Even what it said was intented and true, the Chinese constitution are foggy at best, it often require an amendment to the amendment of the constitution, so unless it was written down and being "explained" it would do much of anything to anyone.

Afterall, the Constitution hearing is behind close door, only people who are entitle to know will be entitle to know in the end.

I believe your understand of the inner workings of the CPC political mechanism is limited in a way that you are using the western political process to judge how a different form of government can and should work. According to your previous statement:

They don't even have a official language to start with (Mandarin were the official but less than 50% of Chinese actually spoken at home).

shows you're judging China on what the (western) medias feed you and that's precisely what this thread is about. China has the rights to speak, the right to tell these collective propaganda that they could be wrong. China has the rights to tell the governments, the ones that feed misinformation to to the same medias, do not judge how we operate our political system by the system you're using because yours might not be correct.

BTW, China do have an official language, written and spoken, and that's the Chinese writing and Putonghua (that's Mandarin to you). 100% elementary school children know how to write Chinese and nearly 100% speak Putonghua. Language spoken at home has nothing to whether a person is fluent in another dialect or not. The Chinese writing is what kept China unified as one country through millenniums, thank you, and that more than what the American can say about English.

 

[JSCh]

Well i've already brought up what I believe discredits the notion that Republicanism cannot work on a large scale, and of course the Chinese leaders dont have faith in it, they are the ones that would have to cede power. A strong national identity is whats necessary, I won't disagree with that, or else you end up like the UK might end up. Does China have a strong national identity, or do provincial or regional ties supercede it?

Chinese have a very strong national identity. Chinese has the "大一统" concept since 2 thousand years ago. Loosely translated it means unity or today more commonly expressed by the "one china" concept. That is why, despite China being populated by a large and diverse population, she has miraculously remained a single civilization/country/nation for two thousand years. There are some interruptions in between by civil wars and foreign occupations. But the believe in the concept is so strong that even if China break up for hundreds of year, Chinese would still strive to make China one unified country. In Chinese perception, China can only be peaceful when she is whole. And this is a self-fulfilling tautology, because any warlord/king in divided up China would not have respect from the Chinese people if he did not try to conquer others to make China whole/peaceful, and this would lead to constant war until China is reunified. And for a people that have lived under the same concept for millennium, it is impossible not to have a strong identity. In fact, it is that identity that hold China together come what may.

Yes, we fight among ourselves and has been described as "a heap of loose sand" by Sun Yat Sen (founding father of modern China). But if the needs arises, Chinese can stick together just like what had been witnessed in the 2008 Sichuan/Wenchuan earthquake.

Chinese is a collective culture. We seek common rather that difference in society. The article posted above - "China hints at move to strengthen Communist rule", a move aim at strengthening one-party rule probably means that China is not moving towards mufti-parties system soon if ever. Republicanism can work in large scale, but please read George Washington's Farewell Address (George Washington's Farewell Address - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and understand that Chinese might share similar concern on parties politic.

 

[jhungary]

This exact same argument was used against the success of republicanism in the US. The population is too big, the population is too dispersed, etc. All the previous examples of such were relatively small areas and populations, so there were definite reservations it would work. It is able to work for China imo, there doesn't need to be an official national language (the US doesn't have one).

Sorry for the late reply, but unlike others, i would like to have my word based on facts and base on things that i know, not just saying....So i need to do some research before i reply to anyone

Well, you are saying i do not have faith of the National Identity of Chinese. The problem is, what does it have to do with the dictatorship running in China? Nothing.

In fact, most Dictatorship are run on a Country that high in Nationalism. From Nazi Germany to Franco's Spain and to The Junta in Argentina. Those are the "Die Hard" people who stongely believe that the country's own identity and usually they are of higher standard than others. China is not an exception. Infact, during the Early part of WW2 and the Korean War, Chinese hunker down together regardless of what believe they have and exist as one entity. (Where the communist and the nationalist fought hand in hang against the Japs and the Normad in Mongolia fought in Korea) and Chinese I can go on but this is quite out of the scope of topic now i suppose.

The real problem is, believe in their own identity is one thing, believe in how they can change is another, and finally, you can eat your believe, people have need, in order for a person to survive, they need material things and different people in China need different thing.

You compare my analogy to the United States of America. Ok, let's do that shall we.

While US have a dispersed and diverted Population, in the end, US only do have 300 million of resident (Chinese have more even if you get rid of the other 1 billion people). And to be fair, it's more like 50 government than 1. The Federal Government have not much power within the United States, the Federal Government existed solely for the US Foreign Policy. While Federal Government did set the law to set forth the States law, the States does not need to follow it to the word, the states can impose a stricter or lax version of the same law and the Federal Government have no say about it. Let's look at the Gay marriage thing in the US, federal law ruled Gay Marriage are not acceptable under the Defense of Marriage Act (Where a mariage is defined as a union to a man and a woman) Still states are allowed to Impose or Oppose the institution of Gay Marriage as a result, 6 states allow a Union of Homosexual.

The example show although the Federal Government made the law of the whole of the United States, they are not necessarily followed by the Individual States. It not just Gay marriage, you are talking about equity act, gun law and basically different state have a different version of manslaughter definition on said crime, federal law provide a blank canvas for state to impose it own law, it will be legal regardless for the states, as long as the law is inside the canvas (The scope of federal Government)

Now, if we put this in China, what will happen? First of all, China have a population of 1.347 Billions (that's 1347 millions) where it';s GDP is somewhere about 9000 USD per year per capita, the problem is, they are not about 9000 USD per province per person, it's not. In richer province like Beijian (the capital) the GDP is about 12000 USD per capita, however, in poorer provinces like Sichuan, the GDP is only $3000 per capita. That's 4 fold less than the same Chinese living in Beijian Where the average Chinese Still 3 fold better off than the poorer sub region.

In Economist Term, if a Part of the Country have less than half of the own's country's GDP, the gap is alarming, do remember there is also a gap between different city of the same province as well. That do create a problem. Which is the people who live in those poor province will try and look for work in one of those rich province. And sooner or later, if, a freedom of movement are imposed, there will not be much left in those poor states. Also, the foreign worker (What you called an out of state worker in the US) are hated by the indigenous resident on the rich states, simple because the fact that they come and compete with them in term of jobs, living standard and oppuntities.

So, in the end, if China were to use the same law or governence as in the US, you will get 1 and only 1 result, the Rich province will denounce the federalism and will not be assoicate with those poor province. There are no hero here, people think of themselve and that's a fact, if you come in and took my job because you can do it twice as cheap as me, when i got the power i will do everything i can to stop you from coming, and the only way is to seperation from unity, that's how Soviet Russia failed and EU are failing at the moment.

Then, you got the big 3 autonomous region (Tibet, Inner Mongolia and XinJiang) that is waiting to break away from China

This have nothing to do with National Identity, those people are still proud of being Chinese, but not just as concessionist to other Chinese, if you want proof, and if yo ucan read Chinese, go to yahoo.com and ask what is .50 and you will know.

 

[jhungary]

I believe your understand of the inner workings of the CPC political mechanism is limited in a way that you are using the western political process to judge how a different form of government can and should work. According to your previous statement:

Why do people keep tell me "We are being brainwashed by Western Media"

For your information, i was eduated in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, i have been living in China for 18 out of my 32 years of my life, i speak and read and write Chinese (Both Simplify and Tradition) and my wife has been in China even longer, 24 out of 34.

What you preceived as a Western propoganda is what the Chinese Conspiracy Theory begin, the problem with China is, they are supicious about the west, this is kind of an old news really, but have any Chinese actually stop for one second and ask why, why the west conspire with each other and try to bring down China?

The answer, is the West does not. NO, NADA, ZIP, NEVER trying to or going to burn Chinese to the ground. Well, if the west do really want China to disappear, there are numerous occasion the west can, but they don't, do you know why? Because the West need the Chinese more than the Chinese need the West.

From what i see, the west have power, they do, but the Chinese do have one thing that the West does not have, that's again, its population. If you add the whole Europe and North America together they only have about half the population in China(314 million in US 40 million in Canada and about 500 million in EU). China is a big market, there are no point we trash the Chinese in anyway conceivable, why would the west, which capitalist in nature, want to trash your own brand?? That i want to know. For a business alliance, this is not a smart move...........

The problem with China is, Chinese does not believe this, at least the general Chinese does not. They think the west must have some kind of conspiracy to seperate China, isolationist and stuff like that. Well, you do need to know, Conspiracy cut both way, i am afraid this is not the Western Conspiracy but rather the Chinese Conspiracy that base on ignorance and protectivism. If you ask any economist, east or west, s/he will tell you this, if China suddenly stop all ties to the west, it's NOT the chinese whose gonna suffer, but the west.

By the way, talk about education, not every (100%) Chinese learn Mandarin in school, have you ever been to Hong Kong and Macau and Northern China(Tibet, Heilonggong, inner mongol)? Those 100 millions people do not speak a word of mandarin, and yes, maybe the Elementry school in China are 100% teaching Mandarin but do you know how many children are able to go to school? They teach them is one business, will the people learn them is another, and then will the people speak of them is another business.