Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Some People Can't Wait to see the Jasmine Revolution Invade China

One of the first to see the revolt of Tunisia as the beginning of the dominoes that will topple China was Gordon Chang. He suggested that after Tunisia and then Egypt it could be China. He made this bold prognostication on January 30, weeks before Mubarak took the actual tumble.

Mr. Chang, known to boldly sally forth where no real experts would, is famous for his book on the coming collapse of China, which was published in 2001. That China has only more than doubled their economic output and become the second largest economy in the world since the publication of his book does not cramp his style in the least. He continues to hammer on the collapse theme as if constant repetition will eventually make him credible.

Others in the western media are even more "proactive" than Mr. Chang. They are reporting mass unrest and movements of Jasmine proportions in China with sleigh of hand, cut and paste photos. Old photos of mass protest in China against Japan and other equally deceptive file photos became handy tools to illustrate how revolution in China is alleged to look.

The media in the West can get away with such shenanigans in disinformation because they presume that the audience in the west can't tell the difference between a Hong Kong cop, or a Taiwan mass protest or some patriotic movement in China and a disturbance they purport to be reporting. In such cases, photos do lie.

Anyone with a smidgen of understanding about China would realize there is no analogy between what has happened in North Africa to what might happen in China. Yes, there is vast unequal distribution of income in China and yes, corruption and injustice is a major problem. But that is about as far as it goes before the parallel diverges.

The standard of living of the Chinese people has never been better. A great majority of people are satisfied with their lives and the way things are run. Most important, the central government of China far from ignoring the plights of their people actually care and spend a great deal of energy to look after the general population. The leaders of Beijing are sensitive to public opinion and there is no mass feeling of disenfranchisement.

Beware of pundits and their wishful thinking and those desperate enough to fit the facts to their flawed vision.

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