Move along. Nothing to see here. La la la

Every now and then some people in the US get excited and worried about Chinese gains in science, technology, engineering and STEM education - that China is beating the US in the critical tech race to the future. The comforting reaction is always on the order of, "Yes, but. We have freedom of thought and speech and eventually the authoritarian regime will self-destruct. And we will always lead in DEI technology." 

Occupying the UN - What a Community of Common Destiny will look like

Around 2005, our Chinese government students in Chicago were quite interested in our notions of NGOs. They had a tough time with NGOs like community organizations that received most or all of their funding from the local government, and then sometimes took positions directly opposed to local government proposals. In Chinese terms, WTF?

Chinese People Under Occupation - A Useful Lens for Understanding Today’s China

In order to understand China today and where it is headed, two important ideas can help, big-time.

A number of difficult issues become easier to understand if you talk about Chinese rule separately from talk about the Chinese people.

1 -- It can help to think about the Chinese as an occupied people – taken over by the CCP Dynasty.

2 --  It is useful to realize that CCP no longer is really communist.

Brief note on end of covid testing at December 14 -

You've heard about the end of mandatory covid testing in China. And you've heard about the increase in cases, which are not being reported since the government is no longer keeping track of cases. Michael Pettis reports that several of his friends in Beijing are now positive.

Reported cases are falling dramatically. Clearly people getting sick in China are not following the news reports.

River water flows east ... 

James Palmer reminds us in Foreign Policy that deaths of CCP leaders are sometimes … inconvenient. Announcement of a death may be delayed by hours or days while CCP figures out what the death means. Deng Xiaoping’s death was not reported immediately. Jiang Zemin was not nearly so popular as Deng, but he was known as not-so-loyal opposition to Xi Jinping. His death amid virus-related protests including denunciations of Xi everywhere in China requires some … consideration.

Why no change in Covid policies?

I thought there might be some changes in Xi's zero-Covid policies right after the National Congress meeting in October. The deteriorating economy and uncertainties are frustrating Chinese people and foreign businesses alike. But no changes came. Right now, the protests are huge and widespread and not yet violent, but getting there. And CCP fears nothing more than it does coordinated protests across cities.