Faustian Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 That's the point...China has seemingly played the long game, the US is always playing the short game...just look at the education system! The government tries to pander to the fickle short-sighted electorate, but ends up pleasing no one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeartThais Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 China has been underestemiated very much in the recent decade. The people underestimating China have probably never visited it. It is impossible to see Shanghai or Beijing and not come away with the feeling China is overtaking the West rapidly... not just in pace of development but also in how quickly and ruthlessly the people have learned to pursue profits. And the idea that US can project their military power at all nowadays is off. We shot our load and we'll need a long time to recover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 True. China are thinking long term. They make mistakes but try and correct them. They have also shown a willingness to change. No one would have thought they would have embraced capitalism to this extent 40 years ago. India has problems obviously but they are regarded as a rival. China sees India's population as something that can't be ignored. Plus India is the worlds most populace demcocracy. They may take up the 'defend democracy' mantle the U.S. has always done. China will improve its steel making capabilities just like India did. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't want to eventuallly put out a quality product. Its part of the process. Japan was known for its cheap electronics post WW2 and eventually sold some high quality products. Same with their cars. If anyone reads anything about America and its reputation for stuff in the second half of the 1800s, England as well as Europe were known as the best makers of all sort of things and America seen as inferior upstarts. China will get it right eventually, on all sorts of things. I also think they are farther along than people think or give them credit. A super currency isn't going to happen right now, but China knows that. They are saying what they will push for down the road. They have time. Eventually when they are in a position to do so they may enforce that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted March 26, 2009 Report Share Posted March 26, 2009 One thing...seems that studies dealing with large populations have found that they tend to do a melt down for a variety of reasons. 1408, China was world leader in science, medicine and exploration. In 1408 China sent out a an 800 fleet of ships and explored and mapped the entire world! They went to every continent and both poles! However, in about 1421, the newly built Beijing city was burned to the ground. The Emperor dies and the next Emperor disbanded the fleets and burned all the maps and records he could find!!! China then went internal. What will today's China do? will they go so far and then melt down? maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 ... and yet factories are moving from China to Vietnam. China is no longer the lowest cost producer. Plus China has many problems. Poisonous food and toys, forced evictions, high level corruption are just a few examples. You can't trust anything in the Chinese media because of total censorship. 80,000 protests in China and not one mention in Chinese newspapers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 The people underestimating China have probably never visited it. Having worked in China myself on numerous occasions Xiamen, Tianjin and Xian i couldn't agree more. I have 4 friends who now have home base in Xiamen and its a damn site easier for them there than it is for me here in Thailand and also in this ecconomic meltdown my most stable bank account is my RMB deposits with Bank of China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 << 1408, China was world leader in science, medicine and exploration. In 1408 China sent out a an 800 fleet of ships and explored and mapped the entire world! They went to every continent and both poles! >> Yeah, right ... sure they did. << The 1421 hypothesis has been dismissed by sinologists and professional historians. Menzies has been criticized for his "reckless manner of dealing with evidence" that led him to propose hypotheses "without a shred of proof". There are numerous errors of fact in the book, and very little of Menzies' evidence is supported by peer-reviewed scholarship. Menzies cannot read Chinese, so the book lacks any citation of Chinese sources. Critics have also questioned the extent of Menzies' nautical knowledge. >> More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421:_The_Year_China_Discovered_the_World p.s. To Cav, not Mekhong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 China has been underestemiated very much in the recent decade. The people underestimating China have probably never visited it. It is impossible to see Shanghai or Beijing and not come away with the feeling China is overtaking the West rapidly... not just in pace of development but also in how quickly and ruthlessly the people have learned to pursue profits. And the idea that US can project their military power at all nowadays is off. We shot our load and we'll need a long time to recover. Try counting the number of cranes you can see in Beijing, and then contrast that with the number of cranes you do not see at USA building sites. Sad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted March 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 ... and yet factories are moving from China to Vietnam. China is no longer the lowest cost producer. Plus China has many problems. Poisonous food and toys, forced evictions, high level corruption are just a few examples. You can't trust anything in the Chinese media because of total censorship. 80,000 protests in China and not one mention in Chinese newspapers. China has huge problems, that's for sure. But the million dollar question is how do these problems will change the direction of the Chinese politics and economy. Until now it seems that the communist party is able to run the country - even the newly unemployed 20 Mio migrant workers do not seem to have a remarkable negative impact, yet. And if China comes out of the recession without major disruptions it will be even stronger than before, since the country is on a world wide company shopping tour at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 << 1408, China was world leader in science, medicine and exploration. In 1408 China sent out a an 800 fleet of ships and explored and mapped the entire world! They went to every continent and both poles! >> Yeah, right ... sure they did. << The 1421 hypothesis has been dismissed by sinologists and professional historians. Menzies has been criticized for his "reckless manner of dealing with evidence" that led him to propose hypotheses "without a shred of proof". There are numerous errors of fact in the book, and very little of Menzies' evidence is supported by peer-reviewed scholarship. Menzies cannot read Chinese, so the book lacks any citation of Chinese sources. Critics have also questioned the extent of Menzies' nautical knowledge. >> More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421:_The_Year_China_Discovered_the_World p.s. To Cav, not Mekhong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_Hypothesis Read the book by Gavin Menzies, I did. A well laid out proof by this former UK Navy commander/submarine captain. Also, nice PBS video. http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20030110_china.html You can find a bittorrent of the video, I did and watch it for a good, unbiased review of the theory. I find the book to be at least 90% plausible and very accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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