He'll be handing out little red books before you know it...
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Worth reading for China watchers.
The Communist Party is 100% about keeping control and staying in power.
It is why people think who think that economic liberalization will necessarily lead to political change are wrong.
First of all, the Chinese economy is not liberalized. All large and important industries and finance will all remain under state control. Even non-strategic industries are highly regulated and there is no way to grow without connections to and approval from Government.
Second, the Chinese Government will not institute any political or social policies which threaten its existence
The Chinese relationship to Mao is weird. I don’t think an outsider can really understand it. They reject everything he did but embrace the myth.
I wouldn’t make to big a deal about a Chinese politician praising Mao. They all do.
Now you see, people, this is what I've been pointing out for fourteen years: the "Third World" Left, unlike the Western Left, is nationalist and patriotic. Can anyone imagine even a Communist America inculcating any sort of patriotism for the "socialist motherland?" Even a totalitarian America would still be teaching its kids that the USA is a lousy country that should never have existed in the first place.
And please note that while Japan's nationalism is branded "right wing," China becomes more nationalistic and aggressive the further "left" it goes. Maybe it's time one of the nations threatened by China officially adopted the tactic of branding Chinese nationalism as "right wing" just to tick them off.
Does he want to slaughter millions to make a point too?