- 06 Jan 2022 15:05
#15206133
"The crackdown is killing the entrepreneurial drive that made China a tech power and destroying jobs that used to attract the country’s brightest.
Even people within the system are alarmed by the heavy-handed approach. The former head of China’s sovereign wealth fund urged restrictions on the power of regulators. Hu Xijin, the newly retired editor of the official newspaper Global Times and an infamous propagandist, said he hoped that regulatory actions should help make most companies healthier instead of leaving them “dying on the operating table.”
The damage has been done. Some internet companies have been forced to shut down, while others are suffering from huge losses or disappointing earnings. Many publicly listed companies have seen their share prices fall by half, if not more.
The e-commerce giant Alibaba’s profitability declined by 38% from a year earlier. Didi, once the most valuable start-up in the country, reported an operating loss of $6.3 billion for the first nine months of 2021. The video platform that laid off Mr. Zhao, iQiyi, had an abysmal quarter, losing about $268 million. Its share prices fell by 85 percent from its high in 2021, reflecting investors’ concerns...
There will be 10 million college graduates in China in 2022, according to the Education Ministry. About 4.5 million have applied to graduate schools, up by 800,000 from 2021. More than two million people have applied to take civil servant examinations, up by half a million, according to the Chinese state media."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/technology/china-tech-internet-crackdown-layoffs.html?surface=icymi-home&fellback=false&req_id=912279492&algo=identity&variant=0_manual_curation&pool=pool/215befff-e8c1-41b4-947b-d712144a34dc&imp_id=2732990&action=click&module=In%20Case%20You%20Missed%20It&pgtype=Homepage
Do I need to mention where those increases are coming from?
What I try to do is point to a middleground somewhere between the China fan boys, and Right wing hawks (and other reactionaries).
"Yet even as Xi’s ambition and China’s global prominence have become indisputable, many observers continue to question whether Beijing wants to shape a new international order or merely force some adjustments to the current one, advancing discrete interests and preferences without fundamentally transforming the global system. They argue that Beijing’s orientation is overwhelmingly defensive and designed only to protect itself from criticism of its political system and to realize a limited set of sovereignty claims. That view misses the scope of Xi’s vision. His understanding of the centrality of China signifies something more than ensuring that the relative weight of the country’s voice or influence within the existing international system is adequately represented. It connotes a radically transformed international order."
(The next bit shows how we are on a path that could wind up in open conflict)
"Xi’s efforts to intimidate Taiwan have failed to convince the island nation to embrace unification. Instead, they have produced a backlash both within Taiwan and abroad. A greater percentage of Taiwanese than ever before—64 percent—favor independence, and few Taiwanese retain faith that a “one country, two systems” framework could ever work, particularly in the wake of the crackdown in Hong Kong. A growing number of countries have also stepped up to offer support to Taiwan. In an unprecedented policy shift, Japan asserted in 2021 that it had a direct stake in ensuring Taiwan’s status as a democracy. Several small European countries have also rallied to Taiwan’s diplomatic defense: the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovakia have all welcomed the Taiwanese foreign minister for a visit. For its part, the United States has supported a wide array of new legislation and diplomatic activity designed to strengthen the bilateral relationship and embed Taiwan in regional and international organizations."
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-12-09/xi-jinpings-new-world-order
That's just a taste of FAQ's (Foreign Affairs Quarterly) article. For example: "Beijing’s coercive use of PPE early in the pandemic also raised alarm bells over dependence on Chinese supply chains, leading countries to encourage their companies to return home or move to friendlier pastures."
Historically, autocrats and dictators often use war or aggression to try to unify the people to support him. That seems likely here.. But there should be a way to accommodate China without winding up in a major war. Striking that balance won't be easy.
Even people within the system are alarmed by the heavy-handed approach. The former head of China’s sovereign wealth fund urged restrictions on the power of regulators. Hu Xijin, the newly retired editor of the official newspaper Global Times and an infamous propagandist, said he hoped that regulatory actions should help make most companies healthier instead of leaving them “dying on the operating table.”
The damage has been done. Some internet companies have been forced to shut down, while others are suffering from huge losses or disappointing earnings. Many publicly listed companies have seen their share prices fall by half, if not more.
The e-commerce giant Alibaba’s profitability declined by 38% from a year earlier. Didi, once the most valuable start-up in the country, reported an operating loss of $6.3 billion for the first nine months of 2021. The video platform that laid off Mr. Zhao, iQiyi, had an abysmal quarter, losing about $268 million. Its share prices fell by 85 percent from its high in 2021, reflecting investors’ concerns...
There will be 10 million college graduates in China in 2022, according to the Education Ministry. About 4.5 million have applied to graduate schools, up by 800,000 from 2021. More than two million people have applied to take civil servant examinations, up by half a million, according to the Chinese state media."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/technology/china-tech-internet-crackdown-layoffs.html?surface=icymi-home&fellback=false&req_id=912279492&algo=identity&variant=0_manual_curation&pool=pool/215befff-e8c1-41b4-947b-d712144a34dc&imp_id=2732990&action=click&module=In%20Case%20You%20Missed%20It&pgtype=Homepage
Do I need to mention where those increases are coming from?
What I try to do is point to a middleground somewhere between the China fan boys, and Right wing hawks (and other reactionaries).
"Yet even as Xi’s ambition and China’s global prominence have become indisputable, many observers continue to question whether Beijing wants to shape a new international order or merely force some adjustments to the current one, advancing discrete interests and preferences without fundamentally transforming the global system. They argue that Beijing’s orientation is overwhelmingly defensive and designed only to protect itself from criticism of its political system and to realize a limited set of sovereignty claims. That view misses the scope of Xi’s vision. His understanding of the centrality of China signifies something more than ensuring that the relative weight of the country’s voice or influence within the existing international system is adequately represented. It connotes a radically transformed international order."
(The next bit shows how we are on a path that could wind up in open conflict)
"Xi’s efforts to intimidate Taiwan have failed to convince the island nation to embrace unification. Instead, they have produced a backlash both within Taiwan and abroad. A greater percentage of Taiwanese than ever before—64 percent—favor independence, and few Taiwanese retain faith that a “one country, two systems” framework could ever work, particularly in the wake of the crackdown in Hong Kong. A growing number of countries have also stepped up to offer support to Taiwan. In an unprecedented policy shift, Japan asserted in 2021 that it had a direct stake in ensuring Taiwan’s status as a democracy. Several small European countries have also rallied to Taiwan’s diplomatic defense: the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovakia have all welcomed the Taiwanese foreign minister for a visit. For its part, the United States has supported a wide array of new legislation and diplomatic activity designed to strengthen the bilateral relationship and embed Taiwan in regional and international organizations."
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-12-09/xi-jinpings-new-world-order
That's just a taste of FAQ's (Foreign Affairs Quarterly) article. For example: "Beijing’s coercive use of PPE early in the pandemic also raised alarm bells over dependence on Chinese supply chains, leading countries to encourage their companies to return home or move to friendlier pastures."
Historically, autocrats and dictators often use war or aggression to try to unify the people to support him. That seems likely here.. But there should be a way to accommodate China without winding up in a major war. Striking that balance won't be easy.
Facts have a well known liberal bias