How is CHINA Communist? Aside from newly aquired CAPITALIST?

Question

ambitions (which seem to go extremely well in every sense of the word), it also seems to be the next superpower at least economically...On the other hand I know they still have two of the greatest impediments still to be considered a "democracy" ever, which is a great amount of executions and no voting rights (I suppose, anyhow).

But is China still considered a die-hard communist country, or is there any other name by which to call this "combination" of great capitalism and communism?!!!...By the way it will be still a greater military power soon...And could it be true what it is said of the "public" in this link?:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/21181.html

Answer 1

China is not communist nor is it socialistic.
It is also often referred to as totalitarian and a dictatorship.
Both are equally as wrong too.

Communism:
is a the opposite of capitalism so therefore it is impossible they are communistic. The first people who were allowed to use limited capitalism were the farmers back in the 50's because of the failure of collective farming. The whole country is one huge capitalistic machine now.

Socialistic:
means the state controls all production, manufacturing and business. That is impossible as well since individuals own businesses and those state run businesses are a mixture of state and private working side by side. Currently today, less then 20% is state owned. 30 years ago it was 100%. Example, their oil industry is a mix of private and state working together and their cost per gallon of gas is $2.25. There are no taxes added, all the revenue and profits are done before that with both private and state profiting. The USA could do that same, but we'd rather pay $1 more per gallon then allow any kind of socialism to creep into our economy. Our socialism is through war for oil while ignoring what the people really need.

Totalitarian:
means the state controls all aspects of life. That is simply not the case as individuals are free to seek new employment, open businesses, travel at will, immigrate, buy homes, become rich, buy any consumer product they want without permission, in short, do just about anything the people in the west take for granted.

Dictatorship:
They have an election system in place that is at the province level. Those elected officials, who are elected by the people, are then sent to Beijing to represent the people there and those people elect the president, much like many government systems in the world, like Britain.

One party rule:
True, but in recent years the government is encouraging people from outside the party to become involved in government and politics. They can also hold high office, something that was unheard of a few years ago. China understands that it needs new blood in its system in order to survive and do the will of the people otherwise China will stagnate.

What type of government does China have?
At this point, it is hard to say, because it is a mixture of democratic ideals, federalism, socialism, and authoritarian. From what I can see, and how China likes change slowly, that it is slowly morphing into a democratic federal republic, much like the USA has now. But at their own pace, not the instant change that the west demands of China. China is smart enough to know that instant change can have social and political repercussions and its best to take it slowly as to not wake the angry dragon of discontent and descent.

Source:
My experience, living here as an ex pat from the USA
My web site.
http://www.pbase.com/sailingjim

http://www.china.org.cn
and see how their system works. Use their search engine and put in the words democracy, then communism, then socialism. You'll probably be surprised at the results you get. Keep in mind, the people read the same things you will read there.

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Looking at the China bashing pragmatically instead of with a blind eye like so many do.

The Amnesty International types of organizations depend on donations to survive. Therefore, they have a vested interest to believe one side of the story while ignoring the other side to keep up the hate and the money coming in.

Therefore, what should be done is we need to look into the lifestyle of the CEO's of these organizations, what percentage of donations goes into education vs administrative, salaries, etc.

What I find disingenuous with so many people is they will selectively believe these organizations on issues they want to believe, while condemning them on issues they don't want to believe.

Much of the information comes from people who have a ax to grind, or the information is collected from 3rd and 4th parties. Remember, we went to war in Iraq, in part, because of the word of ex pats who made claims that have since been disproved, even outright lies.

I live here in China as an ex pat from the USA and teach in a college. I expected to meet dissidents, and to date, I have not met one. The people in China seem to be very apathetic and it took me a long time to figure out why. It's because they have more freedom then anytime in their history and they are grateful for that. The biggest complaint I have heard about the government from students is they don't spend enough on education.

A final thing to ponder is Tianamen Square. Few in the states know why it started. It was because the government cut back on college spending and the students were upset. It morphed into a democracy movement and the crowds were huge only because the people were curious. The reason the movement was brutally crushed (I do not support that) is because with world wide attention, plus it was all over the Chinese news that the government appeared to be weak and could possibly be overthrown. The aftermath of that, is anyones guess what they would have ended up with. We are now seeing what instant change has done in two countries that we have gone to war with that never had democracy before and have a long history of human rights abuses.

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They have a very stable society and government.
Foreign companies are not afraid to invest there.
China learns by its successes and mistakes.
China is a very old and wise country.
China has an over abundance of brain power
China is very innovative.
China is not afraid to go outside of their country for answers to questions and problems they have.
China is very careful not to let foreign investment take over like they allowed to happen two centuries ago.
China plans for the future through five year and one year plans that are changable.
China's government is slowly morphing into a federal democratic republic, much like the USA but at their own pace.
China realizes that to limit people in government only to one party is counter productive and in recent years is encouraging people outside the party to become involved in government and even run for office.

China is much of what we want her to be and little of what we think she is.

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Peace

Jim

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Answer 2

Capitalism and Communism cannot coexist -
Capitalism prohibits man the use of force on other men and places responsibility on the individual, while placing a wall between the market and the state. Communism places responsibility on the individual to sacrifice himself for the collective, and allows government to use force in both society and economics.

Some people say China is Communist Socially and Capitalist Economically. This is totally ridiculous, as China's government is very involved with regulating the market and businesses.

It is true China is freeing regulations, but in no way can you consider what they have Capitalism. They do not sustain "die-hard" Communist beliefs at current - I would consider them to have a very centralized, mixed-economy.

Regarding the military - China largely outnumbers the US in military personnel. Yet every one of our planes, soldiers, and ships equals 10 of theirs. Our technology could annihilate them - also, they would have to come over the Pacific to reach us, and I don't see our Navy allowing that anytime soon.

Answer 3

They have allowed some private ownership of production, but the state still controls much of the production capacity. Isn't the shiiping giant cosco still primarily owned by the chinese government?

There is certainly not a lot of freedom over there. More now than was the case historically but nothng compared to US standards.


It seems to me they are trying different approaches to see what works best for them. I would not bet on the Communist party giving up power however. Hostorically there are not a lot of examples of people voluntarily giving up power.

As far as their Military might. Sure they want to be strong, but I am not sure they are really a threat to us. War with us would wreck their economy. Who would buy their products?

Answer 4

maybe it is because rampant and uncontrolled capitalism looks like communism to many people, because they don't know the difference.
When a chinese banker can get off a plane with a limo for him and his 3 women, and a limo for the brifcase full of money he is going to gamble away at a hotel casino, without breaking a sweat, while his people are earning 50 cents a day, that isn't communism. It is military enforced exploitation.

Answer 5

Oppression, for the citizens and media. The money gained right now through their new found Capitalist agenda is still collected by the government first, then possibly distributed to its citizens.

Answer 6

China is technically still communist. When you talk about capitalism, we refer only to their market, which is nearly a full-fledged capitalist market.

And I dont even know what this question was asking. What were you trying to do? Praise China and talk about its "glory" in Y!A?

Answer 7

Well for one thing they have a communidt leader...,.