Is China Changing?

George Will tends to multiple syllables to make his point but is usually a good read.  Here he reviews a book that asks whether we are not being naive in assuming that because a few Chinese are enjoying capitalism, eveyrone will enjoy it.  As the writer remarks, visitors return from China remarking on the absence of flies, not the absence of freedom.  Will makes the point that the next Olympics will be in Bejing, the most important since the 1936 games in Berlin.  Indeed, just because they drink Starbucks coffee and munch on  a Big Mac, are they really going to demand more freedom.  Unless the Chinese citizens starts demanding it, the Chinese government is not likely to start granting it.

Comments

[Jason Raper]

It will come over time. Once they realize how great capitalism can be for those who work hard, the ideas of a communist government will be defeated. I agree that the more we shove our products at them, the more they are going to move in our direction.

[Dennis Elam]

I think the whole Eastern Bloc failed for the simple reason that the Soviets never could produce any consumer products, and with no currency to buy from the outside world, they finally fell so far behind the rest of the world, that once the people found out how others lived, they just said no way.

This however is not the case with the chinese that copy or steal from others as to IP and cars ,etc. we of course are aiding them by providing manufacturing and they can easily copy any and everything we are doing. So you have a totally different model. So far I see no hint that the Chinese govt wants to give up any power.