Lies, Lies, Lies. Its Going to Get You
Thank you to The Thompson Twins for letting me steal some lyrics.
As we celebrated our Independence Day, the Communist Party of China celebrated the 100th Anniversary of its founding and its leader, Xi Jinping, gave a stirring address to the Party, the Nation, and apparently, The World.
It wasn’t so much of a speech but a direct warning to the World that China will no longer be taken advantage of. That they will push back and destroy anyone that looks to destroy what the founders of the Party started. It was a speech by a man who has absolute power in his country and that’s what makes one think, “What real message is Xi trying to send”.
We all know that China has risen from dirt poor poverty and become one of the richest, most powerful nations on earth. They have used the backs of the poor and oppressed in China to create an economic machine the likes of which we have never seen. They have created the real economic miracle of the 20th Century and continue to build on that. They want this to be the Chinese Century and are well on their way to doing that and it’s going to be hard to stop them.
Unless they stop themselves.
The Chinese Communist Party is strong enough and has the ability to quell dissent fairly quickly within its borders, that it will most likely survive in one form or the other for a very long time. The CCP is not the Soviet Union.
The Soviets had very little, other than oil, to trade with the West and they were always behind in raising the standard of living of their people. This created dissent and weakened the whole structure of the Soviet Union until it finally broke apart in 1992.
The CCP learned from that failed exercise in Communism and created an economic miracle. Using low cost labor, they became the planet’s hub of manufacturing and in the process, the CCP had a surplus of US Dollars and Euros. Enough so that they became a major player on the World stage. Keep the people fed and busy and the chance of another revolution is nil.
The one thing the party is very good at however, is lying. They lie to the people of China. The lie to the trading partners of China. They lie to the UN and they lie to themselves. As we have seen from history, nations that are perpetual liars tend to have a short lifespan. Japan before and during WWII. Same with Germany. Venezuela, Myanmar, the list goes on.
We all know that nations lie. It’s part of policy. Tell the people only enough and let them figure out the rest. In the United States, the media has always been there to call leaders to task. Less so now but I still think that at the end of the day, truth will win out, shaded or not. Im an idealist, sue me.
That is not the case in China. While most major nations have a media that acts as a check and a balance, they do not. The Chinese media is directly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Pretty much all media is controlled by the CCP.
Propaganda and lies are their stock and trade and Chinese media is their outlet. It worked to some extent in Russia but the reforms(powered by a huge media push) of the late ‘80, early 90’s set the Communist Party back seriously and it has yet to fully recover.
The Chinese saw that experiment in Communism almost fail and they were not going to let that happen in their country. So, as the Chinese miracle was happening, so was the crushing of opposing voices and you see the results.
The Chinese have lied to their own people continually. They have lied and deceived nation upon nation while using their financial influence around the World. Outside businesses have negotiated with Chinese businesses and come away empty handed as the CCP steps in and decided a different course of action. The World negotiates with China with their fingers crossed. This whole paradigm that the CCP has created works mostly in China’s favor and because most supply chains run through China at some point, they negotiate from strength. Even though, it is well known, you can’t trust that what you negotiated on Monday will be applicable on Friday.
Subjugating your own people is one thing but extending that out across the globe is another. Democracy has succeeded and thrived because it works. Allowing people to chart their own path and decide their own fates is the foundation for a successful, ever evolving society. Communism does not allow that. Does it shock you to know that democracy continues to gain ground around the world, albeit slowly, while communism has failed to gain traction anywhere?
So what makes the CCP think that spreading the Gospel of Mao and Xi is going to work? Buying and building infrastructure? Probably not. Simply because the countries where these projects have been built, are unstable. That instability is usually fertile ground for Communism but the World is different today. People see choices they haven’t seen before. Communism is not one of those choices. So build away but at the end of the day, those ports and railroads are in a country that may decide that the billions you spent is now theirs. Not much you can do about it.
Buying influence isn’t what it used to be and I am not so sure that China’s military spending actually scares anyone. They can do flyovers and build hundreds of missile silos and create the largest navy in the World but do they have the will to project that power? For better or worse, you know the United States will project its military power when and where needed. Stupidly, we have fought un-winnable wars and lost thousands of young American lives but the fact remains, we will step in. The Chinese? They haven’t stepped in to anything since Korea and do they really have the will to step into America’s place?
Kind of like the bully that talks a big game but has never had a fight with anyone so we really don’t know what he is capable of.
I am not discounting the Chinese military might, what I am saying is that to be a true World super power you need to get your hands dirty from time to time and the Chinese have not done that. Will they finally attempt to invade Taiwan? Will they decide that the South China Sea is theirs and defend it instead of building all of these military outposts?
I don’t have an answer but what I think simply is that the Chinese always believe in the long game. 25,50,100 years out. Problem with that is the World moves at a much faster pace than it did years ago and while they may be planning for that long term, the World won’t look anything like it does now and they may have missed a chance to be a trusted member of the World community rather than a country that leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.