Chinese General news resource thread
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I reconsidered this article and see that they greatly inflate the importance of HK to China. That importance is now as large as that of Macao ten or fifteen years ago. Shanghai is the important financial center, now as important as Frankfurt, soon much more. For the business and political elite in HK to make common cause with the OC crowd is equivalent to turkeys voting for an early X-mas.
Blackstone
Brigadier
The article is an overview, with a specific point-of-view, so lots of items aren't discussed and we don't know how the authors would address unsaid issues if asked. It's common knowledge Hong Kong is now only about 3% or so of China's GDP, and I'm sure China scholars everywhere know or have access to that data.
The point is that the writers want OC to attract the business and political elite, but OC has nothing of value to offer to that elite. It would be self-destructive for the elite to go that way.
Blackstone
Brigadier
That's point the authors made.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Interesting reading and watching the bi-polar reactions from the Western media to Xi's anti-corruption drive. On US TV they don't even go deeper beyond superficial. They seem to be running around like chickens with their heads cut-off. Is it real or is it fake? Does it really matter? When you have whole high-end international industries affected from gambling to luxury goods, I'd say it's doing its job no matter what. I also love reading how Xi is Mao reborn in order to vilify him. Trying to paint him as a dictator who wants all the power for himself so to justify action against him as if they're speaking for all the people of China...
Doombreed
Junior Member
This anti-corruption drive is an interesting topic. One of the nuance about Chinese governance is what you call, "selective enforcement". There's a lot of things on the books, but they are often not enforced. It's a powerful tool in generating loyalty and obligations, but that's another discussion entirely. The chess game underneath this anti-corruption drive is the three way battle between the Princelings, the Shanghai faction lead by Jiang and the Xi faction. It's a power play by Xi to remove power centers led by the Shanghai faction and a way for him to sway the loyalty of the Princelings. A purge by any other name. Corruption, or rather, corruption with Chinese charaterstics has become so endemic within the CCP, that I'm sure you can pin something on anyone if you really looked. The people that are getting prosecuted tells a very interesting tale. What's more interesting about Xi, and that's where the comparison with Mao comes in, is that there has always been purges in the CCP after every power transition. But there has been this unspoken rule, in recent years, that the standing committee members, past and present, are out of bounds. Kings don't kill kings. Xi has now changed this paradigm with his current choice of purgees. And that is deeply disturbing to some in the CCP.
shen
Senior Member
real purge go after tigers not flies. anti-corruption drive is real. corruption has reach a level to undermine public confidence in CCP. CCP's survival depend on decreasing the level of corruption by going after both the tigers and the flies.
it is also streamlining government regulation, decreasing the power of government officials, to decrease the incentive to resort to corruption.
yes, it also serve political purpose. mainly to increase central government control over local government, in order to push through necessary economic reforms that hurts the interests of local government officials.
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AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Like I've said before if this was just targeting political rivals and enemies, why are international markets affected? Wouldn't those protected keep on buying luxury goods with their corrupt money? The only reason why there is alarm among foreign critics who have always used corruption as an excuse to criticize is because they're being directly hit by it. Meaning they only don't like the "corrupt" that don't serve their interests. Talk about selective... Why do the critics support dictatorships around the world when they're supposedly against corruption? It's because those dictators serve their interests.
Doombreed
Junior Member
Ah, but a through purge go after both Tiger and Flies. I'll give you a few example. Zhou Yong Kang. Chief of Internal Security. Police, secret police, public prosecution. Placed by Jiang(read Hu), removed by Xi. Has to be done. Lt. Gen Gu Junshan, Deputy Chief of the PLA's General Logistics Department. Controls the PLA's purse strings. Gone. The PLA is filled with Jiang loyalists. But as they say in China, kill the chicken to show the monkeys. Control the money, control the man. Xi has the making of a real Chessmaster. You can't just selectively target Tigers, you have to create the environment in which to hide your true intentions, and that means killing flies as well, under the general cover of an anti corruption drive.
Of cause, no one is saying that anti-corruption is bad for China and indeed, this is a hearts and mind coup for the CCP. But it's way too early to say that this is the inflection point for the CCP and they will now become the blue sky white cloud corruption free party. Indeed, that is against thousands of years of Chinese governance tradition.
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