Myths about China

Since joining TSR, I have noticed a lot of resentment towards China especially from those who are uneducated and are ignorant of the facts. I myself am half Chinese, with my mother from Hong Kong. Also, for those who want to bring up issues of human rights and such like, I would just like to clarify that I don’t condone China’s behaviour, I simply want to clear up some myths about China and its government.

Firstly, China is not a communist state. It was in the past, perhaps 25 years ago before Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and in the time of Chairman Mao, however now it operates as a socialist market economy. This means most of the large enterprises such as steel are owned by the state, however operate under a market system ie: price mechanism sets price levels. Also there is large competition amongst state owned enterprises which acts similar to a free market, just the government receives the profits. It isn’t a spectacular idea, however is not communism as some suggest it is.
Next China is not a planned economy because in such an economy, all the goods and services are produced by the state. In china 75% of GDP is made up of private sector production
China is not a dictatorship because a dictatorship results in one overall leader who has firm control over the country eg: Mao Zedong. Ask many Chinese, and they will tell you Hu Jintao does not have such control as granted to Mao. This is because the government of China ie: where the power lies, is a small standing committee called a Political Bureau. A certain amount of members sit on it, and make all the key strategic decisions as a collective unit. It does not have a dictatorship simply because there is only one party. Singapore only has one party and also has an extreme authoritarian government- would not exactly call Singapore a dictatorship (having visited it and being fined for littering, I would probably say it is more like a Stalinist regime )

Anyway, after this rant, I would just like to reiterate that I do not ‘love’ China(see edit please) and am not oblivious to its faults. I am criticising those who bemoan certain aspects of it’s economy and government without knowing the facts. I do however love Hong Kong, voted the freest economy in the world every year since 1995. Good times

PS: I won my school research paper on the topic of China’s econmy. Just stating where my sources are from.



EDIT: Sorry i did not clarify this but i am loyal to China, just not as loyal as i am to Scotland and Hong Kong. It is like saying i love Scotland, but am loyal to the UK as a whole. Hong Kong is a special administrative region ie: little control from Beijing.

Yeah, sounds about right.

Who else is going to determine if there are any problems? You? And yes, integrating people into the country will promote harmony in the long run, and opposed to keeping them sat in a corner somewhere.

wow reading this and as a singaporean, I must stand up to clarify some things. Singapore does not have one party! We have many political parties but the PAP is the majority party that is in power currently. There are opposition parties in the parliament as well. And I don't find Singapore to have a authoritarian government. Just because you get fined for littering doesn't make it a stalinist regime. There are reasons for certain laws that Singapore has but other countries don't which make us one of the cleanest and safest countries in the world.

wow reading this and as a singaporean, I must stand up to clarify some things. Singapore does not have one party! We have many political parties but the PAP is the majority party that is in power currently. There are opposition parties in the parliament as well. And I don't find Singapore to have a authoritarian government. Just because you get fined for littering doesn't make it a stalinist regime. There are reasons for certain laws that Singapore has but other countries don't which make us one of the cleanest and safest countries in the world.

The nationalist party can't really be called a rebel army, they were the rulers of China!
Taiwan belongs to China in that it was returned after world war 2 to China. I presume that since the CCP is the successor to the nationalists, they would also legally be entitled to it.
I find it ironic that Taiwan is more chinese than China now.


I disagree with democracy in general, but agree with transparancy and freedom of speech.

Relations with Taiwan should improve of course. Military spending should increase - I think the past shows us what a weak military and government results in. There is no conscription in China, it is legal but in reality it doesn't happen as there are more than enough volunteers. Tibet is an interesting case, why do you not mention xinjiang or inner mongolia? Tibet can not be relinquished, it is too important strategically. Better than letting the evil delai lama back(read up on some of his policies, he has softened up in the last 10 years however), however tibetan rule isn't a bad idea. Tibet was a part of the chinese empire at one point, its never really been "chinese" though.

Sorry, but when one party has been in government continuously for the last 50 years and has 82 out of 84 elected seats in Parliament then you are basically living in a one party state.

Vey sorry if i insulted your country. I didnt mean it was a stalinist state- just a joke on part of its strict laws. I am aware it has a number of parties, however the PAP has been virtaully in power since the very beginning, excluding some brief periods. I do have a lot of respect for Lee Kuan Yew, and his economic policy, which is quite similar to Hong Kong policy. Im afraid the vast majority of Asian states do base the running of government on 'Asian values'. Basically, having one dominant party is acceptable and they all have relatively strict authoritarian governments. This is what Lee said in one of his interviews on the BBC world service

Nah I don't think it's an insult. Just felt that the words used are too strong. I agree with you that the laws are strict here but it has done good for us. We are experiencing low crime rates which leads to a good and conducive environment for businesses. These has overall good benefits for the country so I don't mind having them.

good on you! i never had a problem with china, always wanted to visit actually.. i'm russian and i get a lot of stick about russia and it's like blah blah lol

I am returning this summer again, as well as Hong Kong so lets hope i don't get fined again I always find Singapore to be an amazing city state, and i think the relatively strict laws have contributed to its success. If you think about it, most Asian tigers do have strict laws because i think it is more cultural than politics. Just look at Chinese parents- their relatively strict

If I had a say in how China was run, it would be the following:

If I had a say in how China was run, it would be the following:

Ease up on the censorship and free speech limitations; instead of blanketing out dissenters, start arguing with them instead. The main concern with this is the belief that people spewing unfounded crap would cause dissent (i.e. pretty much what Western media does today), but that comes with the territory. There's more than enough intelligent people here to self-regulate.

Keep the currant stances on Tibet and Taiwan, with the former being more important than the latter. Taipei and China should (and pretty much can only) unify under mutual agreement, which needs to be approached by years of coexistence and cooperation. Both issues have very strong support from within the country. I won't argue about Tibet, suffice to say that I reckon it's better for everyone involved to stick together and work through it, and ignore the foreign rumour mongering.

Allow freedom of religion, but enforce a strictly secular state. I would say the main concern of the party about religion is that organised mass religion is a major source of dissent and unrest - and let's face it, it is. It doesn't seem like a good idea for an old guy sitting in a chair halfway across the world to have such large influence over a section of your populace. However, freedom of belief is in principle a good idea, as long as that belief in no way harms others.

Promote a culture of political integrity (haha oxymoron), try my goddamn best to get rid of corruption, bureaucracy and crime, which are what could ultimately destabilise the region. Flow money out from the cities into developing the surrounding countryside, attempting to promote equal opportunities, etc.

Since joining TSR, I have noticed a lot of resentment towards China especially from those who are uneducated and are ignorant of the facts.

Your post is interesting The resentment towards China on this forum is primarily one of resentment about social issues and human rights. While it may have some small relevance, the resentment certainly isn't driven by economic misunderstandings. Therefore, while your post is informative, it will not greatly stem or soften the resentment towards China on TSR.

Since joining TSR, I have noticed a lot of resentment towards China especially from those who are uneducated and are ignorant of the facts.

Perhaps if the resident Chinese nationalists didn't go around telling everyone that they were ignorant, pretending that there is some almighty Western conspiracy against them and generally ignoring any evidence to the contrary then we might actually begin to believe some of what they say.



Communism isn't a definite definition, it is a sliding scale between extreme and moderate interpretations. Chinese socialism certainly self-identifies as Communist.

One might suggest Britain is not capitalist because it has an essentially mixed economy. That would, however, be to reject the normal meaning of the term.



I don't think that follows at all.



I'm sure having an Oligarchy makes you feel a lot better.

I did admit i know very little on Taiwan. I am just aware that Mao and his army defeated the KTM, and they fled to Taiwan where they form government. Your views on Tibet are exactly the same as my mothers I think it is ironic that everyone complains about the abuses in Tibet, yet forget about the astounding breaches of human rights in Burma and North Korea.

China is not a dictatorship because a dictatorship results in one overall leader who has firm control over the country eg: Mao Zedong. Ask many Chinese, and they will tell you Hu Jintao does not have such control as granted to Mao. This is because the government of China ie: where the power lies, is a small standing committee called a Political Bureau. A certain amount of members sit on it, and make all the key strategic decisions as a collective unit. It does not have a dictatorship simply because there is only one party.

I did admit i know very little on Taiwan. I am just aware that Mao and his army defeated the KTM, and they fled to Taiwan where they form government. Your views on Tibet are exactly the same as my mothers I think it is ironic that everyone complains about the abuses in Tibet, yet forget about the astounding breaches of human rights in Burma and North Korea.