China’s Capitalist Revolution (Part 5 of 9)

July 3, 2010

Deng had the support of the reformers he had appointed to key positions. A struggle between the hardliners and the reformers begins.  The hardliners are afraid the reforms will threaten communism.

While Deng’s supporters debate the hardliners, Deng visits the nations and leaders of the world.  In the US, while on 60 Minutes, he says, “To get rich is glorious…Wealth in a socialist society belongs to the people. That’s why our policy won’t lead to a situation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

During the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping was a victim. Mao sent the Red Guard to punish him for capitalist tendencies forcing Deng to work in a tractor factory on the production line. The Red Guard broke his son’s back, and he was permanently paralyzed. This caused Deng to realize that what Mao was doing was wrong.

Eight years into his leadership, Deng begins the next stage of his economic revolution by allowing Chinese entrepreneurs to start businesses. Red Hat capitalism was born. At first, only villagers were allowed to start enterprises. The hardliners were not happy. They wanted to end this, so the new Chinese capitalists were threatened.

Return to China’s Capitalist Revolution Part 4 or go to Part 6

_________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

Leave a Comment » | business, capitalism, China, Chinese history, Communism, economy, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Capitalist Revolution (Part 4 of 9)

July 2, 2010

When the first US businessmen arrive in China, they complained. It took years to gain approval to open manufacturing plants in China. Then the trickle of investors turned into a flood as foreigners scrambled to cash in on a cheap and willing workforce.

The new industrial zones were sealed behind fences from the rest of China. The economies in the industrial zones doubled every three years. Wages were higher than the rest of China and people came looking for work. Investments poured in.

Deng’s popularity was at an all time high. He says, “We have given the highest priority to modernization. Our economy has grown more vigorously than ever.”

However, high ranking Maoists fear a capitalist country with a Communist flag. In 1983, the hardliners start a campaign against spiritual pollution—code for Western ideas.

The hardliners attack journalists who write for the People’s Daily. Top editors are fired for being corrupted by Western values.  The hardliners now control the media.  If you don’t follow the party line, your future becomes grim.

Next, the hardliners pressured the banks to stop lending money to the industrial zones.  Deng has to force the banks to loan the money.

Return to China’s Capitalist Revolution Part 3 or go to Part 5

_________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse is theaward-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

1 Comment | business, China, Chinese history, Communism, economy, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Driving the Planet

July 1, 2010

CNNMoney’s Global Forum writes about China spreading money globally seeking resources. After all, China has cash reserves and is growing an economy with goals to lift hundreds of millions of Chinese into a middle-class American lifestyle. America, on the other hand, is in debt and spending money that it doesn’t have while its middle class is drowning in credit cards and sub-prime mortgages.

However, what benefits China, may also benefit the globe. Global Forum mentioned that Chinese solar companies are driving costs down so governments, like the US, may not have to offer subsidies as an incentive to get people to invest in renewable energy.

The CEO of China Mobile said people in China’s poorest, rural provinces were buying low priced mobile phones. If mobile phone are that low, why aren’t we seeing those prices in the US?  I priced phones for our daughter, who is on her way to college, and the model I liked was about $100 or 680 yuan—more than most China’s peasants earn in two months.

I wonder if we can buy mobile phones in China and slip our old chip into that new, lower-priced phone.

See China’s Cheap Price Structure

_________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

Leave a Comment » | business, China, economy | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Stuck on a Name

June 30, 2010

Dave left this comment for a post on the China Law Blog: “The country (China) is ruled by an organization called “The Communist Party” claiming fealty to the teachings of the German Karl Marx and organizationally based on the teachings of the Russian Lenin.” Source of comment: China Law Blog

Think again, Dave. After Mao died and Deng Xiaoping declared, “Getting rich was glorious”, Marxism and Lenin went in the trash with Maoism. In fact, China is a mixture of capitalism and socialism and the socialism is shrinking.

Check out medical care in China. Soon after Mao died, the cradle to grave socialist system of medicine went into the rubbish. It’s cash, baby, or have a nice death. Along with the state-run hospitals, a growing and very expense private medical system caters to rich expatriates and wealthy Chinese.

In fact, in 2004, there were almost 2 million privately owned enterprises in China. The number of individually owned businesses stood at more than 39 million primarily concentrated in such areas as wholesale and retail, manufacturing and industrial, transport, personal services, and lodging and restaurants. Source: Research Institute of Economy, Trade & Industry, IAA

Soon after 1976, China’s government revised the Chinese Constitution imposing term limits (2 five-year terms) for public office and an age limit (67), something we don’t have in the US. Granted, China still has a one party system but regional governments don’t always listen to Beijing. China is a “Communist” nation in word only.

See Dictatorship Defined

_________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse,
Award winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

Leave a Comment » | business, China, Chinese history, economy, expatriates, government, health care | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Making China the Goat Again

June 29, 2010

China’s currency policies continue to ruffle feathers.  Robert E. Scott writes in the Huffington Post that US lawmakers must force China to raise the value of the yuan by 40% so jobs will materialize in America.  He claims that China is responsible for 1 million displaced jobs and must be punished economically with high tariffs if they don’t comply.

What he doesn’t mention are the jobs lost to the subprime mortgage crises, which almost sunk GM and Chrysler along with plummeting real estate prices, a storm of bankruptcies and endless foreclosures—not counting the trillions added to the national debt to bail out banks. 

He doesn’t mention that more than 10 million US jobs go to illegal immigrants who flood across America’s southern border to work for low wages.  He doesn’t mention NAFTA, which took another three million US jobs to Mexico and Canada.

He also doesn’t mention the 20 to 40 million Chinese who lost their jobs and tens of thousands of Chinese factories that closed due to the same subprime mortgage crises that was caused by US Wall Street banking greed and lax government oversight when G. W. Bush was president.

My question is, “Mr. Scott, why are you making China the lone goat for America’s debt crises and job losses?” 

Why not mention all the other low wage countries that manufacture products sold in the US—the list is long. I bought something made in Haiti recently, and it wasn’t art. Does that mean someone in Haiti took a job from someone in the US?

Why not ask Americans to stop buying iPods, iPads, Macintosh, Dell, and HP since most of these products are assembled or manufactured in China or other low wage countries.

Why not ask Americans to stop buying from the likes of Wal-Mart or mention how many Americans have jobs because of high-end American products that Chinese consumers buy.

See A Stable Basket of Cash

_________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse,
Award winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

Sign up for an RSS Feed for iLook China

Leave a Comment » | America, business, China, economy, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »