In “China’s Private Party” by Richard McGregor, The Wall Street Journal, quickly sketches how those that hold power in China keep it. He mentions the Red Machine—an encrypted communication system—that stitches the few hundred who rule China together for making quick decisions.
Where McGregor gets it wrong is when he says that China’s government may not look like Communists any more, but once you strip away the wrapping, they still are. The truth is that Communism as the world knew it during the Cold War is gone and what replaced it in China hasn’t been defined yet.
Confucius
Confucius said when the men (who rule) are there, good government will flourish, but when the men are gone, good government decays and becomes extinct. With the Red Telephone, China insures this government will always be ready to act. Confucius called for the people to show respect to the high ministers of state and the leaders of today’s China expect nothing less as long as the government continues to improve life in China.
These leaders are not Marxists, Leninists, Socialists or Communists. They are Chinese, who plan to stay in power. In a democracy like America, every few years the political climate changes like a stormy wind and these Chinese do not like uncertainties. They plan, set goals and want to be there to insure that what was set in motion is completed. It’s all about the collective harmony. Taoism plays a roll too. It’s why the Chinese may say one thing and do something else.
The reason China is studying Singapore may clarify what I mean.
______________
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.
Subscribe to “iLook China”!
Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse 
iLook China 