Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadow Minato
More over, China is not receptive to the outside world at all. When the world asked China to help stop North Korea's defiance, China asks the world to show some "self-restraint" on their missile activities. And now that North Korea went ahead and tested nukes along with more missiles, China asks the world to show some "calm and cool-headed approach". Although they claim to be very kind people who listens to the feelings of others, yet they do otherwise.
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And you never wonder why they do that? North Korea is a strategic ally of China. It might be whimsical and frustrating a lot of times. But a bad apple might still be better than no apple at all, especially if you consider the alternatives. If North Korea falls, China will lose a huge buffer zone in the Korean Peninsula, in return it will have American military camps at the Chinese borders. A foothold in Korean Penninsula is a foothold to advance into China itself. That's why China and Japan fight over Korea in 19 century. That's also why China is a major player of the Korean war. National interest, that's the reason that China protects North Korea, the same reason that the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq since they believed it was in their national interest.
On the other hand, North Korea is a bad apple. The prospect that the North possessing both Nukes and the means to deliver them implies that Beijing itself is in the attack range. No one in Beijing can be happy about that. Moreover, one more factor that China needs to consider is the reaction from Japan. An armed Japan would not be in the interest of China at all.
That's the place that China found itself in right now: between rocks and a hard place(鸡肋？). There is no easy way out of it. Personally, I think it is in the long term interest of China to let go of the North, its government in the least. It is a failed cause after all. But that would involves dramatic changes. But in the political world, status quo beats dramatic changes every time, think Britain or France at the eve of world war II, for example.
Do the South Koreans want to see the North fall? My bet is they don't.
On the topic of FLG, it is a cult built like a Pyramid scheme. Personally, I think it is kind of cancer of the society. It was a pity that so many people falls for it. I can still recall one advertising billboard they put up in my highschool years ago. My first reaction was this enormous urge to buy a bottle of ink to pour all over it. What is this thing doing in my school, the "holy ground" of science and education? The ridiculous claims it held was one of my biggest WTF moment of that time. I can't imagine how Chinese people or the society can benefit from spreading such idiocy. The fact FLG was dealt heavy handed does not negate the truth that it has to be dealt with.
About separating China, I am wondering whether there are text book out there teaching people such things. This is not the first time that I read this on this forum and every time I do, I am wondering what crack people were on. Ever tried to imagine that modern US separates into a few smaller nations? I don't think there is any reason for that to happen. Except the west part with the well known problems, the rest of China is pretty much integrated as a whole. Without the coal from northern China, most big cities won't have enough electricity to function. Part of the supply of eggs in the markets of Guangdong comes from Hebei(the province around Beijing). Such list could go on and on. Yes there are imbalances between the south and north, between the east and the west. But as far as I see, the threat to the separation of the nation posed by such imbalance is minimal in the short term. People are free to imagine whatever they want to, but it shows how much they are blinded by their own interest and how little they actually know about the nation.
Last, about the party, does it censor the internet? Yes. Human rights? Yes. Can you find a better solution? I don't know. People will suggest democracy, but what does it take to implement? How long does it takes? Can it solve the problems that China faces, like corruption? I am pretty sure Indian is pretty corrupted too. Democracy will be great if it works in China. But between 8% GDP growth every year and making China into the world's biggest experiment on democracy, I'll choose growth, well aware that it may not last for ever(at least I know what I am dealing with). Your may argue that democracy might bring better growth. But that's all speculation and we don't know what twisted or smooth path one must tread to get there. It is the status quo. Anyone with some common sense see the glaring problems with the current situation, but an unpredictable path and dramatic change is fearful as well. It like global warming, everyone knows that it probably will be a bad end if it goes on. But do you want to give up all your modern convenience? Even if you do occasionally, does it off set a new coal power plant in China or India?
The Chinese problem is not a simple one and it demands pragmatic approaches.
It is impractical and irresponsible to look everything from a ideological point of view and say why don't you do this, why don't you do that? If I am a newly graduated college student in China, will religion freedom help me to find a job?
There is no easy answers, there is no short term solutions. Maybe gradual reforms will help, or maybe not. I don't know.