Report comment

A good article, Eduardo. Minzner's book takes the conventional view in the West that China's adoption of capitalism after 1990 also made it 'more like us'. Economically that might be true but politically, China only entrenched its dictatorship further and further after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The turning point was the Tian An Men Square Massacre in which the democracy movement was brutally murdered. Deng Xiao Ping opened China up to capitalism and said that political reform would follow. It never did. Western journalists adopt the euphemism "authoritarian" to describe a capitalist China which calls itself communist. China has never stopped being a militaristic dictatorship but Marxism doesn't include stock exchanges, billionaires and private property. The technical definition of fascism does. Whether China is communist or fascist, it has always been dictatorial, oppressive and a police state. Since 1972, the West hoped that globalisation and increased prosperity would encourage democracy in China. But it hasn't. In fact, it has allowed the opposite to happen : China has intensified its dictatorial militarism and become an imperialist. It has around a dozen military bases around the world, even in the Arctic Circle. Deng's maxim was 'Hide your strength and be patient'. During the past decade, China has quietly infiltrated western political, educational and commercial organisations (including in the UK) to the extent that the US and Australia have had to introduce Foreign Influence legislation. The concerns about Huawei have been around for years but have been downplayed by countries like Britain in the hope of doing trade deals with China. In 2008, MI6 found that Huawei equipment used by BT in the UK was being accessed by Beijing. Cyberwarfare, invasion and militarisation of neighbouring territories, crushing political dissent (especially in Hong Kong) and the 28 concentration camps holding a million Uighurs are only some of the concerns about China. For lawyers, a big concern is that China is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. America is gradually closing down its supply chains from China and may ultimately cease trading with it. There are 50 FBI investigations of commercial espionage linked to Beijing in 50 US states. Officers of the People's Liberation Army have been engaged in collaborative research with academics in western universities (including Leeds and Manchester) in scientific areas like scramjet technology which has been acquired by the PLA for military use. Articles in the People's Daily frequently refer to America as an enemy of China. Trade and investment are being used by China as 'soft' weapons to gain influence, ultimately to support the PLA's militarisation. The end of globalisation means that western countries are realising that eventually they may be forced to dis-engage from trading with China altogether. This might occur more quickly than some imagine. Another confrontation between the PLA Navy and the US Navy over Taiwan might hasten the process. All of this, of course, is quite a different view from that offered by Minzner in his book, the contents of which are dated. However, his book is certainly right to express severe doubts about whether China can be trusted or not. The conclusion being reached by many countries today is that it can't - and not only that, China has been quietly deceiving the West for the past 45 years.