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fredm421's avatar

I would add revanchism to Xi's list of sins.

I'm French, we've never been colonised (Romans and Gauls are too remote to be emotionally resonant) but we've been defeated and (partially) occupied a few times in emotionally relevant timescales.

So while I cannot fully understand the depth of the humiliation Chinese (or Xi?) feel about the 19C occupation and colonisation of China, I'd say I can imagine.

It's still moronic to declare yourself the mortal enemy of said foreign powers which, if they have not formally apologized for colonisation (have we? maybe?), were certainly doing their best to integrate you into the wider world and let you spread your wings, even at the expanse of some other people (Tibet, most notably ; and we would have closed our eyes to the Uyghur genocide too).

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Marv Waschke's avatar

Fifty years ago, at the height of the cultural revolution, I nearly got a PhD. in classical Chinese history and literature. I read more original Confucian texts than most Chinese today, though not nearly as much as a candidate for the traditional Chinese civil service.

At that time, I concluded to myself that Confucian society, which promotes individuals as members of their families in concentric circles of influence and protection, had tremendous potential as a capitalist power. This structure encouraged economic risk-taking and creativity while protecting its members from the worst effects of setbacks. Chinese entrepreneurs have powerful support systems pushing them on. I saw this in the lives of pre-Han Confucians and in the great traditional Chinese novels. I see this as a driver behind China's tremendous success before its subjugation to the west during the decline of the Qing dynasty. Read Needham's Science and Civilization in China to understand the scale of that success.

The last few decades have confirmed my early conclusions.

Will I continue to be right? I'm not at all sure. Xi may be now promoting the worst part of the Chinese legacy: sycophancy and family-based corruption. Noah's suggestion that Xi is a mediocre guy who has taken advantage of his position as a prince of the elite sounds familiar to a reader of Chinese novels.

Networked computer communication provides more Chinese with a view of what is happening in the world outside their family compound or village than ever before. Their view reaches the U.S. and Europe even as Xi tries to suppress it. They see more possibilities than ever before. Correction may come faster than anyone expects.

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