China / Communism - can we get along?

Communism - hey?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nikki-haley-chinas-coronavirus-actions-are-just-one-of-many-threats-it-poses/2020/04/29/

I’m not sure how to write this (and, that isn’t unusual)

Back in the 1960’s we (the United States) fought an ugly war with North Vietnam over whether than country (as a Communist country) should control South Vietnam (a democracy); in 1950;s we fought North Korea over whether that country (as a Communist country) should control South Korea; and from 1945 until 1990 (and even to a small degree), we have had a Cold War with the former Soviet Union (aka “Russia”) a communist country.  

According to Wikipedia

Communism is a philosophical, social, political, economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of a communist society, namely a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state.

“The Soviet Communists were never converted or persuaded. They were defeated, mostly without war, by superior Western economic, diplomatic and military power, and by a more determined and inspiring vision of humanity.”  Vietnam became a victory for the communists and seems to be somewhat friendly to the US today.  North Korea has become a backward place.

So .. how do we treat China?

Here are some thoughts from the Washington Post in May 2020.

“Today’s challenge from the Chinese Communists must be seen the same way.”

“In the past month alone, China has brazenly expanded its reach. In Hong Kong, it has arrested leading pro-democracy activists and is attempting to criminalize criticism of the Chinese government. 

“Domestically, it has vastly enlarged its military capabilities, created an Orwellian surveillance state, and forced more than 1 million of its minority citizens into “re-education” camps.

Internationally, it has stolen intellectual property at unprecedented levels, taken over United Nations agencies such as the World Health Organization, exerted its leverage over poor countries with terrible debt deals, and harassed its Asian neighbors, none more so than the free people of Taiwan.”

*****

Does the situation and relationship between China and the United States seem dire currently?  YES

But, will it remain so?  I don’t know.  It seems as if the other communist countries had somewhat collapsed.  China (to my opinion) would be a tough country to manage.  

Languages:

(from https://kjtranslations.com/blog/how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-china/)

“71% of Chinese speak a variety of Mandarin, It is worth noting that Chinese autonomous regions, such as Hong Kong, do not obey this rule. For example, the Tibet Autonomous Region has Tibetan as its official language, while Mongolian is the official language in Inner Mongolia. Hong Kong has Cantonese and English as its official languages, and Macau has Portuguese and Cantonese.”

There are some different ethnic groups.  The Chinese government has been persecuting Chinese Muslims for some time - even using re-education (concentration) camps. Tibet and China have been at odds since about 1950.  China and India have border fights along their joint border.   

My uneducated opinion is that just governing 1,393 BILLION people has to be difficult.  The stories of polluted skies are legendary.  Yes, they (as a nation) are trying to be competitive.  Yes, many Chinese people speak English (how many Americans speak Mandarin?).  Yes, many Chinese students have studied in the United States (especially on the graduate level and then go home to teach).  

Yes, they have our dollars (by selling us lots of goods at low prices) and seemingly are investing in infrastructure  Wikipedia says “High-speed rail (HSR) in China consists of a network of passenger-dedicated railways designed for speeds of 250–350 km/h (155–217 mph). It is the world's longest high-speed railway network and is also the most extensively used. China's HSR accounts for two-thirds of the world's total high-speed railway networks”.  (Has the United States worked that hard on our infrastructure since the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System - and NASA?).

I am not enough of a Chinese scholar to know what to do between our relationship with China.  It might be that China and the United States can “kiss and make-up”.  

Back to the top and this: “They were defeated, mostly without war, by superior Western economic, diplomatic and military power, and by a more determined and inspiring vision of humanity.”  Do we still have an inspiring view of humanity? Let us work on that one.  Treating “people like people” is still important and yes, we have had our slip-ups (like Black Lives Matter, and immigrants on our southern border) - but I think America is still attempting to push “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”!!

And (gasp - I’m not sure I am writing this) - maybe the time for China to be the major world power has come (like we took over from the United Kingdom).  

Can’t we get along?  

Hugs!!!

Karen