CHINA SYNDROMES Empathy for China can be perceived as exculpation of its human rights deficiencies, as almost moral laxity But consider an unbalanced view that entirely lacks empathy and views Chinas every other thought and move as evil . reviled political system versus historic economic performance and yet liberal capitalism, including U.S. democracy, benefits from an kind of ideological grade inflation J. William Fulbrights Arrogance of Power (my favorite short nonfiction book on American hubris; Graham Greenes The Quiet American my favorite fiction book) We must not wind up making the same mistake as we did in Vietnam to misapprehend what we were dealing with, and thus to give hasty, inappropriate, irrational and self-corroding responses to China .Note how Yo-Yo characterizes the lack of permanence of communism in China
BINARY BALONEY Is the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) inherently the new big evil because the former Soviet Union was the old one? Where is the sensible middle ground and cultural overlap? Note the RAND study of hidden bias: In social science, quality data is of course important but what is the formula machine into which it is being fed? Capturing the fullness and essence of China in some objective way is what does this author say? – ___________. Binary = simplistic, I believe
FROM CHINA SYNDROME in Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew
LKY believed it was in the national interest of Singapore to help China rise anew because a reinvigorated China would economically raise everyones economy of the region [Prof explains FOX versus HEDGEHOG metaphor in class]: The books author believes Chinas Deng Xiaoping is a fox for sure; LKY thinks he is a hedgehog (author is unsure of the latter but not the former) LKY regarded the 1972 Shanghai Communique, with its explicit rejection of the norm of hegemony for the region, as a watershed/pivotal point/high point in the evolution of Asia-US relations . From the Hedgehog/Fox perspective, LKY viewed US President Nixon as a .. ??? If only I had Shanghai to do . Deng Xiaoping said to Lee; what did he mean? Dengs decision to start up some coastal economic zones what does this mean? eventual led to Chinas plunge to join the World Trade Organization (an example of China-US cooperation at its best) [read excerpt from p. 62] Lee describes Deng as the communist who turned against communist economics .Note the Suzhou example, how Capitalist Chinese Singapore gave Chinese Communist China credibility to investors (why this important) LKY laughs thinking about Bill Safire, the late New York Times columnist, criticizing him for helping the communists what was Lees response to that?
