By Michael Roberts
Today is the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The survival of the PRC is now longer than the Soviet Union, which lasted 74 years. China has nearly one-fifth of the world’s population and on some measures is the largest economy in the world, although per person national income is only 30% of that of the US.
Where is China going from here? According to the Western media and mainstream economists, either into total meltdown or stagnation, Japanese-style.
Here is a representative example of this view. https://www.ft.com/…/e6e1d130-5f2e-446a-9120…
My own view has been spelt out in various papers and articles.
The nature of the Chinese state and economy
Here is my view of the nature of the Chinese state and its economy.
https://www.academia.edu/96888494/China_as_a_transitional_economy_to_socialism
And here are some recent posts on the current state of the Chinese economy.
Prospects for the next decade
And what will happen to China in the next decade.
China is not a socialist society
China is not a socialist society. Its autocratic one-party Communist government is often inefficient and bureaucratic. The Maoist regime suppressed dissidents ruthlessly and the cultural revolution was a shocking travesty. Nobody can speak out against the top regime without repercussions. China’s leadership is not accountable to its working people; there are no organs of worker democracy.
But remember, all China’s so-called ‘aggressive behaviour’ and ‘crimes against human rights’ are easily matched by the crimes of imperialism in the last century alone: the occupation and massacre of millions of Chinese by Japanese imperialism in 1937; the continual gruesome wars post-1945 conducted by imperialism against the Vietnamese people, Latin America and proxy wars in Africa and Syria, as well as the more recent invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan; and the war in Ukraine and the devastation of Gaza and Lebanon; and the appalling nightmare in Yemen by the disgusting US-backed regime in Saudi Arabia.
And don’t forget the horrific poverty and inequality that weighs for billions under US-led imperialism, unlike China.
China at a crossroads
China is at a crossroads in its development. Its capitalist sector has deepening problems with profitability and debt. But the current leadership has pledged to continue with its state-directed economic model and autocratic political control. And it seems determined to resist the new policy of ‘containment’ emanating from the ‘liberal democracies’. The trade, technology and political ‘cold war’ is set to heat up over the rest of this decade, while the planet heats up too.
From the blog of Michael Roberts. The original, with all charts and hyperlinks, can be found here.
The featured image at the top of the article shows Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, on 1 October 1949. © Wikimedia commons
