End of an Era: How China’s Authoritarian Revival is Undermining Its Rise, 2018
China is becoming more inward
-no way for people to vent opposition, frustration. a path for gradual institutional reform is gone, social justice has degraded
Ch1 End of Reform era
-economic reform unwinds as economy stagnates -> China launches massive stimulus program (trains, buildings, etc) -> massive debt, inflation, lo public consumption -> less effect -> more stimulus
-change from cultural openness to Chinese tradition, national pride
Ch2 Closing of Chinese Dream
-social mobility declined
-uni education -> unemployed, under empl, no longer golden generation
-uni are for elite students, not for all: tuition costs skyrocketed, not available to all, hukou system
-uni education does not mean good jobs
-option: leave China for foreign education
-rural reform foundered -> migrant labourers surge to cities find they are in lower social class
-shui luo shi chu 水落石出 As the water recedes, the rocks appear (idiom); the truth comes to light source
-wealth bias towards urban, against rural, due to hukou
-state workers able to buy state housing at steep discount -> economic bias for urban vs rural
-unequal growth and opportunity
-diaosi (Chinese: 屌丝; pinyin: Diǎosī) is a Chinese slang term, often used in a comedic manner, that refers to a young male of mediocre appearance: cannot get high wage work, cannot afford housing, can’t settle down in relationship, doomed to struggle source
-pent up frustration
-transform China’s economy to info age cannot be done rapidly
Ch3 Social Unrest
-econom reforms bump up against one-party rule
-corruption by politicians and friends running large corporations
-population control issues: more males, reduced workforce
-workers, farmers have no recourse to launch complaints, investigations
-punish not only dissidents but their families -> collective sanctions
Ch4 Religion
-religion will not provide stability for China -> repress/control religion
Ch5 political Reform through Western view
-China is not changing, noEnd of an Era: t following S Korea, Taiwan
-China blown past S Korea, Taiwan economic dev levels
-country gets richer -> more democratic, not true
-S. Korean, Taiwan did political liberalization -> grew much faster than China, though smaller
-without pol liberalization economy will not grow
-pol liberalization -> reform, vs revolution
-China no pol reform, push people underground and radicalize, repress, fragmented and independent movements -> less political stability
-if revolution occurs, stable democracy not the outcome
Ch6 Possible Futures
-less radical views, for and against, supplanted for more radical
-hardline authoritarian winning
-China can harness nationalizm to unite the country
古之。。。欲治其国着， 先齐其家： 欲齐其家着， 先修其身 – 大学
guzhi…yuzhi taguozhe, xian qi qijia: yuqi qita jiazhe， xian xiu ta shen – Daxue
The ancients…wishing to govern their states well, first set their families in order; wishing to set their families in order, they first cultivated their persons. – The Book of Great learning, ca 500bc
-deinstitutionalized society, too much compliance to rules
-China can choose between Chinese options used in the past, and not western