[Mustang19]

Well Singapore isn't formally transitioning yet. But they recently held a parliamentary election with 90+% of the seats contested.

[Unknown Target]

This looks like the next boom that's supposed to sustain the world after the US is done is in danger of imploding. Honestly there's been waves of protests in China for awhile now that haven't been getting a lot of attention.

I also have not heard anything about it on the news. There's an article on the Yahoo headlines right now "Chinese travel to U.S. to give birth for citizenship" - but that's the only thing about China.

[Mustang19]

It's not going to all happen at once UT. Nothing going on is big enough to overthrow the government. The unrest probably has something do with the relatively high inflation in China right now, but the government is working it back down. And this is mostly a matter of minorities and migrant workers airing grievances rather than a broad based social revolt or anything.

The bigger problem as far as China's economy is concerned is the bursting of it's real estate bubble among other economic transitions it's undergoing as its trade surplus falls. Although again the government has done a lot to avert a total disaster there's still the possibility that the economy could go into recession in a year or two - a "hard landing" scenario.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/us-roubini-idUSTRE75C1OF20110613

China avoided a hard landing during the global credit crunch but faces a downturn after 2013 as it will struggle to keep increasing fixed investments, Roubini said.

"There is a meaningful probability of a hard landing in China after 2013," he told a financial conference in Singapore.

[The E]

Maybe there's a chinese exception. You know, just like some Americans insist there's an american one.

[Grizzly]

China is probably doing some transitions, but whatever they are doing, they are doing it Slloooowwwllyyy as not to cause too much instability on the road to more stability.

[Mustang19]

I agree. Just about anyone who posted in this thread would make a great CNN commentator. Keep up the intellectual standard, HLP.

[General Battuta]

I agree. Just about anyone who posted in this thread would make a great CNN commentator. Keep up the intellectual standard, HLP.

We really need to get rid of all that FreeSpace crap so we can get this forum back on track as an arena for serious intellectual discussion of sociopolitical issues

[Mustang19]

We really need to get rid of all that FreeSpace crap so we can get this forum back on track as an arena for serious intellectual discussion of sociopolitical issues

There was such a thing as good old days on HLP? I doubt it. Race and IQ was about the most intellectual discussion I've seen yet.

Honestly though. I just bring this stuff up here because there is just about no other place on the internet where you can talk about politics with people who are anywhere near halfway informed. Which is sad really.

[StarSlayer]

I agree. Just about anyone who posted in this thread would make a great CNN commentator. Keep up the intellectual standard, HLP.

We really need to get rid of all that FreeSpace crap so we can get this forum back on track as an arena for serious intellectual discussion of sociopolitical issues

I propose a compromise, we only discuss the sociopolitical issues effecting the GTVA.

[SpardaSon21]

That's called the BP board.

[achtung]

Honestly though. I just bring this stuff up here because there is just about no other place on the internet where you can talk about politics with people who are anywhere near halfway informed. Which is sad really.

Every time I venture away from HLP for anything near an "intellectual" discussion, it goes downhill pretty quick. I just wanted to say that so I can voice how I agree with you. Any other forum/group devolves into "ur a faget" almost every single time in almost every other well-populated community.

[Mustang19]

Actually some imageboards have decent political debates, although it depends on who happens to be posting at the time. Still even the level of debate we see on HLP is pretty rare over the internet.

But enough meta. Does anyone have an opinion on the causes or consequences of an end to autocratic rule in China? Would it be a good thing or a bad thing?

[StarSlayer]

It would be interesting to see if it would stay unified or return to being a collection of individual states.  That's assuming a real revolution could actually take hold and succeed though.  As Ngtm-1r has mentioned in the pass the PLA is sorta built around suppressing the hell out of this stuff rather then being a military force for international ops.

[Luis Dias]

CHINA SUCKS (Here, taking HLP out of its intellectual shiny pedestal )

[jr2]

I have a question:  In Communist China, is this thread blocked, or the entirety of HLP Forums?  Isn't karajorma in China ATM?  Have we just inadvertently perma-banned kara from HLP until he moves somewhere else? 

Kidding aside, though, I do wonder how the great Chinese firewall handles threads like this in forums not dedicated to political discussion.

[Luis Dias]

Good point. So a possible solution to not get Kara or any other chinese into trouble is if we don't speak about chinese issues.

And this also generalizes to all possible forums and threads.

Censorship successful?

[karajorma]

I can still see the thread. We probably don't have that many Chinese citizens viewing the board unfortunately and the simple fact is that the Chinese government really don't care much about foreigners talking about China as long as we keep our opinions to ourselves and don't try to spread them amongst the natives.


As for the riots, I doubt anything big will come of them. Far as I can tell, China is slowly transitioning away from being a totalitarian state, they just don't want to **** it up like Russia did.

[Luis Dias]

Well that is certainly the subliminar propaganda that I'm also exposed to.

The question is, is it really true, or is it just a facade to appease the people. I'm really pessimistic in that sense. Power corrupts, and total power will totally corrupt. And the notion that a party which has the complete power over a billion people will fade their own influence over them just seems surreal and inhuman to me.

I'd love to be proven wrong though...

[Kosh]

China is probably doing some transitions, but whatever they are doing, they are doing it Slloooowwwllyyy as not to cause too much instability on the road to more stability.

That used to be the case but all of those trends have either ground to a halt or have been completely reversed, such as professionalization of the judiciary. Given the amount of vested interests involved today combined with the chinese mentality in general I find it incredibly niave to believe any further reform will come.

[karajorma]

I find it pretty niave to believe they won't.