Xi's 'common prosperity' goal may make Japan loath to invest in China

OssanAmericaNov. 4  07:31 am JST

obladiToday  07:13 am JST

Does Xi care what Japan thinks about his economic policy?

Yes he does. China attained it's economic and military power through trade with other countries. How they behave towards China is crucial for it's future growth. Japan is not alone in their concerns, just the biggest of many investors.

Xi is just flapping his big mouth like a Pac-Man again. He's just talking that Communist propaganda crap. Mao the Killer Cow had his 'Great Leap Forward' and see how it fell flat on its face.

Cut the crap, Xi. If you can't administer to the needs of over a billion people without filling their heads with this nonsence, step down now.

This is the peak of journalism.

A whole propaganda piece based on 4 random unverifiable people with generic names.

@Desert Tortoise

No. I'm not trying to disparage Common Core. It has merit. But, it has only been instituted for about ten years and not universally adopted. Over a dozen states passed legislation prohibiting their school districts from adopting Common Core and four states that originally supported it dropped out. It has slowly fallen by the wayside bit by bit in others. Common Core had absolutely nothing to do with that scandal.

I never believed that you were, but the scandal involved more than just schools in California. Competition to get into good universities is tougher. Mainly because more people have access through better preparation and want to go to school . Universities are not easier, but the quality of secondary education increased due to standardizing the curriculum (Common Core).

The four states that never adopted the standards are Virginia, Texas, Alaska, and Nebraska. The four states who have successfully withdrawn from the curriculum are Arizona, Oklahoma, Indiana, and South Carolina. These eight states are typically republican-controlled, implying some correlation between political party affiliation and the rejection of common core. It is another culture war created by the GOP to win votes over nonsense issues.

Furthermore, many of the states who have “repealed” the standards have adopted their own, which are still in accord with the Common Core Standards. It was all for show to get psychos to keep voting for them. The states not using "Common Core" are still using "Common Core" without the name because it was supported by Democrats.

Common Core changed the landscape of the education system in the US 

No. I'm not trying to disparage Common Core. It has merit. But, it has only been instituted for about ten years and not universally adopted. Over a dozen states passed legislation prohibiting their school districts from adopting Common Core and four states that originally supported it dropped out. It has slowly fallen by the wayside bit by bit in others. Common Core had absolutely nothing to do with that scandal.

@Desert Tortoise

Common core had nothing to do with it. What changed are the admissions process for for the UCs and California State Universities, the CSUs. They have been much more aggressive in finding and helping finance academically qualified lower income students who in the past could not afford a UC or CSU education.

The UC schools are not the whole country. It had nothing to do with UC schools. If you are familiar with the US scandal, it only discusses the UC university because the person in the news was a famous actress and both children went to a UC school.

In fact, there are a few people who were arrested and convicted. It involved families and universities all over the country. The ringleader was not even based in California, but he had a network of university coaches across the country working together. They helped well-off families get their average and below-average kids in school for a large fee depending on the school.

Common Core changed the landscape of the education system in the US by helping students of all backgrounds become better prepared to enter university. That makes highly capable students with unfortunate and more compelling life experiences competitive with wealthy students with average or below average grades. The internet has also been a good tool to share information about cracking the entrance application code.

Income redistribution seems to be a common theme among governments these days. I think that Japan does a relatively good job of it. As for China, it's their country so it's up to them how they decide to do it. I see offshoring of production by places like Japan and the U.S. being reversed, at least somewhat, in the future due to what happened during the pandemic and other things causing supply chain related issues. If China can't continue to grow the way it has been due to foreign companies offshoring production, then there might be social unrest among the people who have been able to work in those factories and related businesses. So, this might be a way of heading that off. Who knows? I'm certainly no expert. But I can kind of see their logic. Also, slapping down the big tech companies in China was probably a result of U.S. tech companies censoring, ahem, certain powerful people. I can kind of see China's logic in that too..

Among the founder of the US there was also a great fear of idle inherited wealth, seeing the mischief caused by inherited wealth in Europe. To quote Thomas Jefferson:

"There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents;... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provision should be made to prevent its ascendancy."

As above, this is not a consideration the CCP is worried about.

I think Communist and western/American reasons for wanting to limit the accumulation of wealth in too few hands differ. The Communists fear the wealth disparity will lead to social upheaval or even revolution that threatens their hold on power. Western writers from Locke to John Adams considered the accumulation of the majority of wealth in the hands of a few to be a threat to individual freedom and self government. These are emphatically not the concerns of the CCP which holds a monopoly on political power in China. John Adams perhaps says it best, keeping in mind this was written before the industrial revolution or the existence of vast multinational corporations, a time when being wealthy meant owning large landholdings.

"Power always follows Property. This I believe to be as infallible a Maxim, in Politicks, as, that Action and Re-action are equal, is in Mechanicks. Nay I believe We may advance one Step farther and affirm that the Ballance of Power in a Society, accompanies the Ballance of Property in Land. The only possible Way then of preserving the Ballance of Power on the side of equal Liberty and public Virtue, is to make the Acquisition of Land easy to every Member of Society: to make a Division of the Land into Small Quantities, So that the Multitude may be possessed of landed Estates. If the Multitude is possessed of the Ballance of real Estate, the Multitude will have the Ballance of Power, and in that Case the Multitude will take Care of the Liberty, Virtue, and Interest of the Multitude in all Acts of Government."

 This all happened after "Common Core" gave children from all backgrounds an opportunity to learn the same material taking away some the advantages that the privileged exploit. 

Common core had nothing to do with it. What changed are the admissions process for for the UCs and California State Universities, the CSUs. They have been much more aggressive in finding and helping finance academically qualified lower income students who in the past could not afford a UC or CSU education.

@Pukey2

I don't believe in your alternative facts, or as you called them, factuals.

Again, no need to believe, it's factual.

It's factual that anomaly weather hurts chinese people, crop and now energy situation.

It's factual that Evergrande crisis and new laws are getting some opposition even inside China.

It's factual that China's HSR network is built mainly for people transportation, which remains mostly to suck off the upper class/middle class, and not useful for poorer people and good transportation.

None of this has to do with the US, or Iraq's WMD, it has to do with China.

Feel free to visit China any times now and confirm these facts, but I guess they are under lockdown due to Covid so you have to wait.

Iron Lad:

Nothing to disagree, these are factuals. (SIC)

I don't believe in your alternative facts, or as you called them, factuals. Especially when you have never been to China, don't know Chinese and most probably have an agenda. The fact is, you and the colonialists just can't stand to see a non-white country succeed and overtake others, so you have to invent a bogeyman. I'm just waiting for the so-called WMD. I don't know what god-forsaken cloud cuckoo land you're living on, but some of us can see right through the lies perpetuated by you and many of the media groups.

One might have hoped the Australian regime would have learned not to provoke China at the behest of USA

Australia did call for an independent investigation into covid, and the US may have said the same thing. Every country in the world has the right to make such a call in the face of a pandemic and if China or anyone else objects to that call then tough luck chum, we dont care.

Starting a trade war because Australia called for an investigation, because it made domestic laws against foreign intervention in our politics (not China's concern) and because it chooses who to ask to tender for Australian infrastructure and who it doesnt, (again not China's concern) is just a belligerent and hostile act. China provoked? No it wasn't. Decisions were made that did not favor China and that is a matter for Australia. They were made for Australian interests not for Chinese interests.

China is cracking down on big business and wants wealth redistribution. Great as this will make companies looking for big profits to pull out of China and move manufacturing to other nations that will provide bigger returns. The China well is drying up and it's time to move the wagons west once more.

Like many things in China and Japan for that matter a lot is just for show but just for a photo opportunity etc. I know they are coming down on some of the rich cats but I don’t buy it, seems like CCPBS. Boycott China!

@ Pukey2

Nothing to disagree, these are factuals.

@ Rob

Tyson Fury isn't entitled to hit you in the face.

China isn't either.

At least on the face of it, Xi's stated goal sounds laudable.

In this country, Democrats have tried to do something about wealth inequality, but the ability of the wealthy to buy politicians makes the goal particularly difficult.

I'm not Australian, so it's no skin off my back.

Ditto. I just find it absurd to see Australians waving their virtual fingers at China.

to provoke, really?

Really. Imagine I'm Australia and China is Tyson Fury. I shouldn't provoke him. Is it a difficult concept?

Iron Lad:

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

Rob:

One might have hoped the Australian regime would have learned not to provoke China at the behest of USA which has cashed in as a result of China's trade restrictions on Australian produce.

That's what I said the other day, but someone who replied refused to believe that USA was getting something out of this. I'm not Australian, so it's no skin off my back.

@Rob

 Australian regime would have learned not to provoke China at the behest of USA 

That doesn't sound nice.

Not to provoke, really?

One thing we’ve learnt in Australia is that the Chinese market can be volatile,

One might have hoped the Australian regime would have learned not to provoke China at the behest of USA which has cashed in as a result of China's trade restrictions on Australian produce.

@ TARA TAN KITAOKA

I remember you were very against the Tokyo Olympics because Covid cases were surging.

Now China's Covid cases are surging, why don't you ask for the cancellation of the Beijing Winter Olympics?

??????

@ Pukey2

China isn't the only one affected, but China suffered the worst.

Breaking up the rich class is good, but it will build a lot of enemies, especially in China's southern cities.

Please travel to western and central China, ignore the eastern coastal cities, go there and see how many people use the HSR system. HSR is great, but building just for people transportation is an awful waste of money, and completely against socialism.

China is frequently having electrical breakdown and the govt is coming out to ask for food rationing. This didn't happen 5 years ago.

I don't care how the US is, what I'm saying is that recently China isn't doing great anymore.

Good for Xi, actually having goals for the country unlike the administration in Japan.

China's economy won't be as hot-roaring as previously

Iron Lad:

anomaly weather that killed hundreds of people. It didn't affect only China, but China got the worst hold of it.

anomaly weather destroys crop and leads to difficulties in mining coal, which leads to food and energy rationing in winter

So, now you admit China isn't the only country affected. I guess places like California and Australia had a walk in the park with getting rid of those 'minor' wildfires. The bad weather in Texas was just a breeze, right. Are you living on Planet Cancun? Just how much did China suffer? You sound as if you were there.

Evergrande crisis and the new laws from Xi Jinping which break up the rich class in China, making a lot of people angry

Breaking up the rich class? What are you on about? I suppose they should leave the rich to get richer and the poor get poorer. That seems to be the ideology of USA.

high speed rail is actually only built for rich class transportation and remains barely used in Western and central China, meanwhile standard rail meant for transportation of goods are neglected, forcing the locals to use dump trucks.

Once again, have you been to China? Barely used? Can you please tell me one single country which builds HSR and lets everyone travel on it for free? I travelled from Shanghai to the next city, Suzhou. It cost about the same as the Shinkansen from Tokyo station to Shinagawa station. Just how much cheaper do you want it to be? In fact the rail companies are losing money because they've made it cheap and accessible to as many people as possible because they are investing in the future. Urumqi even has a great subway network complete with signs in Uighur, trilingual announcements and people speaking in Uighur. I thought the language was banned!!!

5 years before, China was great, recently not so much.

Sure, you've been there recently, haven't you? Meanwhile California and UK are still waiting for HSR to be completed. And I'm going to guess Indonesia and India are going to get theirs finished first.

It's time for these companies and investors to come home, invest in Japan

The wealth accumulated by China is a direct result from Western and certain Asian countries employing China as a manufacturing and assembly hub - among those nations the U.S.A., was primary in the rise of China. Shifting manufacturing and assembly from domestic concerns to available 'cheap' labor was a purposeful stratagem employed by companies such as Nike, Columbia, Apple and hundreds of other corporations to increase profit margins. The further intent was to tap into the domestic Chinese market - which was a pipe dream at best.

There is irony in the concern for the wealthy in China, ignoring the plight of workers who toil in manufacturing & assembly.

China is ostensibly a socialist country - certainly no longer a communist state, which allows a rather broad, if not inaccurate definition of 'communism' - certainly, Chinese Communism was not wedded to Marx and Engels conceptions, perhaps more so to Lenin and Stalin, which in Russia was a totalitarian state. The allowance for billionaires fits no valid conception of socialism or communism. It is simply a centrally controlled state, elementally totalitarian. Which has naught to do with anything vaguely socialist, let alone communist. Both are simply tag lines for the uneducated to get riled-up and ignore the less than viable forms of governing in their own homeland.

The vision of profiting from wealthy Chinese as a vast market is patently absurd. Let alone the inverse, with the pretense it will negatively effect profit margins. The Chinese domestic market is by design Chinese aka domestic and not in anyway imaginable going to be pickings for international concerns located elsewhere.

The large finance & investment entities and companies in Japan purposefully seek to gain profit outside of Japan - as there is no viable means to increase profit in such a limited sphere as domestic markets. Which leads to the Asian mainland as the fatted calf, the USA is tapped out and China is seen as this big, fat, juicy beast to be fully exploited - not gonna happen, the influx of capital & investment from the likes of Japan was and is seen as key in realizing the dream of China as the world power.

if anything, "common prosperity" should be good for most of the large japanese corp... its purpose is to increase the middle class (and boost income to the poor) which are the ppl buying japanese products these days (uniqlo, toyota, asahi products etc...)... their executives are probably celebrating right now!

Someone should tell the honour guard dude to put his mask on properly…

One thing we’ve learnt in Australia is that the Chinese market can be volatile, especially when the CCP sticks it’s nose in.

It would pay to diversify as much as possible.

Why is Japan always unhappy with anything China does when they have so much problems in their own country

???

 "The security legislation tells us what legally Japan is capable of doing. It does not tell us what Japan is willing to do. And that's really the $10,000 question here."

A question that, if the trends of the past continue, will never be answered. My instincts are that they will hide behind the constricts of the constitution as a handy reason to do what they love doing. Nothing and meetings.

So Japan wants to continue doing business with China? Then stop being two faced about other countries doing business with them.

How many times have we heard this? China will collapse, China will this, China will that. People say this because this is what they want to happen.

I think some of those looking from the outside in listened to the kind of thing the neocons were saying - all people everywhere yearn for freedom, rule of law etc. Hundreds of millions Chinese were understandably more focused on being able to have enough food. One thing you often hear in China is how the CCP lifted hundreds of millions out of dire poverty.

The CCP will stay in power for the foreseeable future as long as they deliver on two key points - continued economic development ( including measures to make sure everyone gets the benefits of this ), and to maintain the unity of China.

Maybe a third less vital point is rooting out corruption in the CCP ( anyone who’s spent any time in China knows how rampant CCP corruption on the local level is a known fact among Chinese, and acknowledged to some degree by the upper echelons ).

Xi is not operating according to Marxist ideology.

Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure what you mean by "Marxist ideology". If Das Kapital is the final and best guide to "Marxist ideology" it's pretty complicated when it comes to China.

Firstly, Marx demonstrated the most advanced capitalist countries would stagnate and go into decline first. Socialistic revolution led by the working class or ever more devastating wars was the only possibility. Lenin's "Imperialism: The Final Stage of Capitalism" is an outstanding examination of the latter.

China was of course very backward at the time of the revolution. That's the first "non Marxist event". But, seeing the popularity of his ideas in Russia, also very backward at the time, specifically rejected that what he called "the classical model in Germany and France" applied to every country and region.

A lot of people reject this idea. The economics of Das Kapital comes down to math.

So China was backward, socialism made massive advances but as seen in the Soviet Union, was also stagnating. So they initiated capitalistic reforms until China caught the major capitalist powers insofar as economic development (a relatively easy thing given Das Kapital demonstrated they'd stagnate economically, decline socially). China has caught the major capitalist powers but signs stagnation is setting in. So what's the next move? Pretty clear and the CCP is pretty open about cracking down on capitalists.

China is not a "communist" country

Again, thanks for the tip. You are so smart!!! How do you do it? A "communist country" is an oxymoron. Communism means no countries. You know the John Lennon song where he says. "imagine there's no country". It's why the CCP, CPV, CPSU before them and etc always refer(ed) to themselves as "socialist".

Shouldn’t prosperity be related to human rights and how you treat your neighbors? China isn’t doing very well in either department.

Being familiar with Das Kapital, he knows the capitalistic reforms could only advance the Chinese economy and Chinese society so far and those limits are being reached. Now the Party is cracking down on capitalists.

Lol, wut? Xi is not operating according to Marxist ideology. China is not a "communist" country in any way. Even the official party slogan doesn't directly translate to that. China is a ethno-nationalist mercantilist state. China's goal is to build an economic empire based off of trade.

How anyone could possible equate the Chinese system with "communism" is hard to fathom. Saying they have "state planning" over the economy so they're communist, is just absurd. The US has an even bigger federal government and heavily regulates nearly every aspect of the US economy. Is the US communist? Rhetorical... (and yes, I get that some might argue the US is actually more communist than China is, and the arguments would hold some merit, but ultimately no honest person would describe either system that way).

China cracking down on corporate corruption is just responsible leadership. The US (and all Western nations) are just playthings for giant corporations. We have no representative leadership in the West (elections are meaningless), we have rule by corporations. China is much better off in this regard.

@Pukey2

I remember I tried to argue with you in another thread, but it was locked.

Recently China had it bad:

anomaly weather that killed hundreds of people. It didn't affect only China, but China got the worst hold of it.

anomaly weather destroys crop and leads to difficulties in mining coal, which leads to food and energy rationing in winter

Evergrande crisis and the new laws from Xi Jinping which break up the rich class in China, making a lot of people angry

high speed rail is actually only built for rich class transportation and remains barely used in Western and central China, meanwhile standard rail meant for transportation of goods are neglected, forcing the locals to use dump trucks.

5 years before, China was great, recently not so much.

Nah, both are going to cooperate under the table, just as China and Japan have always done.

Lot of counter-revolutionaries in China tho.

If Xi's "Common Prosperity" or Kishida' "Noo Deal" were more than just cool slogans for peasants, they would certainly go "against the grain" (aka the spirit) of profiteering predatory capitalism, but in the real world there's little chance of "Communist" China's soon ceasing to be a seller's market, or LDP Japan's switcheroo to European-style "socialism".

One thing the CCP has had is competence. In the past the brightest and the best joined the CCP and moved up the ranks because there wasn’t al lot else the bright kids could do. These days, the brightest kids in China a see opportunities elsewhere. People like Deng and Xi, very bright people, may not have become politicians if they had been born in a later generation.

One worry the CCP has now is attracting quality. This is one of the reasons Xi has been able to solidify his position. If the quality degrades to the level of the Abes or Asos, the CCP will be in trouble.

Good point! To make the communist government like any system work, constant honest reflection with some purging needs to be done sometime to get rid of the bad weeds.

Attracting more talent into the CCP when better opportunities are available real be the challenge.

I also see a shift for some in China from focusing on standardized tests and trades to sports. Xi is making it harder for the tutoring schools to continue which mean children from wealthy families will not have the advantage on standardized testing anymore. Hard work, opportunity, preparation, and luck will play a greater role than privilege.

Students will need other options to be admitted into university. We will start to see a new system of sports training as way for wealthy families to get their less impressive children into university. Also, sports celebrities are gaining in influence in China with the inclusion of many more popular international sports and foreigner athletes. Of course, the Chinese government could directly attempt to interfere with the trend.

Most people in the US are aware of the recent scandal involving an actress and her husband paying coaches to provide false profiles for wealthy children to get admissions and scholarships to prestigious schools. This all happened after "Common Core" gave children from all backgrounds an opportunity to learn the same material taking away some the advantages that the privileged exploit. There are private schools in the US that only focus on sports for that particular goal. They are quite expensive unless you can get a scholarship because the child is really talented.

Notice the Maoist iconography in that poster, the use of a Zhongshan suit. He is a Maoist true believer who is going to run China's economy into a ditch much like his idol did.

The Cultural Revolution was a disaster but even with that, the Chinese economy more than tripled between 1949 and 1960. Life expectancy almost doubled.

True the Stalinist perversion was, just like the inexorable tendency of capitalist economy, leading to stagnation and decline. So they initiated capitalistic reforms. Everyone just assumed Xi was a capitalist turncoat but perhaps we need to reconsider. Being familiar with Das Kapital, he knows the capitalistic reforms could only advance the Chinese economy and Chinese society so far and those limits are being reached. Now the Party is cracking down on capitalists.

Not sure what his next step will be but apart from the period of the Cultural Revolution, until now the CCP has proven to be far-sighted and extremely successful.

This will be an interesting experiment. Research suggests that giving everyone a basic income makes the economy, standard of living, and quality of life better for the entire society.

These types of radical changes, that may actually work, can only be done quickly in an authoritarian and/or communist country.

Fighto!

"Common prosperity" = Communism

So that makes the Scandinavian countries and much of Europe communist, doesn't it? I am guessing you are American and brainwashed into equating with slightest whiff of socialism with communism.

Wealth distribution is actually good for the economy. Ever thought about a trickle-up economy?

Well, well, well. This has to be a first. Good news coming out of the China.

..push to achieve "common prosperity," aimed at reducing income gaps....

... levy severe restrictions on the rich in a bid to rectify economic inequality.

...big business leaders compelled by the central government to share their profits for the common good...

... bolstering regulations on the internet, education, entertainment and real estate -- areas which especially benefited the wealthy...

Xi has it right for once. I could see how the US and Japan would fear this very thought of the rich actually helping the poor. We're seeing the capitalism's true colors, aren't we.

You know you're not truly a communist country when there's a wealth disparity. Everyone should be dirt poor equally.

How dare China lift its people out of poverty. It must keep its people poor. Helping the poor, improving infrastructure like high speed rail, investing in renewable energy and conservation and also improving infrastructure in other developing countries sure beats the hell out of spending trillions on war and weapons like a certain other country. People complain about China 'taking over' Africa. In reality, it is doing what western colonial powers will NEVER do - help poorer nations. The west is determined to keep Africa poor. Africans aren't stupid.

Japanese companies are welcome to leave if they wish. What's their plan B?

Naoto Takeshige, a researcher at the Ricoh Institute of Sustainability and Business in Tokyo, said, "An era in which China enjoyed high economic growth is approaching a turning point."

How many times have we heard this? China will collapse, China will this, China will that. People say this because this is what they want to happen. Japan has a lot more common with China than Japan and the west admit. And they're also both one-party systems, but Japan has stagnated ever since the late 90s.

it has a genuine concern for the general welfare of its citizens unlike some non-communist countries.

You think so? The CCP is knee-deep in its own citizens’ blood. They aren’t as murderous as they were under Mao, but that’s probably more to do with polishing up their image for the west.

I think you mean they want to stop serious civil unrest when enough people decide they’ve had enough of living in poverty while a few accrue billions.

That sounds more like the CCP. They aren’t caring uncle types.

The most important determinant to the success of any country, economy and form of government is who is in charge.

One thing the CCP has had is competence. In the past the brightest and the best joined the CCP and moved up the ranks because there wasn’t al lot else the bright kids could do. These days, the brightest kids in China a see opportunities elsewhere. People like Deng and Xi, very bright people, may not have become politicians if they had been born in a later generation.

One worry the CCP has now is attracting quality. This is one of the reasons Xi has been able to solidify his position. If the quality degrades to the level of the Abes or Asos, the CCP will be in trouble.

This is a selfish and poor reason for being concerned about trade with China. Japan is saying that it puts trade with China's wealthy above the welfare of China"s general population, and would like China to do the same. Well, tough luck ,because I don't see China doing that, it has a genuine concern for the general welfare of its citizens unlike some non-communist countries.

China is not a "communist" country... anyone who still thinks this doesn't really understand China at all. China is an ethno-nationalist state organized around mercantilism. Their idea of an empire is very different from what we think of in the West, i.e. not a military one, but an economic one. China just wants to build quality products and sell them at reasonable prices. And this is what they're doing, quite successfully.

The model of China as the sweatshop of the world was never going to be sustainable anyway. China is now the largest economy in the world, with a rising middle class. Their government is actively building up the middle class, unlike Western countries where our parasitic elites (bankers and corporate leaders) are actively waging economic war on us and looting our countries.

Bottom line, China isn't perfect, but they've become a more positive force in the world than the sickening West run by psychopathic globalists. For this reason, the Western media has become extremely hostile to China.

I am not sure exactly what companies expected? I feel like people are surprised by China doing exactly what China said that they would do. They seemed to think that China would act exactly like they would in the situation, but that seems like a very unreasonable expected.

Our best scenario is that the Chinese economy would continue to grow and the country's affluent people would further increase their purchasing power. If the Chinese market becomes more socialistic, we may have to reconsider our business strategy,

If your whole business plan is that you hope the communist country doesn't become more communist, then yes you should probably revisit your business strategy.

@Fighto

Because that is Communism, a failed system that has never worked.

Communism has a lot of examples of doing pretty darn well despite the best efforts of capitalists seeking to undermine it.

Cuba has excelled in most every metric despite crippling American sanctions, and surpass many of their richer neighbors in metrics that matter like education and health care. I would love to see what a Cuba freed of fetters would look like.

Vietnam is doing pretty well for having been so devastated by the American invasion.

Heck, the Soviets experienced staggering amounts of growth (the highest in their history) and innovation until they were forced into an arms race they simply couldn't afford by....America again. I would expect them to still be thriving if they weren't forced into the cold war.

China took the path of reaching a point of economic independence that capitalists wouldn't be able to subvert them before really pursuing their ideals. It was a smart move for anyone who looks at the track records of 'failed' communist states. If they didn't do that, they would be drowning in sanctions too, but now capitalist states actually need them.

BigYen

That’s the deal we’ve made with China, and it’s not so easy to get out of.

Agree. But companies did it, not governments.

Businesses were willing to put their own people and complete industries out of existence for higher margins and stockholder value. They went to China; China didn't come to them.

So, if you look from a birds-eye view without any filters, China can see the effect on the US and other supposedly "smart" democracies that threw their countrymen to the wolves so they could source cheap plastic crap at deeper discounts for profit.

It's pretty smart for China to nip this wealth gap that mimics the west quickly. It's hard to control 1.3 billion people if they see a bunch of rich little punks like Bezos and Zuckerberg flaunting their wealth in China.

Notice the Maoist iconography in that poster, the use of a Zhongshan suit. He is a Maoist true believer who is going to run China's economy into a ditch much like his idol did.

Having a jackboot on your neck doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable.

Banal cliches aside, I think being homeless or being one medical emergency short of destitution doesn't sound very comfortable.

Xinnie said, "A moderately prosperous society has been built in all aspects," emphasizing all citizens now can enjoy a comfortable life in China.

Having a jackboot on your neck doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable.

Name one.

(And those who imprison citizens for criticizing the regime don't count)

Ever heard of Augustus Caesar? Cincinnatus, heck Castro survived for decades against a brutal blockade and Cubans enjoy relative peace, access to good healthcare.

UAE.

Singapore.

Tunisia.

Mongolia.

Iran.

Indonesia under Suharto.

Park in South Korea.

Venezuela under Gomez.

Fighto, how many Japanese can express, their true feelings in Japan, without some repercussions, Chinese help build the US ,by linking the US, through their work on the railroads ,it Asian American heritage month, stop hating on fellow Asian Google Asian American Heritage Month

Good one though!

Thanks Aly! We have to pretend to be serious because humor is not allowed.

There are plenty of successful dictatorships

Name one.

(And those who imprison citizens for criticizing the regime don't count)

Really nice photo, that.

Those Japanese investors should be happy. The wealthy spend a much smaller portion of their income than the lower and middle classes.

One million dollars distributed evenly to 200 regular working folks will be spent on food, car- and house upgrqades, IT devices and kids' education. A million-dollar windfall to a multimillionare will mostly end up in a bank vault, maybe in the Cayman Islands, or a yacht built and serviced by Americans or Europeans.

Consumption drives economies much more so that wealth accumulation by billionaires.

Fighto!Today  07:35 am JST

And why shouldn't every nation distribute its wealth to the people who need it the most?

Because that is Communism, a failed system that has never worked.

There are plenty of successful dictatorships and unsuccessful democracies.

China has been pretty successful in clawing its way from a poor country to the largest economy in the world.

The most important determinant to the success of any country, economy and form of government is who is in charge.

Well, I suppose being the communist party they can't exactly call it New Capitalism. Like Japan, I very much doubt any of those at the bottom will ever see anything. This new policy sounds much more like take from the rich and give to communist party officials who will pocket it. Expect to hear more stories of wealthy business people like Jack Ma mysteriously disappearing. I wonder how much he had to donate? If I had money there I'd get it out fast.

Hmm, interesting, since right mind is emotional and feelings stuff. Should people in their left brain, the logical side, invest in China?

LOL! No Peter! I meant that no one in their sound mind should invest there. Good one though!

Aly RustomToday  07:48 am JST

no one in their right mind should invest in China

Hmm, interesting, since right mind is emotional and feelings stuff. Should people in their left brain, the logical side, invest in China?

Quote Japan is addicted to China.

Using your logic so it's the rest of the world who invest in China or purchase Chinese Goods. As always only Japan apparently has this issue.

Japan is worried about paying more for their parts,products and materials from China.

Japanese profit down..Rich get less rich!

Of course they are worried!smh

Giving a damn about income inequality is one of the few things I admire about China. Capitalist countries like the U.S. and Japan seem as happy as they can be allowing the rich to accumulate wealth without measure while the majority of the population struggles to survive on the scraps. People like to believe that they are free under Capitalism but really they are only free to struggle until they die. Socialist countries like Sweden or Denmark do a lot better at distributing wealth but most people don't know the difference between Socialism and Communism.

no one in their right mind should invest in China

Xi wants to do exactly what Kishida said he was going to do also: income redistribution.

That was before Kishida got reined in by the LDP powers that be, which of course are controlled by the Keidenran consisting of those same Japanese companies complaining in China.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think

And why shouldn't every nation distribute its wealth to the people who need it the most?

Because that is Communism, a failed system that has never worked.

Japanese companies should NOT be doing business in China. Period. Any who do are responsible for everything that happens to them, be it theft of intellectual property, lowering of quality standards or economic loss. Dont come running back home trying to pin blame on China.

"Common prosperity" = Communism.

obladiToday  07:13 am JST

Does Xi care what Japan thinks about his economic policy?

Yes he does. China attained it's economic and military power through trade with other countries. How they behave towards China is crucial for it's future growth. Japan is not alone in their concerns, just the biggest of many investors.

Does Xi care what Japan thinks about his economic policy? And why shouldn't every nation distribute its wealth to the people who need it the most?

Japan has needed to leave China since forever

Japan is addicted to China.