China’s future isn’t a place we should emulate

A new book about China set in 2013, mirroring George Orwell’s 1984, imagines a set of national strategies:

1. Democratic dictatorship under one-party rule;
2. Rule-of-law with stability as top priority;
3. An authoritarian government which rules for the people;
4. A state-controlled market economy;
5. Fair competition dominated by state-owned enterprises;
6. Scientific development with Chinese characteristics;
7. A self-centered harmonious foreign diplomacy;
8. A single-ethnicity sovereignty with multiple ethnicities;
9. Post-western and post-universal values;
10. Renaissance of the matchless Chinese culture

The sad reality, confirmed in media reports recently, is that China is now moving towards banning any SMS messages deemed “vulgar”.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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