China cannot, and should not be trusted. At least, not anymore. Not now, not since Xi. There is just too much damn communism going on, and the trajectory is “Mao, double plus bad.” China has a long history of not playing by the rules. They pollute like crazy, they rip off intellectual property, and are more than happy to oppress their own people. But things have taken a turn for the worse. The rise of Xi Jinping as China’s leader (now “President for Life”) has seen China turn back towards the darker depths of communism.
I visited China in 2001, on a 3 month work trip. I was one of the lucky ones in my team, I saw both “Old China” and “New China.” I loved everything about the place, except the pollution. And how crowded it was….. But the food was amazing, and there are many spectacular sights to see in China. Another amazing aspect of China is it’s rich and detailed history. There is much good argument that China is the ONLY great empire of early humanity that still exists somewhat intact. Perhaps the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Mayans & co should have built a Great Wall……
I spent a lot of time talking with my Chinese colleagues, who were all very smart people. China is full of very smart people, especially in STEM fields. But I found they lacked imagination at times, especially at troubleshooting. At the time, i just shrugged and “blamed communism” and the arbitrary, artificial limits it places on peoples thinking. It’s similar to religion in effect, if not intention. And I haven’t seen a lot since to dissuade me from holding that opinion.
During the cultural revolution/purge, the communists studied humanity hard. They wanted to determine how to identify dissidents, and uh, “remove their influence.” One of the discoveries they made was that people with untidy rooms were often intellectuals. So they trained children from a very young age to complain about messy rooms, and it’s still buried in the culture today.
I’ve lost count of how often I’ve heard that ghost. Sometimes while watching documentaries about life in China, or right in front of me in public life. “Arrrhhh….I don’t like her…..she is very untidy” or “I don’t like her, she looks like prostitute” from the adults. It just comes blurting out, like some kind of twisted social hiccup. It’s a programmed, robotic response. Once you’ve heard it, and you know the background, you will hear it every time it happens. And that was exactly the intent of it. Be the first to point, and encourage others to join the finger pointing.
But today, under Xi, China seems to be turning into Islam 2.0. There are practically Chinese blasphemy laws in place. Qantas now refers to Taiwan as “China” and there wasn’t a three party negotiation over that. China are also threatening military action in the South China Sea, after awarding the territory to themselves via their island building efforts. But take a deeper look inside China, at what they are doing to their own citizens, and it’s terrifying. This is where we see the true fire of the dragon: the “Social Credit Score” system.
The social credit score is like a marriage of “Gattaca” and “1984” with Satan as the celebrant. It’s a social behavior regime under which ultimate control of the Chinese population will eventually be achieved. It analyses every aspect of your life, down to the transaction level. Buy lots of video games? You must be lazy, lose points. Littering? Lose points. Jaywalking? Lose points. Buy unhealthy food? Lose points.
The price of having a low social credit score will be devastating. There are all kinds of travel restrictions that can be applied to you, you could be prevented from buying certain products. You could even be charged higher prices than other citizens for the same item eventually. The sky is the limit if the rules are centrally programmed.
The ultimate goal of the social credit system will be breeding out dissidents. They won’t even need to create or enforce rules within the social credit system regarding “marrying down.” Why would you marry someone who can’t travel with you, or can’t own property? You would just be limiting your own life. And I’m sure at some point, they will track everybody’s presence, and just being in the presence of “low score” individuals will probably result in your own score taking a hit.
Now comes the scary bit. The part that makes Andrew Bolt’s interview with Gladys Liu very relevant. This social credit system potentially turns every single Chinese person living outside of China into a Chinese agent. “Do what we tell you, or we mess with friends and family back home.” If Andrew Bolt hadn’t yet considered this angle regarding Gladys Liu’s friends and family in China, he will be soon enough. And once he knows, would it prevent him from asking certain questions? Knowing that his probing may inadvertently hurt innocent Chinese citizens? Will there even be a “Danish Cartoons” moment between China and the West?
We have to face the reality that it will become increasingly dangerous to have any kind of dealings with China in future. Their social credit system means that, in time, it won’t be reasonable to assume that Chinese people are being genuine with you. They may be subject to outside influences that aren’t visible to you.
The Chinese also have a great secrecy advantage, due to the complexity of their language. You’d need to learn 4-6000 characters to understand a proper opinion piece in a Chinese newspaper. Chinese people are also NOT afraid to lie, in English or Chinese. Especially if they think they might get in trouble if they don’t. Communism did that, too.
But “what Communism did” will just be a foot note in an unwritten history if this dragon ascends high enough. Beware of this beast folks, be very aware. It’s fire will scorch the entire Earth.
The PoliBard Muse 