"So long as Zero COVID remains in place, the blunt reality of China is simply this: China is closed for business." -- Could we be witnessing the start of one of those times in Chinese history where they suddenly turn inward even when they have lots of power to outwardly express?
There is a certain parallel (I think) to the inward turn China made in the 15th century, when it beached its Great Treasure Fleet and pulled back from being the regional hegemon in Southeast Asia.
To appreciate the scale of this turn, you have to understand that the Great Treasure Fleet was built entirely of ships that were an entire order of magnitude LARGER than the ships the Portuguese would sail around Africa, or that Columbus would sail into the Western Hemisphere. Chinese shipbuilding technology was THE world state of the art at that time.
Within a century of abandoning the Great Treasure Fleet, ALL of that shipbuilding know-how and skill had been lost.
China is not a regional hegemon, and in truth it has never been a major geopolitical power throughout the CCP Dynasty. However, China is an important industrial country and it is the world's workshop. And all of that is on the verge of being lost because Zero COVID means that factories cannot run on dependable schedules, that goods cannot move around on reliable timetables, and that ports cannot be kept open to import raw materials or export finished goods.
As long as Xi Jinping maintains this rigid Zero COVID policy, China is done as an industrial nation.
"In China’s authoritarian system, admissions of error are signs of weakness—which is intolerable for those at the top." -- This sounds like our current administration. Nothing they do ever fails and when it does it is always someone else's fault.
The difference, of course, is that in the US the blame game gets played out on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox. In China it gets played out in front of a firing squad.
"So long as Zero COVID remains in place, the blunt reality of China is simply this: China is closed for business." -- Could we be witnessing the start of one of those times in Chinese history where they suddenly turn inward even when they have lots of power to outwardly express?
I believe we are. In fact, I've speculated on this exact point before.
https://newsletter.allfactsmatter.us/p/it-never-rains-in-china-it-just-covids
There is a certain parallel (I think) to the inward turn China made in the 15th century, when it beached its Great Treasure Fleet and pulled back from being the regional hegemon in Southeast Asia.
To appreciate the scale of this turn, you have to understand that the Great Treasure Fleet was built entirely of ships that were an entire order of magnitude LARGER than the ships the Portuguese would sail around Africa, or that Columbus would sail into the Western Hemisphere. Chinese shipbuilding technology was THE world state of the art at that time.
Within a century of abandoning the Great Treasure Fleet, ALL of that shipbuilding know-how and skill had been lost.
China is not a regional hegemon, and in truth it has never been a major geopolitical power throughout the CCP Dynasty. However, China is an important industrial country and it is the world's workshop. And all of that is on the verge of being lost because Zero COVID means that factories cannot run on dependable schedules, that goods cannot move around on reliable timetables, and that ports cannot be kept open to import raw materials or export finished goods.
As long as Xi Jinping maintains this rigid Zero COVID policy, China is done as an industrial nation.
"In China’s authoritarian system, admissions of error are signs of weakness—which is intolerable for those at the top." -- This sounds like our current administration. Nothing they do ever fails and when it does it is always someone else's fault.
The comparison does have its merits.
The difference, of course, is that in the US the blame game gets played out on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox. In China it gets played out in front of a firing squad.
Very true. At least we still have hope of righting the ship here.