The Death Camp of Communist China
A hysteria of sorts has been generated by reports that some of China's products lack quality control. It's incredible to think how historically insular this frenzy appears in light of the history of modern China, which was the laboratory of one of history's great central planning catastrophes. Following collectivization of land, Mao decided to go further to dictate to the peasants what they would grow, how they would grow it, and where they would ship it, or whether they would grow anything at all as versus plunge into industry. This would become the Great Leap Forward that would generate history's most deadly famine. FULL ARTICLE
Comments (9)
I imagine many readers will be shocked by the history covered by Rockwell's article. But it is in fact a very straightforward summary of what we know today. To help the reader gain a even better perspective, I offer a few more details.
1. The reign of terror officially ended in 1976, the year Mao died. But the country didn't really recover until the mid 1980s. Even in the early 80s, no sane person in China had the guts to criticize Mao and the communist party, even at home. I know this, because so many times when a sensitive topic is reached during a conversation, say at the dinner table, everyone would pause, look around, and proceed to talk about something else. That's only 2 decades ago. Today almost anything is allowed, as long as it's not in print.
2. Today you can buy anything in China. Food is abundant and cheap. There are more markets than anywhere else on earth. Even just 20 years ago meat was a luxury, fresh fruit was a luxury. When you visit patients at the hospital you would bring a can of pineapples or a bottle of soda. 30 years ago no fresh fish was available in Shanghai, the biggest city in China. To buy decent fish you had to go to the black market, and of course that was considered illegal. By the way, how bad was the famine mentioned in the article? I have never met any Chinese person who lived back then who didn't endure severe starvation. No exceptions. The lucky ones just lost weight. The unlucky ones, usually farmers, died.
3. 30 years ago the vast majority of people in China had never even touched a car. At least 90% of the population had never even seen a car, not even on TV, since there were no TVs either. Today China is the world's second largest market for cars, with perhaps the worst traffic on earth.
4. In the early 1990s, just 15 years ago, most Chinese families didn't have phones. Today, there are more phones and cell phones in China than anywhere else in the world. Most people I know have 2 cell phones.
5. In the early 1990s, there were no highways in China. Today it has more highways than any other country except America.
6. In 1987, 20 years ago, the salary of a top doctor was about $30 a month. A good meal at a restaurant costs about $3. Today the salary of a similar doctor is about $2000 a month. A similar meal costs about $5.
7. Today most intellectuals in China, most so-called communists (in reality there are no real communists left) know who Mises and Hayek are. The other two economists who are household names? Ronald Coase and Milton Friedman. The most famous Chinese economist? Coase's friend, Steven Cheung, who once wrote a famous article--"The dumbest guy is Karl Marx." By the way, the books of everyone mentioned above sell very well in China.
What happened in the last 30 years? The simple answer is that the government gradually stopped regulating the market. But now that things are better socialism is once again gaining popularity. There doesn't seem to be any escape from this vicious cycle, if the history of the West is to serve as a guide.
Published: July 22, 2007 10:04 PM
Zheng Xiaoyu was executed because of his lax safety standards and taking back handers from medical executives in exchange for rubber stamping drugs that went onto kill at least 10 people.
Imagine if there was such a system of responsibility in Western countries?
Also,
Everyone likes to talk about Maos numerous bad points, but what about his actual good points like the liberation of serfs in Tibet?
Published: July 23, 2007 9:50 AM
As a result of the Red Terror, I, as a consumer, should buy an inferior product because it is my humanitarian duty? Is that how a free market works? Consumers buy the crap because they would feel guilty by holding suppliers to the same standards of those who produce quality?
"Woes the Chinese people, they are enslaved and the Communist party is taking all the profit! Consume, Consume, Consume!"
You would think that if you didn't like slavery you would boycott it as a consumer, not encourage it by consuming more of the commodities produced with slave labor. Go figure.
Published: July 23, 2007 10:21 AM
Ash,
Zhao took bribes. Have you ever thought about why bribery was possible? Is it because the government, and the government only, had to power to determine what can and cannot be sold? And if you think Mao did great things in Tibet you must be ignorant of the entire modern history of Tibet. Why don't you ask a Tibetan to verify this? Liberating serfs--straight out of communist propaganda fromt the 1950s. You won't see this sort of propaganda even in China today.
Lyle,
Your post is illogical. Nobody ever said that you should be inferior products. Nobody is telling you to consume anything, for that matter. The problem is that many people think that, because some products made in China (out of millions) are of poor quality then this terrible state of affairs must be blamed on capitalism; and consequently more government control will fix this problem... Have you ever thought about the almost complete destruction of traditional morality by the communists? Perhaps that might be relevant here? How many people making profit from producing fake or inferior goods have connections with the government? How many communist officials are behind the recent slavery scandal?
Published: July 23, 2007 11:50 AM
Sometimes it is amazing that people still have this very stereotyped view of China. It is most important to see her today, just like we are seeing USA, UK, Japan, Russia of today.
To the people of China, they have some bitter memories of yesterday, but many born after the 80's have never seen anything of the past.
For people of today, they look at today and tomorrow. Go to visit China, Russia, UK, Germany and France, you see changes every day. This is the drive for prosperity and happiness. If we all live in the past, there will never be the future.
Gone are the days of the cold war and Jesse Helms. We all look forward to the future and don't even look back.
Spain and Portugal used to rule the world. The influence of Spain and Portugal were overtaken by the Brits and the Dutch in a hundred years. The world is not static, and is changing all the time. When we look at world history and politics, we see shifts in power in time frame of 10-20 years. If we see China today through the looking glass of the 50's and 60's, we will never learn history and we will never see the real picture.
Published: July 23, 2007 11:55 AM
It was great to see some material on China in the Mises's blogs which I have long enjoyed (I have lived in Beijing for 12 years now and witnessed the blossoming of free markets and prosperity most often in spite of instead of as a result of government policy).
One point not mentioned in your article is that while people were starving, Mao exported tons of food to other Communist states to support his bid for leadership of the Communist world and co-opted industry and fought wars even in order to achieve "super power" status.
A very critical book, which at times goes overboard in its tone that is not on your excellent reference list is "Mao, the unknown story" by Jung Chang and John Halliday. I found the book particarly fascinating for all its research into Soviet documentation and it is a great read as well. I don't know how it reads for those who are unfamiliar with Chinese history, but for someone who has studied China in depth since the 1970's I think it is very worthwhile.
The issue of corruption is very interesting given the mercantilist nature of the current govt. and the one party system. Corruption is prevalent, but in some ways perversely leads to a "free-er market". I may have to attempt on article for Mises on that one someday. My point is that in China where there is a will to accomplish something, there is always a way even if it is not strictly legal. This is a fascinating society to live in in times of change and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Thankyou for a great summary.
Published: July 24, 2007 12:32 AM
The end of this article stated that:
"And the reform began slowly at first and then at breakneck speed. Civil liberties were restored (comparatively) and the rehabilitations began. Torturers were prosecuted. Economic controls were gradually relaxed. The economy, by virtue of human and private economic initiative, was transformed."
Apparently the author concealed some basic facts about China:
1. Economy liberalization has never been fully realized and has went backward since mid-1990s. Macroeconomic still under heavy control by the state and CCP authority, property rights only have limited legal recognitions in coastal provinces and are virtually not exist in most western provinces. Corrupted local government often confiscate private lands and houses and sell them to other investors or government projects, such as the preparation for 2008 Olympic game in Beijing (literally hundreds of thousands people lost their home just for building a new gym).
2. China is not a communist state, but not a capitalist one either. Keynesian policies dominated Chinese government's Macroeconomic managements, especially Chinese government's decision not to relax control on yuan's exchange rate. State-owned enterprises still composed large chunk of China's industry, some privatization are slowly in progress, but again it often fell into corruptions by government officials. Financial sectors especially state-owned banks have been corrupted to some extend that they lent you money not based on your credit but based on your political positions (since it is GOVERNMENT paying those paper money, who cares?). The economy growths since last decade are mainly the result of foreign investments and are concentrated in certain large cities. Chinese government often manipulates GDP data and other statistics in order to attract further investment.
3. Not to mention the fact that Chinese government have continuing to prosecute political dissenters and religion group like Falun Gong. Media is still under heavy censorship by the government, and millions of foreign website have been blocked by the "Great Firewall". How can such a country been called "virtue of human and private economic initiative"?
Published: July 25, 2007 7:14 AM
I don't think Mr Rockwell intended to imply China is a capitalist utopia or in any way an idealistic society. His point was considering modern Chinese history, her emergence in the 21st century from the depths of imperial bondage, warlordism, invasion and Maoist insanity is something of a miracle. China is burdened with legacy of her past and even as her economy enjoys brisk growth she is confronted with serious political and demographic problems that could very well undermine her prosperity. The communist party is corrupt, self interested but it no longer clings to Maoist fantasies of revolution and a ''Peoples' War''.
The Chinese people work hard and save. Their high savings rate has kept the U.S. economy afloat for the better part of the decade and has allowed our government to wage war in Middle East, a war that has now cost ten time more than what the Bush administration predicted. Imagine that. A government program costing more than what was predicted. Who could have expected that?
China's economy is bewitched and manipulated by a her Central Bank. Currently, the Central Bank deliberately undervalues China's currency to boost exports. This means Chinese consumers are impoverished in order to enrich well connected domestic exporters and fatten American consumers. This is a game all central bankers play and no one really knows where it will lead? China's central bank currently holds some $700 billion in U.S. paper and in this regard China has been a willing recipient of our country's main export in the new milenium, inflation. How long will they continue to accept our paper for their goods is anyone's guess. There is nothing in the U.S. government's fiscal policy to inspire confidence in the U.S. dollar's future strength. I suspect the days of its privileged international status are numbered.
Many in the United States, particularly the neoconservatives currently in power, view China's recent growth as a threat. China could convert her new found wealth into military power. But this view presupposes the United States has a divine right to claim global dominance. Indeed, the Pentagon has admitted as much when it claims its $700 billion annual budget is necessary to achieve ''full spectrum dominance.'' Is it really surprising that such ambition and arrogance on the part of U.S. government provokes suspicion and resentment abroad? Every action has a reaction. Those in power in Washington DC have been corrupted by empire and have come to see the world as their playground. Such hubris inevitably invites Nemesis.
China is and will likely continue to be a regional hegemon. As such, she will have border disputes and diplomatic problems with her neighbors. The Taiwan issue is something that concerns Beijing and Taipei. There is no logical reason for Washington DC to involve itself in that dispute. Our current policy is a hangover from the Cold War and needs to be changed before it sparks a war.
China's government is corrupt, cruel and dangerous. Aren't all governments? But the explosion of trade and economic development in China, and Asia in general, is an auspicious development for the future of peace and prosperity. Washington may want the world to remain poor and nasty but the interests of humanity, juxtaposed to the interests of government, cry out for China's continued growth. If China attains military power as a result of her economic growth, then that is something in which the United States will have to accept. To the extent that burgeoning Chinese militarism curbs U.S. adventurism abroad it is a good thing.
Published: July 27, 2007 9:06 AM
do you know where can i get a Mao t-shirt?
Published: June 14, 2008 2:49 PM