Canada / Jan.17, 2024
Just remembered... My late father (honor to his memory) lived and worked in China from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. And, for some reason he always believed that the Chinese would save our world.
In the 1970s and 1980s years, I laughed at my father's pro-Chinese sentiments (despite the fact that my father himself was in almost all aspects a man of European culture). Many years later though, I had the opportunity to study China, work with the Chinese and even live with them, and here are the conclusions I came to:
(1) Overall, China is a VERY SCARY society. In many ways. And in the sense that the individual there has almost zero importance (and quite officially), and in the sense of the extremely rigid stratification of society, and in the sense of the wildest cruelty from our point of view (I'll refrain from providing examples here, if you don't mind). Even cannibalism is considered normal there (a fact unknown to our public as nobody writes about it here). The exception is the Chinese state on the island of Taiwan, where, under the influence of democratic evolution, the educational system, and the high intellectual level of those who created that alternative Chinese state , the situation is somewhat different.
(2) n the eyes of most Chinese, any non-Chinese is perceived not just as subhuman, but rather as... an insect (sometimes even a very beautiful and pleasant insect, but still an insect). Therefore, the interests of non-Chinese people have no meaning at all for the Chinese. They can help non-Chinese people, but only insofar as this help is beneficial to China or the Chinese.
I would strongly advise everyone who is interested in China to take note of the above two points.
However, at the same time, modern China also has two big advantages.
(3) Regardless of who is in power in China - even the Communists - they remain Chinese, and unlike our 'leaders,' they care about their country and do not want to see the destruction of China. On the contrary, they want it to be as strong and prosperous as possible. This attitude demands respect, and perhaps our 'elites' should learn from this, if it's not too late already.
(4) In China, they have always understood the importance of having a TRUE elite in the nation. During Mao's time and the 'Cultural Revolution,' they might have forgotten about it for a while, but the current generation of Chinese leaders has returned to this theme. For over a decade, they have been cultivating a GENUINE highly cultural, highly professional, and even highly ethical elite. While still mostly young individuals, they are already rising to power. Moreover, doing business with them is not only possible but sometimes can even be pleasant...
These are some considerations and, probably, information for contemplation.