China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Inc.
The Dynamics of a New Empire
Willem Van Kemenade
- On
- the
- eve
- of
- June
- 30,
- Hong
- Kong
- was
- officially
- passed
- back
- to
- China.
- This
- event
- will
- mark
- what
- Willem
- van
- Kemenade
- sees
- as
- the
- start
- of
- an
- increasingly
- problematic
- --
- and
- even
- dangerous
- --
- reintegration
- of
- the
- old
- Chinese
- empire
- into
- a
- new
- world
- superpower.
- Since
- the
- early
- 1980s,
- investment
- money
- has
- been
- pouring
- into
- China
- from
- Hong
- Kong
- and
- trade
- has
- escalated
- at
- a
- rocket's
- pace.
- A
- few
- years
- later,
- the
- same
- pattern
- began
- between
- China
- and
- Taiwan.
- The
- combination
- of
- Hong
- Kong/Taiwan
- management,
- financial
- and
- export
- know-how
- with
- China's
- inexhaustible
- pool
- of
- cheap
- labor
- and
- land
- has
- enabled
- China
- in
- one
- decade
- to
- leap
- from
- an
- impoverished
- revolutionary
- state
- to
- a
- major
- international
- trading
- power.
- This
- economic
- boom,
- in
- conjunction
- with
- the
- violation
- of
- intellectual
- property
- rights,
- systematic
- tax
- fraud,
- and
- the
- corruption
- of
- the
- police
- force,
- has
- helped
- shape
- the
- "socialist
- market
- economy,"
- China's
- third
- way
- --
- and
- a
- new
- mix
- of
- old-fashioned
- Soviet
- Communism
- and
- East
- Asian
- capitalism.The
- formal
- addition
- of
- Hong
- Kong
- will
- add
- to
- this
- mixture
- the
- democratic
- structures
- set
- in
- place
- by
- the
- British.
- And,
- as
- China
- moves
- to
- reclaim
- Taiwan
- (the
- process
- has
- already
- begun),
- it
- will
- be
- incorporating
- a
- rival
- Chinese
- sub-nation
- with
- a
- fully
- election-based
- political
- system
- and
- a
- powerful
- independence
- movement.
- Can
- such
- a
- reunified
- China
- resist
- the
- "spiritual
- pollution"
- of
- democratic
- values,
- human
- rights,
- and
- political
- freedom?
- Will
- it
- become
- the
- first
- depoliticized
- "corporatist
- superpower"?
- What
- are
- the
- prospects
- that
- reunification
- will
- be
- peaceful?Van
- Kemenade's
- portrait
- of
- the
- true
- internal
- power
- structures
- of
- the
- three
- Chinas
- provides
- our
- clearest
- look
- yet
- at
- the
- fastest-rising
- new
- empire
- in
- the
- world today.
